The Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 75th season in the National Football League (NFL), and the ninth under head coach Andy Reid. The team failed to improve on their 10–6 record from 2006, finishing with an 8–8 record, a last-place finish in the NFC East and missing the playoffs.
After a playoff run in 2006 and the return of Donovan McNabb from injury, the Eagles were considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender. With McNabb and bona fide star running back Brian Westbrook, the offense was an obvious weapon, but there were questions about the defense. However, the team's first few games displayed a tough Jim Johnson "bend but don't break defense" and an inconsistent offense. The Eagles dropped three of their first four, but they unleashed an offensive outburst in a Week 3 blowout over the Detroit Lions 56–21. A primetime loss to the Dallas Cowboys in early November left Philadelphia 3–5.
The Eagles rallied and won a road game over the Washington Redskins the next week, and followed that with a win at home against the Miami Dolphins. In the win over Miami, McNabb went down with another November injury, the fourth time in six seasons that had occurred. The next three games, all against winning clubs, would prove to be the crux of the season for Philadelphia. Backup A. J. Feeley almost pulled off a big upset of the New England Patriots, who would finish the regular season 16–0, but a fourth quarter lead was surrendered. The Eagles would again lose second half leads to the Seattle Seahawks and their rival and eventual world champion New York Giants. These losses wiped out any chances of making the playoffs. The team finished the season with three straight wins, including a 10–6 win over the Cowboys, who were 12–1 entering the game.
Despite missing two games, McNabb threw for 3,324 yards, 19 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and completed 61.5 percent of his passes to go with his 89.9 passer rating. Westbrook had one of the top seasons of any running back in the league,rushing for 1,333 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and 7 touchdowns and catching 90 passes for 771 yards and 5 touchdowns. He contributed 12 total touchdowns and 2,144 yards from scrimmage. New acquisition Kevin Curtis led the team with 1,110 receiving yards and 6 touchdown receptions (half of them coming against Detroit). Third-year receiver Reggie Brown had a slow start, but caught 61 passes for 780 yards and 4 scores. On defense, Trent Cole's 12.5 sacks earned him a Pro Bowl spot and second-year linebacker Omar Gaither led the team with 70 tackles. As a unit, the defense came up with several important goal-line stands throughout the season. Cole became the first Philadelphia Eagle since Hugh Douglas in 2002 to have a 12.5-sack season.
Offseason After returning to the top of the NFC East in 2006, it was an offseason of controversial transactions for the Eagles. The fates of quarterback Jeff Garcia and wide receiver Donte' Stallworth were the two immediate questions facing the Eagles after the season ended. Ultimately, the team decided to keep neither of them. The Eagles signed A. J. Feeley to a three-year contract to be the backup quarterback, allowing Garcia to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2007. A week later, Stallworth inked a deal with the New England Patriots.
Philadelphia filled the new hole in the receiving corps by signing free agent Kevin Curtis from the St. Louis Rams. They then made a trade with the Buffalo Bills on March 26, 2007,Eagles, Bills agree to trade sending longtime defensive tackle Darwin Walker to the Bills in exchange for Takeo Spikes to provide much-needed linebacker help, and backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb.
In the draft, the Eagles traded down, selecting University of Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb in the second round. The selection of Kolb sent a signal that the Eagles were looking towards a point in the future past Donovan McNabb, who had missed significant time in the three of the past five seasons.
In training camp and the preseason, McNabb, wearing a knee brace, showed that he had recovered from his knee surgery and was ready to go. He stated, as he did the season before, that the team was capable of reaching the Super Bowl. He was stunned when Eagles' management decided to cut veteran middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter on August 21.Stunned McNabb seeking answers
The talk of the preseason turned out to be the booming punts of Australian rules football import Saverio Rocca. The Aussie outbooted veteran Dirk Johnson to earn the starting job.
Staff Philadelphia Eagles 2007 staff Front office Chairman/CEO – Jeffrey Lurie President/COO – Joe Banner General manager – Tom Heckert Jr. Vice president of player personnel – Jason Licht Vice president of football administration – Howie Roseman Director of pro personnel – Scott Cohen Director of college scouting – Ryan Grigson
Head coaches Head coach – Andy Reid Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator – Marty Mornhinweg
Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Pat Shurmur Running backs – Ted Williams Wide receivers – David Culley Tight ends – Tom Melvin Offensive line – Juan Castillo Offensive assistant/assistant special teams – Jeff Nixon Offensive quality control – James Urban Statistical analysis coordinator – Mike Frazier Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jim Johnson Defensive line – Pete Jenkins Linebackers – Sean McDermott Secondary – Trent Walters Defensive assistant/quality control – Bill Shuey Training camp intern – Mike Caldwell
Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator/defensive backs – John Harbaugh Special teams coordinator – Rory Segrest
Strength and conditioning Head athletic trainer – Rick Burkholder Head strength and conditioning – Mike Wolf Assistant strength and conditioning – Bob Rogucki
Philadelphia Eagles Draft
Roster
Final roster
Philadelphia Eagles 2007 final roster Quarterbacks A. J. Feeley Kevin Kolb Donovan McNabb
Running backs Correll Buckhalter KR Tony Hunt Reno Mahe PR Thomas Tapeh FB Brian Westbrook
Wide receivers Jason Avant Hank Baskett Reggie Brown Kevin Curtis Greg Lewis
Tight ends Brent Celek Matt Schobel L. J. Smith Offensive linemen Shawn Andrews G Nick Cole C/G Todd Herremans G Jamaal Jackson C Max Jean-Gilles G Winston Justice T Jon Runyan T Tra Thomas T Scott Young G
Defensive linemen Victor Abiamiri DE Brodrick Bunkley DT Trent Cole DE Darren Howard DE Jevon Kearse DE Mike Patterson DT LaJuan Ramsey DT Montae Reagor DT Juqua Thomas DE Kimo von Oelhoffen DT Linebackers Stewart Bradley OLB Omar Gaither MLB Chris Gocong OLB Akeem Jordan OLB Pago Togafau MLB
Defensive backs Sheldon Brown CB Tanard Davis CB Brian Dawkins FS Nick Graham CB Joselio Hanson CB Will James CB Quintin Mikell FS/SS Marcus Paschal CB/S J. R. Reed FS/SS/KR Lito Sheppard CB
Special teams David Akers K Jon Dorenbos LS Sav Rocca P Reserve lists Sean Considine S (IR) Ryan Moats RB (IR) Jerome McDougle DE (IR) Stefan Rodgers T (IR) Ian Scott DT (IR) Takeo Spikes LB (IR)
Practice squad Jeremy Clark DT Jason Davis FB Therrian Fontenot CB Xzavie Jackson DE William Kershaw LB Ramiro Pruneda T Int'l Bill Sampy WR Kyle Shotwell LB
Rookies in italics
53 active, 6 inactive, 8 practice squad
Schedule Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Baltimore Ravens L 3–29 0–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 Carolina Panthers W 27–10 1–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 3 August 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–27 1-2Heinz Field Recap 4 New York Jets L 11–13 1-3 Lincoln Financial FieldRecap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap1 September 9 at Green Bay Packers L 13–16 0–1 Lambeau Field Recap 2 Washington Redskins L 12–20 0–2 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 3 September 23 Detroit Lions W 56–21 1–2 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 4 September 30 at New York Giants L 3–16 1–3 Giants Stadium Recap 5 Bye 6 October 14 at New York Jets W 16–9 2–3 Giants Stadium Recap 7 October 21 Chicago Bears L 16–19 2–4 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 8 October 28 at Minnesota Vikings W 23–16 3–4 Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeRecap 9 November 4 Dallas Cowboys L 17–38 3–5 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 10 November 11 at Washington Redskins W 33–25 4–5 FedExField Recap 11 November 18 Miami Dolphins W 17–7 5–5 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 12 November 25 at New England Patriots L 28–31 5–6 Gillette Stadium Recap 13 December 2 Seattle Seahawks L 24–28 5–7 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 14 December 9 New York Giants L 13–16 5–8 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 15 December 16 at Dallas Cowboys W 10–6 6–8 Texas Stadium Recap 16 December 23 at New Orleans Saints W 38–23 7–8 Louisiana Superdome Recap 17 December 30 Buffalo Bills W 17–9 8–8 Lincoln Financial Field Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Regular season
Week 1: at Green Bay Packers
Two muffed punts hurt the Eagles in their season opener against Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. After Green Bay's first drive, Philadelphia's punt return man Greg Lewis muffed the punt which resulted in a fumble recovery in the end zone for the Packers. A 53-yard Green Bay field goal put the Eagles in a 10–0 deficit. Sheldon Brown's interception led to a field goal in the second quarter. Jason Avant's nine-yard touchdown reception from Donovan McNabb tied the game, and in the third quarter, David Akers made his second field goal from 47 yards out to make it 13–10 Philadelphia. Favre responded with a 13-play field goal drive to even the score. Later, J. R. Reed muffed a punt and the Packers recovered at the Eagles 31-yard line and Mason Crosby kicked a 42-yard game winner. Brian Westbrook had 131 all-purpose yards and Avant had three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. The defense collected four sacks, two turnovers, and only allowed 46 rushing yards. This was the only game that the Packers offense did not score a touchdown.
Week 2: vs. Washington Redskins
Playing their home opener on Monday Night Football, the Eagles lost a 20–12 decision to the Washington Redskins. A long reception by Santana Moss led to a first-quarter field goal for the Redskins. The Eagles responded with a pair of David Akers field goals in the second quarter to take a 6–3 lead. With nine seconds remaining in the half, Washington quarterback Jason Campbell passed to Chris Cooley in the end zone for a touchdown and Redskin lead. The teams traded field goals in the third quarter, and Clinton Portis rushed for a six-yard touchdown early in the final quarter to make it 20–9. Donovan McNabb drove the Eagles to a field goal to bring them within eight points. On their last series, the Eagles got to the Washington nine-yard line, but the drive stalled there, preserving the Redskin victory. McNabb threw for 240 yards, Brian Westbrook had 162 all-purpose yards, and Akers connected on four field goals. This game played a big part in costing the Eagles a shot at the postseason. They finished one game behind the Redskins for the 6th and final playoff spot. It was also the first time since 2003 that the Eagles dropped their first two games.
Week 3: vs. Detroit Lions