Garceau: Breaking Down The Ravens-Eagles History
Check Out The Ravens-Eagles History
There isn't much history between these I-95 neighbors; in the Ravens 21-year history they've only met the Eagles four times in the regular season. The Ravens are a touchdown favorite Sunday and if they do win it'll continue a trend, the home team has never lost when Baltimore and Philadelphia get together. Let's take a look at highlights from those 4 games.
1997 (11/16) In Baltimore Eagles 10 (OT) Ravens 10
This one was played at Memorial Stadium, Ravens rookie running back Jay Graham had the only 100-yard rushing game of his career as ran 35 times for 154 yards. The game went into overtime tied 10-10, Matt Stover missed a 53 yard field goal in OT and the Eagles Chris Boniol missed a 40 yard attempt on the final play of the game, a scoreless overtime and a 10-10 tie.
2004 (10/31) In Philadelphia Ravens 10 Eagles 15
This was the year Terrell Owens refused a trade to the Ravens and wound up in Philadelphia. He added insult to injury catching 8 passes for 101 yards and scoring the Eagles only TD catching a 4th quarter score from Donovan McNabb. He celebrated the touchdown by mocking Ray Lewis's famous pre-game dance. The Eagles 7-0 start was the best in franchise history; they would become NFC champs losing to New England in the Super Bowl.
2008 (11/23) In Baltimore Eagles 7 Ravens 36
After 10 years as an Eagles assistant John Harbaugh was in his first year as head coach of the Ravens. Donovan McNabb had 3 turnovers in the first half and was benched for the first time in his career when he was replaced by Kevin Kolb. It went from bad to worse for the Eagles; Ed Reed picked off Kolb and set an NFL record returning the interception 108 yards. The Ravens star safety had 2 interceptions for 157 yards, more yards than the Eagles had passing.
2012 (9/16) In Philadelphia Ravens 23 Eagles 24
Michael Vick had a big game in Philadelphia, the Eagles quarterback passed for 371 yards and with under 2-minutes left ran in the winning touchdown. The Ravens lost the game but they found a kicker. Rookie Justin Tucker converted 3 field goals including a 51 and 56 yard kick that tied the team record.
The teams have met only 4-times in the regular season but they were scheduled in the pre-season 11 times in 12 years from 1996-2007. The most memorable of the forgettable pre-season games was one that wasn't played.
Coming off their Super Bowl XXXV title the Ravens went to the Vet to open the 2001 preseason with the Eagles but never played a down. I remember meeting head coach Brian Billick about 2-hours before kickoff for our usual game day interview and him telling me "we might not play tonight." At first I thought he was kidding but soon found out the Vet playing surface was the joke.
The game was called after officials, coaches and players from both teams deemed the field unplayable. Uneven cutouts from the baseball field filled with sand looked like an injury waiting to happen. The announcement was made, the game was called, the Philly fans booed, some threw things onto the field, others were arrested.