It’s been two weeks since the Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX 40-22 in New Orleans to cap off a magical season that included a playoff run that will be remembered for a long time to come. With the Eagles officially winning 18 games in the 2024-25 season with a 14-3 regular season record and the four playoff wins, the Eagles have become a winning franchise for first time in team history with a total record of 667-665-27.
For a team that’s played its first season in 1933, there are thousands of long-time fans that have had to endure some of the worst seasons in team history, which makes a year like this one even more special.
Here’s a list of notable seasons both great…and not so great… in franchise history based on record, team and player performance and other factors. We are omitting the two Super Bowl winning years because that’s too obvious. We start with the good.
1949 Season
We are omitting the Super Bowl winning years, but we can’t omit the 1949 season. The Eagles won the NFL’s Eastern Conference with an 11-1 record, winning eight straight games to close out the regular season under the direction of head coach Greasy Neale. They went on to beat the Los Angeles Rams 14-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Eagles had a +230-point differential, outscoring opponents 364-134 while going a perfect 8-0 in division play which included the Steelers, Giants, the then-Redskins and the New York Bulldogs.
The team was dominant on both sides of the football, averaging 30.3 points per game which were the most in the league while allowing the fewest at 11.2 per contest. The offense was led by Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren who ran for 1,146 yards and 11 touchdowns and named an All-Pro. Tommy Thompson was the primary quarterback, throwing for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Defensively, the team was led by Dick Humbert who paced the squad with seven interceptions to help the Eagles tally 29 total picks while recovering 31 fumbles.
What made this season more special is the fact it was the year the Eagles drafted a local product from the University of Pennsylvania and future Hall of Fame two-way player in Chuck Bednarik with their lottery bonus pick in the first round. Coincidentally, Norm Van Brocklin, who was the championship winning quarterback on the 1960 Eagles was also drafted in 1949 by the Rams.
2004 Season
The ’04 team is one of the most memorable teams in franchise history and was the original benchmark for success prior to the 2017 season. Tying the franchise record for the second-most regular season wins with 13, this team had what it took to end the franchise’s title drought. The team was littered with talent on both sides of the ball with household names that you will see on the back of fans’ jerseys. The likes of Brian Westbrook, Donavan McNabb, Brian Dawkins, Corey Simon and Lito Shepphard were part of the nucleus of the team. The front office brought in polarizing superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens while adding defensive pieces Jevon Kearse in addition to bringing former bruising tacklers in Hugh Douglas and Jeremiah Trotter.
The Eagles started off 7-0 in the regular season before slipping to the Steelers in Week 9, 27-3. The team would go on to win their next six games to improve to 13-1 before dropping the final two games of the regular season. They won the NFC East Division and remain the last team in the division to repeat as NFC East champs.
From an individual standpoint, Owens’ put together perhaps the best season of any Eagle wide receiver in team history and one of the best in NFL history, hauling in 77 catches for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns in just 14 games.
Earning a first-round bye, the Eagles welcomed the Vikings to town in the Divisional round where they won 27-14. Wideout Freddie Mitchell, who filled in for an injured Owens scored twice in the win, including recovering an L.J. Smith fumble as he was pushing for the end zone for his second touchdown. Ike Reese and Trotter each picked off Daunte Culpepper in the third quarter to keep control of the game.
On a frigid night in South Philly for the NFC Championship Game the Eagles dominated Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons 27-10. The stout defense held the Falcons scoreless in the second half while McNabb did what he could, throwing for 180 yards in the windy conditions but did find the end zone twice, both going to Chad Lewis. It marked the first time since 1980 the Eagles won the NFC Championship.
Ultimately, the Eagles fell to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX 24-21 as the Pats’ officially started their dynasty run. McNabb threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns, but the team was unable to overcome his three interceptions in the game. Owens returned for the big game and on one good ankle, caught nine passes for 122 yards. Prior to the pair of Super Bowl winning seasons, this 2004 campaign was what many looked at as one of the most successful seasons in franchise history.
2022 Season
The Eagles have turned into a perennial playoff team since the Andy Reid Era and has been able to maintain that consistency throughout the years with head coaches Doug Pederson and now Nick Sirianni, making the playoffs 17 times over the last 25 years. The 2022 season was another year that ranks as one of the best seasons for the organization, despite suffering agony with another Super Bowl loss, this time against Kansas City.
During the regular season, the 2022 team accomplished a ton. They started off the season 8-0 for the first time in franchise history, the 14 wins were the most in a regular season by any Eagles team, they won the NFC East for the first time since 2019 and they secured the top seed in the NFC for the first time since their last Super Bowl Appearance in 2017.
The offense, led by Jalen Hurts in his second full season as a starter had the third-highest scoring offense in the league, averaging 28.1 points per game while Hurts finished second in the MVP voting, losing to the Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles also had a top 10 scoring defense, giving up 20.2 points per game which was 8th best in the league.
The 2022 campaign featured great success on the field, but it may be forgotten that it was the season that General Manager Howie Roseman started to build the core of what has become a roster that’s made the Super Bowl in two of the last three seasons.
The most notable move was on Draft Night when the Eagles shocked the league and traded for the young super star wideout in A.J. Brown, trading Tennessee a first and a third-round pick in that year’s draft to get one of the budding stars in the game. Later in August, Roseman was at it again, trading New Orleans a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round pick for safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
In the draft, the Eagles, who originally had five first round picks from 13-19, only had one after the deals Roseman made and selected Jordan Davis 13th overall. In the second round, Cam Jurgens and Nakobe Dean were selected.
The Ugly: 1972 Season
Being a fan of a team comes with enduring peaks and valleys. For the Eagles, there have been plenty of valleys with the 1972 season perhaps being one of the deepest ones. The team went just 2-11-1 that year under head coach Ed Khayat and it marked the third season in five years that that Eagles won three games or less.
The team averaged the fewest points per game in the then 26-team league, averaging just 10.4 points per contest while the defense allowed 25.1 points, the 4th-most. The Eagles had a woeful -207-point differential, the worst in franchise history.
The two wins for the Eagles came by one point against Kansas City and the Houston Oilers. In that game against the Oilers, kicker Tom Dempsey made all six field goal attempts, including a 52-yard field goal to provide all the scoring in an 18-17 win for Philadelphia. They went 0-7-1 in the division and went 0-10-1 in conference play, closing out the season on a five-game losing streak.
The lone bright spots this season were wide receiver Harold Jackson and safety Bill Bradley who were named to the Pro Bowl. John Reaves and Pete Liske split time at quarterback as the two combined to throw 10 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. Khayat was fired at the end of the season and never became an NFL head coach again.
1998 Season
The saying “There’s light at the end of the tunnel” could be true to describe the 1998 season, although many didn’t know it. The ’98 team finished with a 3-13 record and finishing in the basement of the NFC East. The 13 losses still stand as the most losses in a single season in franchise history.
The play on the field was abysmal as three quarterbacks in Bobby Hoying, Koy Detmer and Rodney Peete combined to throw just seven total touchdowns in the 16-game season while throwing 18 interceptions and racking up just 2,413 total passing yards between the trio.
With the lack of success on offense, the 10.06 points per game is still tied for the third fewest in a 16-game slate in league history and own the second-worst point differential in team history at -183. The team did not have any Pro Bowl selections. Running back Deuce Staley, in his first year as the starter, was the lone bright spot offensively rushing for 1,065 yards and five touchdowns while catching 57 passes for another 432 yards and a score. Head coach Ray Rhodes was fired at the end of the season, concluding his four-year tenure with a 29-34-1 record.
The Eagles did start to build their group of reliable and productive players through the draft, selecting Tra Thomas with the 11th overall pick while drafting Trotter in the 3rd round and Reese in the 5th.
2012 Season
This year was quite the rollercoaster for the fans and team which ultimately became the end of the Reid Era. After starting off with a 3-1 record, the wheels came off to start October and the team went into a free fall, losing eight in a row and 10 of their last 11 games of the season to finish with a 4-12 record and a last place finish in the NFC East. It was their worst record since the aforementioned 1998 season.
The Eagles posted their worst home record since 1972, going just 2-6 at Lincoln Financial field.
In the middle of the season, defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was fired after many thought he shouldn’t have been retained to start the year and the defensive line coach in Jim Washburn was also let go in December.
The team had talent on the roster with Vick at quarterback, but was only able to play 10 games, LeSean McCoy at running back with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at wide receivers. However, they only musted to average 17.5 points per game which was the fourth-fewest in the NFL while allowing the third-most points on defense at a whopping 27.8. After being throttled by the Giants 42-7 in the regular season finale, Reid was let go after 14 years with the organization.
The Eagles’ first winning season was 11 years after their inaugural campaign with a 5-4-1 record in 1943. Since then, the team has put up 39 winning seasons and will enter the 2025-26 season looking to make it five consecutive years above the .500 mark which would be the longest stretch since 2000-2004.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
