# 1986 Philadelphia Eagles season

The Philadelphia Eagles played their 54th season in the National Football League (NFL) in 1986. The team was unable to improve upon their previous output win total of seven. Instead, the team finished with five wins, ten losses and one tie. This was the fifth consecutive season in which the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
The season was head coach Buddy Ryan's first with the team after serving as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, who had won the Super Bowl the previous season.
Quarterback duties were split between 35-year-old veteran Ron Jaworski, who started nine games in his final season with the team, and second-year quarterback Randall Cunningham. Veteran quarterback Matt Cavanaugh also started two games. This rotation of quarterback duty resulted in a unique moment in which center Bob Landsee had the distinction of snapping the ball to all three different quarterbacks on the same series. Overall, the Eagles' passing game finished with the third-fewest passing yards in the league (2,540), and the fewest yards-per-attempt (4.1).
The Eagles set dubious NFL records with one of the worst offensive lines in league history. They gave up a record number of sacks (a still-standing NFL-record of 104) and yardage allowed on sacks (708). No other team in football history has ever given up more than 85 sacks or 554 yards on quarterback sacks. The team gave up three-or-more sacks in every single game of the 1986 season, the only team in NFL history to do so.
The lone highlights of the season came on the road. On October 5, the Eagles entered Fulton County Stadium and shut out the Atlanta Falcons, 16–0. Then gained a comeback, 33–27 overtime win against the Los Angeles Raiders at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 30, the Eagles’ first win over the club since the 1980 season and first-ever victory on the road against the Raiders.

## NFL draft

The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.
| = Pro Bowler | = Hall of Famer |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 10 | Keith Byars | Running back | Ohio State |
| 2 | 37 | Anthony Toney | Running back | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 48 | Alonzo Johnson | Linebacker | Florida |
| 4 | 106 | Matt Darwin | Center | Texas A&M |
| 5 | 121 | Ray Criswell | Punter | Florida |
| 5 | 128 | Dan McMillen | Defensive end | Colorado |
| 6 | 149 | Bob Landsee | Center | Wisconsin |
| 7 | 169 | Cornelius Redick | Wide receiver | Fullerton State |
| 7 | 176 | Byron Lee | Linebacker | Ohio State |
| 7 | * | Charles Crawford | Running back | Oklahoma State |
| 8 | 208 | Seth Joyner | Linebacker | Texas-El Paso |
| 9 | 233 | Clyde Simmons | Defensive end | Western Carolina |
| 10 | 261 | Junior Tautalatasi | Running back | Washington State |
| 11 | 288 | Steve Bogdalek | Guard | Michigan State |
| 12 | 315 | Reggie Singletary | Defensive end | North Carolina State |
| 12 | 325 | Bobby Howard | Running back | Indiana |
* Supplemental pick

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7, 1986 | at Washington Redskins | L 41–14 | 0–1 | 53,982 |
| 2 | September 14, 1986 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–10 (OT) | 0–2 | 65,130 |
| 3 | September 21, 1986 | Denver Broncos | L 33–7 | 0–3 | 63,839 |
| 4 | September 28, 1986 | Los Angeles Rams | W 34–20 | 1–3 | 65,646 |
| 5 | October 5, 1986 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 16–0 | 2–3 | 57,104 |
| 6 | October 12, 1986 | at New York Giants | L 35–3 | 2–4 | 74,221 |
| 7 | October 19, 1986 | Dallas Cowboys | L 17–14 | 2–5 | 68,572 |
| 8 | October 26, 1986 | San Diego Chargers | W 23–7 | 3–5 | 41,469 |
| 9 | November 2, 1986 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 13–10 | 3–6 | 33,051 |
| 10 | November 9, 1986 | New York Giants | L 17–14 | 3–7 | 60,601 |
| 11 | November 16, 1986 | Detroit Lions | L 13–11 | 3–8 | 54,568 |
| 12 | November 23, 1986 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 24–20 | 3–9 | 55,786 |
| 13 | November 30, 1986 | at Los Angeles Raiders | W 33–27 (OT) | 4–9 | 53,338 |
| 14 | December 7, 1986 | St. Louis Cardinals | T 10–10 (OT) | 4–9–1 | 50,148 |
| 15 | December 14, 1986 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 23–21 | 5–9–1 | 46,117 |
| 16 | December 21, 1986 | Washington Redskins | L 21–14 | 5–10–1 | 61,816 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Game summaries
### Week 2

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
* Date: September 14
* Game time: 12:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 61 °F (16.1 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 65,130
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Dierdorf
* Box scores at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
PHI – Paul McFadden 49 yard field goal – Eagles 3–0
Third quarter
CHI – Walter Payton 1 yard run (Kevin Butler kick) – Bears 7–3
CHI – Kevin Butler 23 yard field goal – Bears 10–3
Fourth quarter
PHI – Mike Quick 26 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Paul McFadden kick) – Tied 10–10
Overtime
CHI – Kevin Butler 23 yard field goal – Bears 13–10
Eagles
Ron Jaworski 18/30, 165 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Michael Haddix 9 Rush, 34 Yds
Mike Quick 5 Rec, 67 Yds, TD
Bears
Mike Tomczak 10/20, 116 Yds, 2 INT
Walter Payton 34 Rush, 177 Yds, TD
Willie Gault 2 Rec, 31 Yds :

#### Week 6: at New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Giants | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: October 12
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 55 °F (12.8 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 74,221
* Referee: Jerry Markbreit
* TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton (play-by-play), Dan Dierdorf (color commentator)

#### Week 10: vs. New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: November 9
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 64 °F (17.8 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 60,601
* Referee: Fred Wyant
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play), John Madden (color commentary)

### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Eagles | 13 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| Raiders | 7 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
* Mike Quick 8 Rec, 145 Yds, 3 TD

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants$^{(1)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 7–1 | 11–1 | 371 | 236 | W9 |
| Washington Redskins$^{(4)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–3 | 9–3 | 368 | 296 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 346 | 337 | L5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 1–6–1 | 3–8–1 | 256 | 312 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 11 | 1 | .281 | 1–6–1 | 3–10–1 | 218 | 351 | W1 |

## Awards and honors

* Keith Byars, Franchise record, most rushing yards by a rookie