4th and 26 4th and 26 is the commonly used name for a famous play on Sunday , January 11 , 2004 , during the 2003 – 04 NFL playoffs . The play occurred during the fourth quarter of a divisional playoff game between the visiting Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The NFC East champion and top - seeded Eagles were coming off an opening round bye while the fourth - seeded , NFC North champion Packers were the visiting team , coming off an overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks . Game summary . Midway through the first quarter , Packers linebacker Nick Barnett recovered a fumble from quarterback Donovan McNabb on the Eagles 40 - yard line , and Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre threw a 40 - yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson on the next play . James Thrash returned the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to the 44 - yard line . Then McNabb made up for his mistake with a 41 - yard run to the Packers 15 . But the drive stalled at the 14 - yard line and ended with no points when Akers missed a 30 - yard field goal attempt . After the missed field goal , Ahman Green rushed three times for 31 yards before Favre threw his second touchdown pass to Ferguson , giving the Packers a 14 – 0 lead with 1 : 16 left in the first quarter . In the second quarter , McNabb led the Eagles on a scoring drive , completing five consecutive passes for 77 yards , including a 45 - yard pass to Todd Pinkston . On the last play , his 7 - yard touchdown pass to Duce Staley cut the deficit to 14 – 7 . Green Bay took the kickoff and drove 67 yards to the Eagles 1 - yard line , featuring a 33 - yard run by Green , but on fourth down , Green was stuffed by DE Jerome McDougle and LB Mark Simoneau for no gain . The Packers turned the ball over on downs . Late in the third quarter , the Eagles drove 88 yards in 8 plays to tie the game , despite two 10 - yard penalties against them on the drive . McNabb was responsible for all of the yards on the drive , rushing for 37 yards and completing four passes for 72 , including a 12 - yard touchdown pass to Pinkston that tied the game at 14 on the first play of the fourth quarter . Later , Antonio Chatman ' s 10 - yard punt return gave the Packers great field position on their own 49 - yard line . On the next play , Favre threw a 44 - yard completion to Javon Walker . Philadelphia ' s defense kept Green Bay out of the end zone , but Ryan Longwell kicked a 21 - yard field goal to give them a 17 – 14 lead . The play . The drive started with a 22 - yard run by Duce Staley , but on the next play , McNabb threw for an incomplete pass . Subsequently , on second down the Eagles were penalized 5 yards for a false start . On the ensuing play , a sack pushed the Eagles back to their own 25 yard line , and on third down McNabb threw another incompletion . The Eagles , faced with a fourth down and 26 yards , needed to convert for a first down , with only 1 : 12 remaining and no timeouts available . On fourth down , the play ( 74 Double Go ) called for a 25 - yard slant route for wide receiver Freddie Mitchell . Donovan McNabb threw a perfect strike to Mitchell deep into the Packers ' secondary . The Packers ' coverage , a Cover 2 package , broke down . Linebacker Nick Barnett , who was responsible for shallow coverage of Mitchell , decided to bite on the tight end . Inexplicably , Darren Sharper , who was partially responsible for deep coverage of Mitchell , played past the first down marker positioning himself for an interception rather than preventing any catch in front of the marker . The only player that was close to making a play , Packers ' safety Bhawoh Jue , was playing the sidelines as is customary in Cover 2 defense and was too late to prevent a catch or first down . Mitchell completed a leaping reception and was brought down at the Packers 46 , giving the Eagles a first down . The play set up David Akers ' 37 - yard field goal attempt after McNabb ran for another first down . The field goal was good , and the game went into overtime , when Eagles star safety Brian Dawkins was able to intercept an errant Brett Favre pass and return it 35 yards , setting up another Akers field goal try . The 31 - yard kick was good , giving the Eagles a dramatic 20 – 17 victory in sudden death overtime . The play helped send the Eagles to their third straight NFC Championship Game .