Reggie White Eagles Franchise Sacks Record

Lore & Background

The Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26–14 in the wild-card round. Philadelphia then upset the top-seeded New York Giants, 23–11 in the divisional round to advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2004 season. However, the Eagles' season would end in Arizona with a 32–25 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. This would be the last season in which the Eagles would win a playoff game until their Super Bowl LII-winning season nine years later. Despite their low-seeding in the NFC playoffs, Football Outsiders calculated that the 2008 Eagles were the best team in the league, play-for-play.

Reader's Guide

The 2008 Eagles were featured in the film adaptation of Silver Linings Playbook, although the novel focuses on the 2006 team. In the off-season, the Eagles signed cornerback Asante Samuel from the New England Patriots on February 29, 2008, the first day he became available. Samuel, signed to a six-year, $57 million contract, was considered one of the top players available in free agency, and was Philadelphia's largest signing since Terrell Owens in 2004.

The Eagles also signed defensive end Chris Clemons, and gave him a sizable signing bonus, but he struggled with injuries in the preseason, and barely made the team. Oft-injured defensive lineman Jevon Kearse returned to the Tennessee Titans and Takeo Spikes was released, with a young corps of linebackers ready to replace him. Tight end L.J. Smith, who has battled injury, was given a franchise tag to keep him in Philadelphia. In the draft, the Eagles traded down again, lining themselves up with two first-round picks in 2009.

Training camp and the preseason were mixed with good news and bad news. On the negative side, All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews had a late-start to the preseason because of a personal battle with depression. Cornerback Lito Sheppard now looked like a third wheel in the secondary behind Samuel and Sheldon Brown, and vented his frustration. A contract dispute with star running back Brian Westbrook also looked to be another distraction until the team signed him to a three-year, $21 million extension.

Philadelphia's biggest issue was the weak receiving corps. In the spring, the team was unsuccessful in acquiring a big name receiver, and the situation was exacerbated when number one receiver Kevin Curtis went down with a sports hernia in the preseason, while number two receiver Reggie Brown nursed a sore hamstring. No moves were made to fix the problem, and many experts considered the Eagles too weak at the position to go deep into the playoffs.

However, 5'10 second round draft pick DeSean Jackson had a great preseason, and was named as a Week 1 starter for the Eagles at receiver. Quarterback Donovan McNabb also had a strong preseason, and finally looked fully recovered from his 2006 knee surgery. The rebuilt special teams unit impressed in the preseason, with draft picks Jackson and Quintin Demps returning a punt and a kick respectively for touchdowns in an exhibition win over the Patriots.