An onside kick, a couple kickoff returns, a fumble return by a 300-pound lineman, one run from scrimmage and a handful of big pass plays.
It's the all-time top-10 opening-day plays in Eagles history.
Some amazing plays didn't make the cut. Duce Staley's 50-yard run against the Cowboys in the 2000 opener. Earl Gros’s 59-yard run from scrimmage against the Giants in 1964. Jerry Norton’s 96-yard kick return against the Giants in 1955. DeSean Jackson’s 85-yard punt return TD against the Panthers in 2009. Bud Grant’s 84-yard TD catch from Adrian Burk at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in 1952. Bre Wilson's 50-yard return of a Joe Pisarcik interception in 1979. Fred Barnett’s 75-yard touchdown catch from Jim McMahon in Green Bay in the 1991 opener, after Bryce Paup ended Randall Cunningham’s season after just one quarter. And even Kiko Alonso's tumbling interception last year, the first and last play he made in an Eagles uniform.
All were under consideration but didn't quite make the cut.
Will the Eagles add any historic plays Sunday in their opener against the Browns? We'll see. But for now, here are the top-10 opening-day plays in Eagles history.
1. David Akers onside kick
Eagles at Cowboys, Texas Stadium, 2000
It was 109 degrees in Irving, Texas, officially making this the hottest game in NFL history. The Eagles were coming off three straight losing seasons and wanted to take command against their division rivals quickly. So Andy Reid and John Harbaugh hatched a plan to open the game – and the season – with an onside kick if the Cowboys won the toss. And they did. David Akers kicked it perfectly, the Cowboys weren’t paying attention, Dameane Douglas recovered, and four minutes later, Donovan McNabb’s one-yard TD pass to tight end Jeff Thomason gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead on the way to a 41-14 rout. A brilliant beginning to a season that ended with the Eagles’ first playoff berth in four years.
2. Steve Van Buren 95-yard kick return TD
Eagles at Redskins, Shibe Park, 1947
NFL
On Day 1 of their 15th season in the NFL, the Eagles trailed the Redskins, 14-10, in the second quarter when future Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren took a kickoff and ran 95 yards for a touchdown that gave the Eagles the lead for good on the way to their first NFC Championship Game. It was the second of Van Buren’s three career kick return touchdowns.
3. Ron Jaworski 56-yard TD pass to Harold Carmichael
Broncos at Eagles, Veterans Stadium, 1980
After an 11-5 season in 1979, expectations were high in 1980 and the Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the Broncos on their first series of the season on Ron Jaworski’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Harold Carmichael. The Eagles went on to a 27-6 rout and a 12-4 record and made it all the way to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Raiders.
4. Timmy Brown, 105-yard kickoff return TD
Browns at Eagles, Franklin Field, 1961
In their first game the year after they won the NFL Championship, the Eagles got on the scoreboard first when Timmy Brown took the opening kickoff and ran 105 yards for a touchdown, the first of his franchise-record five kick return touchdowns, then an NFL record and to this day the eighth-most in NFL history. The Eagles won 27-20 and went 10-4 that year but missed a return trip to the NFL Championship Game when they finished second in the Eastern Conference, half a game behind the 10-3-1 Giants.
5. Randall Cunningham 37-yard TD pass to Mike Quick
Eagles at Buccaneers, Tampa Stadium, 1988
The Eagles were coming off six straight losing seasons when the 1988 season began, but they made a statement with a 41-14 rout of the Bucs. It began with Randall Cunningham’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Mike Quick just 2:30 into the game. The Eagles led 21-0 after the first quarter and 34-0 after the first half. They went on to a 10-6 record, their first winning season since 1981, and won the NFC East for the first time since the 1980 Super Bowl season.
6. Donovan McNabb 90-yard TD pass to Hank Baskett
Rams at Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, 2008
The Eagles were already up 14-0 in the second quarter of the 2008 opener when Donovan McNabb spotted Hank Baskett wide open racing down the left sideline. He lobbed a pass that Baskett caught at the Eagles’ 45, then ran the rest of the way untouched to the end zone. That remains the sixth-longest opening-day touchdown pass in NFL history. It was an up-and-down season for the Eagles, but despite winning just nine games they wound up in the NFC Championship Game.
7. Nick Foles 68-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin
Jaguars at Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, 2014
One of the greatest comebacks in Eagles history came in the 2014 opener, when the Eagles bounced back from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit to beat the Jaguars, 34-17. The play that gave the Eagles the lead for good was Nick Foles’ 68-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin early in the fourth quarter. That remains one of only two games in NFL history in which a team led by 17 or more points at halftime and wound up losing by 17 or more points.
8. Brian Westbrook 50-yard run
Giants at Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, 2004
The Giants led the Eagles 7-0 midway through the first quarter of the 2004 opener when Brian Westbrook took a handoff from Donovan McNabb and darted through a gap that opened up between right guard Shawn Andrews — playing in his first NFL game — and right tackle Jon Runyan. Two plays later, McNabb threw the first of his four touchdown passes, 20 yards to Terrell Owens, playing his first game as an Eagle, and the game was tied at 7-all. T.O. caught two more TD passes and L.J. Smith also had one, and Westbrook finished with 119 yards as the Eagles began their Super Bowl run. Westbrook’s 50-yard run would wind up as the fourth-longest run of his brilliant NFL career.
9. Rodney Peete 54-yard pass to Jason Dunn
Eagles at Redskins, RFK Stadium, 1996
The game was tied at 7-all early in the second quarter, and the Eagles faced a 2nd-and-9 on their own 31-yard line when Rodney Peete threw over the middle to rookie tight end Jason Dunn, playing in his first NFL game. Dunn found some open space and ran 54 yards for a first down on the Redskins’ 15-yard line. Two plays later, Peete threw nine yards to Chris T. Jones for a touchdown that gave the Eagles the lead for good. They went on to a 10-6 season and a playoff berth. Dunn played 12 NFL seasons, but his first NFL catch wound up being the second-longest of his career.
10. Reggie White 70-yard fumble recovery TD
Eagles at Redskins, RFK Stadium, 1987
The Eagles wound up losing the 1987 opener, but when a defensive lineman returns a fumble 70 yards, it’s worth noting. The Redskins led by a touchdown late in the third quarter and had a 1st-and-10 on the Eagles’ 22-yard line when future Hall of Famer Reggie White not only sacked Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, he stole the ball from him as Williams was hitting the turf and ran 70 yards the other way for the game-tying touchdown. That would be the first of only two career TDs for the all-time great defensive end, and it remained the longest fumble recovery return by an Eagles defensive lineman until Mike Patterson’s 98-yarder in San Francisco in 2006.