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Miracle at the Meadowlands

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This article is about a 1978 Eagles–Giants game. For a 2010 game involving the same two teams, see Miracle at the New Meadowlands.
Miracle at the Meadowlands/The Fumble
DateNovember 19, 1978
StadiumGiants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
RefereeCal Lepore
Attendance70,318
TV in the United States
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersDon Criqui and Sonny Jurgensen

The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978, NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. It is considered miraculous because the Giants were ahead and could easily have run out the final seconds; they had the ball and the Eagles had no timeouts left. Everyone watching expected quarterback Joe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giants upset. Instead, he botched an attempt to hand off the football to fullback Larry Csonka. Edwards picked up the dropped ball and ran 26 yards for the winning score.

Giants fans refer to the play simply as "The Fumble," though that name is generally used outside of New York for a play in the 1987 AFC Championship Game between the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos.

Background

It was the first meeting between the divisional rivals that season. The Eagles were in third place in the NFC East, behind the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins; the Giants were in fourth. The teams went into the game in similar situations, but heading in different directions. They had playoff hopes, especially since this was the first 16-game NFL season, but likely would have to settle for a wild card berth due to the solid lead the powerful Dallas Cowboys had in the division. Given the similarity of their records, it was likely the outcome would have playoff implications, since the first tie-breaker for a wild card spot is the head-to-head record.

Giants

Going into the game, the Giants were 5–6. A three-game losing streak on the road had made the team's playoff prospects much dimmer since midseason. However, a win at home against the favored Eagles could, the team hoped, reverse the trend and keep an outside shot at a playoff spot alive. Despite the team's storied past, the Giants had not played in the postseason since 1963 and had managed only two winning seasons since then. Although they were the league's fourth oldest franchise, they were almost a non-entity in the post-merger NFL. The move to New Jersey in 1976 had alienated some longtime fans, even if it made more seats available. Fans had never gone this long without a contender, but while they were growing restless, they were still forgiving.

However, there was little pressure they could bring to bear on the people who could ultimately make changes, longtime team owners Wellington Mara and his nephew Tim, who inherited his father Jack's stake in the team after Jack Mara died in 1965. The two managed team operations closely, but feuded so bitterly with each other that at one point a partition had to be erected between their seats in the owners' box. The effects of this uncertainty and instability at the highest managerial level affected the team's play, most significantly when it came to some apparently inexplicable personnel decisions. It was not lost on fans that players (Craig Morton and Fran Tarkenton) and coaches (Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi) who had once been in the Giants' fold were now enjoying or had enjoyed great success elsewhere. The team also had passed over future stars for less able players in the annual draft.

But all this was for naught. With far more demand for tickets than there were available, the team was financially healthy no matter how poorly it performed on the field, and the Maras were widely viewed as complacent by observers who didn't know the depth of the ownership schism.

Friction between offensive players and assistant coaches

The week before the game, players, particularly on offense, had complained to reporters about the team's assistant coaches. Head coach John McVay was popular with them. He had taken over the team in the middle of the 1976 season after Bill Arnsparger was fired and improved morale while adding talented players to the team. However, the players were not so enthusiastic about many of the longtime friends he had hired as assistants. The players felt the assistant coaches were uninterested in helping younger players develop, at least compared to their counterparts on other teams. As an example, they pointed out that the season before, none of the team's three quarterbacks had had any previous NFL experience, yet no quarterback coach had been hired. They also noted that one of the few coaches who seemed to care, Jerry Wampfler, coached the offensive line, one of the Giants' most improved units that season.[1]

Offensive coordinator Bob Gibson was the most frequent target of complaints. He had taken to the relatively nascent practice (now quite common) of calling all the plays from the upstairs press box. Pisarcik had often challenged Gibson about this, sometimes openly, over the past two seasons.[1] The players felt that Gibson should let Pisarcik call plays. They pointed out that during the previous week's loss to Washington, the team had attempted only three passes on several third-and-long situations during the game. They also felt insulted that on a third-and-7 in overtime, the coaches had called a run play.[1] Gibson for his part had limited confidence in Pisarcik's passing ability, an opinion widely shared (the media in New York referred to him as "off-Broadway Joe", a sarcastic reference to former New York Jets' quarterback, "Broadway Joe" Namath). He and other coaches pointed out that the three passing attempts the players pointed to had resulted in two interceptions and a sack.[1]

The team's general philosophy at the time was to concentrate on its improving defense and play conservatively on offense until it could be made more competitive. Players on the Giants' offense became frustrated over this decision and wanted more chances to prove themselves.[1]

Eagles

At 6–5, things looked a little more promising for the visitors. The two-game win streak they took into the game had gotten them over a .500 first half. Momentum clearly was on their side, and the Giants had not beaten the Eagles since the opening game of the 1975 season, three years prior. Still, the Giants were a decent team, and the Eagles knew they could not relax.

They, too, were an old-line NFL franchise coming off many years in the doldrums. They had not been to the playoffs since winning their third NFL title in 1960, and had only notched two winning seasons in the 17 years since then. However, their fans were less inclined to be forgiving than Giants' fans. A loss to the slumping Giants would have dealt a severe blow to the confidence the team needed to maintain over the last quarter of its schedule, in which it would face not only the Cowboys, but the equally formidable Minnesota Vikings as well as the Giants again in Philadelphia. 1978 was also viewed as an important season for head coach Dick Vermeil, as there was little doubt the Eagles were playing much better under his watch, but there was also a great deal of local impatience for concrete results.

The game

1978 Week Twelve: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 0 6 01319
Giants 14 0 3017

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

The Giants rose to the challenge. Two early Pisarcik touchdown passes gave them a commanding lead, which they extended with a field goal in the second half. The Eagles, conversely, struggled, missing one of their extra point attempts and botching the snap on the other. The Eagles found themselves down 17–12, meaning they could only win the game with a touchdown as time wound down.[2]

Deep in their own territory, the Giants' Doug Kotar fumbled late in the fourth quarter, raising hopes (or fears) of a comeback by the visitors. Those were quickly put to rest, however, when rookie defensive back Odis McKinney's first NFL interception gave the Giants possession of the football after the two-minute warning. The Eagles had exhausted all their timeouts by this point.[2]

Fans in the stands began heading for the exits as the game seemed all but over, with no apparent remaining danger of an Eagles comeback. Nowadays, teams in this situation let the play clock run down to the last possible second and have the quarterback take a knee. On the sidelines, a disgusted Eagles coach Dick Vermeil was turning his attention away from the field and toward the postgame press conference, where he would have to explain to reporters why his team had fallen to an inferior opponent.

The Giants' possession

Since the rule to allow QBs to simply kneel didn't take effect until 1987, Pisarcik took the snap on first down [3] and rolled on the ground (a common play for QBs in the pre-kneel era). Eagles middle linebacker Bill Bergey charged into Giants' center Jim Clack, knocking him backward into Pisarcik in a desperate attempt to force a fumble. Since defensive players usually are not blocked in this situation, they usually in turn do not rush. Offensive players consider any breach of this tacit agreement as a provocation, particularly linemen whose job it is to protect the quarterback, and fights between angry linemen and the opposition were not uncommon.

Gibson did not want to expose his quarterback to further risk of injury, nor did he want to risk his players being fined for violating the league's rules against fighting. Most importantly, the last thing he wanted was for his team to get a penalty, which could stop the clock and require getting another first down to secure the win. He also personally despised the kneeling play, considering it unsporting and somewhat dishonorable (a view popular among a lot of coaches of the period). Also given that the play clock at the time was only 30 seconds (as it would remain through the 1987 season), a play had to be run. So on second down he called "65 Power-Up", a standard play which called for Csonka to take a handoff and run up the middle. Csonka took the ball and ran for 11 yards. For the third play in the Giants' series, the same play was called again.

In the huddle, the Giants were incredulous when the call came in. "Don't give me the ball," begged fullback Larry Csonka, the former Dolphins star. Other players asked Pisarcik to change the play, but he demurred.[2] Gibson had berated him for changing a play the week before and threatened to have him waived if he ever did so again. Gibson did not take the time to explain his decision to Pisarcik. As a result, the rest of the offense simply viewed Gibson's call as a power trip. Because he was a second-year starting quarterback who still had not totally proven himself, in the era before free agency, Pisarcik lacked the stature to prevail in this kind of dispute.

Csonka claims that, as he walked away from the huddle, he told Pisarcik he would not take the ball if he went through with it. It is not known whether the quarterback heard him or not, however. McVay's headphones, which normally allowed him to communicate with Pisarcik and Gibson, were not working properly at that point either. McVay has since stated that he would certainly have overruled Gibson had he heard what was coming.

Across the line of scrimmage, the Eagles had not huddled, as defensive coordinator Marion Campbell called for an all-out 11-man blitz. Edwards, who as a defensive back normally would have been several yards deep, was instead close enough to Kotar to talk to him (the Giants player assured him that his team was just going to kneel again). Vermeil later said the blitz made the victory possible.

The Giants wasted several seconds in the huddle in dismay over the play-calling. At the line, Clack saw the play clock winding down and took it upon himself to snap it with 31 seconds left in the game to avoid a delay-of-game penalty, which would have stopped the clock and cost the Giants five yards. Had the Giants knelt on the subsequent play, there still would have been one second left on the game clock once the play clock ran down, requiring a fourth-down play to be run (the play clock at the time ran for 30 seconds; it now runs for 40).

Pisarcik, who at the time was distracted making sure Csonka was in position, was unprepared for the snap. It struck his middle finger so hard there was still blood on the nail after the game.[4] Nevertheless, he held on to the ball after a slight bobble and tried to hand it off to Csonka. Instead, the ball hit Csonka's hip and came loose.

Edwards recovered it on its first bounce as Pisarcik unsuccessfully attempted to fall on it. Kotar, who could have blocked him or fallen on the ball himself, never even saw the fumble, according to Edwards. Once Edwards got it, he sprinted 26 yards untouched into the end zone for a 19–17 Eagles victory. There was stunned silence from the stands and the Giants' sideline. The only noise came from the celebrating Eagles.

The call

With Giants victory all but assured, CBS commentator Don Criqui (working alongside Sonny Jurgensen) began reading the end credits of the show shortly before the game's final play:

It's Giants football now, third and two. We thank our producer Bob Rowe, our director Jim Silman, and our CBS crew, spotter and statistician John Mara and Tom McHugh here at Giants Stadium. As the clock winds down on the Philadelphia Eagles, a game they thought would project them into a possible wildcard position, it would bring them 7–5 had they won, but a late interception by the Giants will preserve a Giant victory, an upset win as the Giants lead 17–12, we’re inside 30 seconds, the Eagles have no timeouts. [At this point, the snap and fumble take place.] Wait a minute... here's a free football, I don't believe it! The Eagles pick it up and Herman Edwards runs it in for a touchdown! An incredible development!

After the game, while showing league highlights, CBS replayed the play. They showed the reaction of both coaches, while Brent Musburger famously narrated, "A study in contrast!" According to RJ Bell of Pregame, the point spread of Philadelphia Eagles −2 turned Giants winning bets into pushes.

The immediate aftermath

For Edwards, the play was a personal redemption, as he had been burned on one of Pisarcik's early touchdown passes and would have been partially to blame for the loss. It also was his first NFL touchdown. Vermeil refused to question McVay's judgment but allowed that he, too, disliked sitting on the ball to preserve a victory.[2]

Giants fans were enraged. For a football team to lose in that situation was unprecedented. Pisarcik, who belatedly explained to the press, "I never had control,"[2] needed a police escort to get to his car.[4] During an NFL Network show about famous on-field bloopers, Csonka said that he immediately had Pisarcik join him on a chartered plane trip to South Florida, where they hung out and fished for a few days before returning to New York.

Gibson was fired the next morning.[5] With angry fans already demanding that someone be held responsible for the blunder, team officials felt he had to go in hopes of saving the season.[6] So great was the stigma of having called the play that he never worked in football at any level again. After his firing, Gibson moved to Florida where he subsequently became manager of a local bait shop.[7] Up to his death on April 10, 2015, he refused to speak about the incident.[8]

Giants fan reaction

Fans turned on management and ownership as previously grumbled complaints about the team's ineptitude turned into an incessant roar. Their team was now the laughingstock of the league. The Fumble (a term in use before the end of the week) epitomized all the mismanagement and all the talent the team had let get away.

At a demonstration outside the stadium prior to the next home game against the Los Angeles Rams, many fans threw their tickets into a bonfire. A Newark furniture dealer named Morris Spielberg organized a Giants' Fans Committee after running an ad in the Newark Star-Ledger that drew hundreds of responses. They met at a hotel near the stadium prior to the team's final home game on December 10 against the St. Louis Cardinals and distributed flyers to pass out to fellow fans during the game. Spielberg had arranged for a plane to fly over the stadium with a banner reading "15 Years of Lousy Football — We've Had Enough." When it came, fans were to chant, "We've had enough."

The Giants posted a 17–0 shutout win, but when the plane came (an hour behind schedule), fans showed the victory was not enough to make them forget their recent humiliation. There were more than 24,000 empty seats, yet crowd applause and chants briefly stopped play.

The rest of the season

The surprise finish accelerated the directions both teams were taking over the season's final four games. They met in Veterans Stadium in the final regular season game.

Eagles

Philadelphia was able to extend its win streak to four games the next week, before losing to Dallas and Minnesota. The Eagles managed a season sweep of the Giants with an easy 20–3 victory in the finale to finish 9–7 and snare the second of two wild-card spots available under the playoff format at that time. "One play gets you feeling like you have confidence," Edwards explained years later. "You're not worried about losing anymore; now you're thinking about how you can win."[9]

The Eagles lost the playoff game to the Atlanta Falcons because of another failed extra point, in addition to a missed field goal as time expired. But it gave them and their fans something to build on for the next season. Philadelphia corrected its kicking woes by drafting barefoot Tony Franklin from Texas A&M in 1979. As a rookie, Franklin booted a 59-yard field goal on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys during a 31–21 victory at Texas Stadium.

Giants

At first, the Giants tried to look ahead and recover. They vowed to win their remaining four games and protect McVay's job. Instead, the collapse continued. The next week, the Giants blew a 10-point lead over the 3–9 Buffalo Bills late in the game, giving up 27 points in the fourth quarter to lose 41–17. They would win only one more game the rest of the season, finishing with a 6–10 record. The sweep by Philadelphia ensured the Giants would finish last in the division (tied with the Cardinals) for the third straight season, extending their rut and further angering fans.

After the season

Eagles

The next year, the Eagles again earned a wild-card spot and then won their first post-merger playoff game over the Chicago Bears before falling to Tampa Bay. Following that season, the Giants traded Pisarcik to them for a draft choice. He would finish his career as a backup to Ron Jaworski five years later. His entire NFL career is usually embodied in that play, and while he is sometimes reluctant to talk about it, he admits that at least people remember his name thanks to it.

The Eagles' momentum carried them further in the 1980–81 season, to the division championship, then the conference title and finally to Super Bowl XV, which they lost 27–10 to the Oakland Raiders at the Superdome in New Orleans. "We won the game at the end, and we went on to the playoffs," Edwards said. "The next thing, we're playing in the Super Bowl." He, too, would find that the play defined his career, even though he remained part of the Eagles' lineup for another seven years before going into coaching after a final season split between the Falcons and Rams.

Giants

McVay's contract expired and, as expected, was not renewed. He said in 2008 that had the Giants won, the team likely would have won two more games, his contract would have been renewed, "and now I'd be dead with a heart attack."[6] McVay never coached again, but went on to a front-office job with the San Francisco 49ers, where he helped develop that team into one of the most dominant of the 1980s. Andy Robustelli, a former All-Pro defensive end who served as the team's director of operations, was also let go.

Csonka's contract was up as well. Since McVay, with whom he had played in the World Football League's Memphis Southmen before signing with the Giants, was gone and his career was ending, he decided to return to Miami, site of his past glories, for one final season. He would win an NFL Comeback Player of the Year award before retiring.

Despite widespread calls to hire Joe Paterno or another successful college coach, the Giants settled on Ray Perkins, then an assistant for the San Diego Chargers, to replace McVay. While Perkins was able to follow the Eagles' lead and build a team that eventually made the playoffs in 1981, the moves that really made a difference for the Giants drew less attention that off-season.

Wellington Mara had been running football operations himself since joining the organization in the late 1930s, long after most teams had hired a general manager. He had delegated some of his authority to Robustelli in 1974, but still had the final say in on-field matter. However, the fan revolt that erupted in the wake of the Fumble made the Maras realize that they needed to delegate most of the decisions that sorely divided them. As with many other team matters, they kept arguing over whom to hire as general manager. In the off-season, they called on NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to mediate. He suggested George Young, then an executive with the Miami Dolphins, whom they hired. He proved to be a superb judge of talent, drafting Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor and other future Giants stars over the next few seasons.

Perkins also brought with him a new defensive coordinator, Bill Parcells. When Perkins resigned after the 1982 season to succeed the late Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, Parcells took over as head coach. He survived a disastrous first season to lead the talent Young had acquired to two Super Bowl championships, and then find further success with the New England Patriots, Jets and Cowboys before a brief stint as the Dolphins' football operations chief. Parcells is revered today as one of the greatest coaches of the game.

Legacy

The Miracle at the Meadowlands has left a lasting impact on the way organized football is played at all levels, not just in the NFL. Most notably, it legitimized the quarterback kneel. Coaches everywhere took heed of Gibson's fate and immediately began instructing quarterbacks to sit on the ball in similar situations. Some traditionalists feel that the kneel-down has been detrimental to the game and have called for rule changes to eliminate or discourage the play.[citation needed] Other leagues, such as the Arena Football League, have done just that, and now require the ball to be advanced past the line of scrimmage in order for the clock to continue running in the final minute of play.

Formation used ever since the Fumble/Miracle for quarterback kneel play.

Formation change

The week after the game, both the Giants and Eagles implemented a new offensive formation to be used only in end-of-game kneeldowns. It is popularly known as the "Victory Formation" or "Victory Offense".

Not only did the infamous game-losing play make kneeling acceptable, but most of the teams using it changed how it was done. Prior to Pisarcik's fumble, teams had employed standard offensive formations such as an I or a split backfield. The Eagles' unlikely touchdown, however, had made the weakness of doing so glaring. Even though Pisarcik had been trying to hand off instead of kneeling, when he fumbled the snap, there was not only no offensive player there to try to recover it, no one was in position to tackle Edwards and prevent the touchdown either.

At the end of the first half of the Bills game the following week, the Giants debuted the new formation when Pisarcik knelt to preserve their lead. Two running backs stood closely behind Pisarcik while a third (usually a speedy player such as a wide receiver) was stationed as a sort of safety several yards back.

The Eagles, too, had practiced a similar formation in practice, calling it the Herman Edwards play. Other NFL teams soon followed the lead, and today the formation is standard in college and high school games as well.

Similar plays

The play has been recalled often by fans and reporters in later years when a team fumbled away a sure victory late in the game, although it never happened quite as spectacularly as it did that first time.

Probably the most famous play to evoke the Miracle of the Meadowlands, although with a very different outcome, occurred almost three decades later in a 2006 Steelers-Colts AFC divisional playoff game. As in 1978, an Indianapolis turnover on downs had given Pittsburgh the ball on the Indianapolis 2-yard line and an apparent three-point victory over the heavily favored Colts in the game's final two minutes. However, the Steelers had to keep running the ball, as the Colts still had all their timeouts left. A field goal would have at least required the Colts to score a touchdown (plus kick the extra point) to win the game, while a touchdown would essentially clinch victory, so it was in the Steelers' interest to keep running. A pass would run the risk of being intercepted, or seeing the defense knock the ball out of the quarterback's hand. But on the very first play, running back Jerome Bettis, who had not fumbled all season, had the ball knocked loose by Indianapolis middle linebacker Gary Brackett. Defensive back Nick Harper recovered the ball and appeared to be on the way to an Edwards-like touchdown, but Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger managed to tackle Harper near midfield.

Steelers fans and players feared that Bettis was about to end his career with the same ignominy that followed Pisarcik. Several plays later, however, Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt wound up the game's goat, evoking another memorable football moment when he missed what would have been the tying field goal, ending what had been a strong season for his team. The Steelers eventually went on to a Super Bowl victory that year, and the play would instead enter NFL lore as "The Tackle II".

The play most directly analogous to the Miracle involved a player's, rather than a coach's, questionable decision that cost his team a game. On Thanksgiving Day 1993, the Cowboys were playing their customary holiday contest, this time against the visiting Dolphins, in sleet. As the clock ticked down, Dallas appeared to have won when it blocked a 41-yard Miami field goal. But as several Dolphin players were gathered around the ball, waiting for it to come to rest in order to down it as close as possible to the Dallas goal, Dallas defensive end Leon Lett sprinted downfield to try to recover it. He slipped on the slick surface and touched the ball. His touch meant that it became a live ball and Miami was able to recover at the Dallas 1 and kick a field goal for a 16–14 victory.

Lett earned comparisons to Pisarcik and the 1978 Giants since his action was as unnecessary and seemed equally inexplicable. It was fourth down and the ball would have been turned over to Dallas anyway. Coming on the heels of the previous year's Super Bowl, when a prematurely celebrating Lett had been stripped on a fourth-quarter fumble return as he was about to score a touchdown, the Thanksgiving gaffe cemented his reputation for unthinking play that overshadowed his entire career.

A near-identical play in a 1999 collegiate game allowed the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to steal a victory from Baylor. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Baylor had a 24–21 lead and possession of the football near the UNLV goal line. With UNLV out of timeouts, only a kneeldown was necessary. However, instead of trying to run out the clock, Baylor elected to try for a touchdown in an attempt to run up the final score. Baylor running back Darryl Bush fumbled while trying to punch his way into the end zone, and UNLV's Kevin Thomas picked up the loose football and went 99 yards for the game-winning touchdown on the last play of the game.[10]

"The Miracle on the Mountain" is another play with similar circumstances. It took place on October 12, 2002 in a game between the home Appalachian State Mountaineers and visiting Furman Paladins at Kidd Brewer Stadium. A low scoring affair, the Paladins elected to attempt a two-point conversion after scoring the go-ahead touchdown with seven seconds left in the game. Leading 15–14, Furman quarterback Billy Napier's pass was intercepted by Josh Jeffries at the four-yard line. He lateraled the ball to Derrick Black, who returned it for a score, giving the Mountaineers a 16–15 win.

A similar play occurred during a Monday Night Football game between the Chargers and Chiefs on October 31, 2011. Tied 20–20, the Chargers offense marched the ball down the field to the Chiefs' 15-yard line. With one minute left, the Chiefs had no timeouts and the Chargers could run the clock down to the final seconds. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers snapped the ball with the intent to simply fall down and to the left, to line up kicker Nick Novak for the game-winning field goal. However, on the snap, the football jammed into Rivers' ring finger, visibly dislocating it, causing Rivers to fumble the ball.[11][12] Chiefs linebacker Andy Studebaker recovered the fumble in the resulting scrum.[13] The Chiefs went on to win in overtime 23–20.[14] Rivers was seen on the sidelines mouthing the words "This is the worst day ever."[15] As a result of the win, the Chiefs moved into a three-way tie for the lead in the AFC West.

Another occurrence capped Kansas State's 38-35 comeback victory November 21, 2015, over Iowa State. Kansas State had rallied from a 35-14 halftime deficit to pull to within one touchdown. With 1:31 left, Iowa State having possession on first down and the Wildcats having just one time out remaining, the Cyclones chose instead to run the ball before fumbling the ball away; Kansas State would tie the game on the ensuing possession. On Iowa State's next series, starting with 50 seconds remaining, the Cyclones again chose to run a play rather than take a knee and send the game into overtime, but quarterback Joel Lanning was sacked on second down and lost possession of the ball, ultimately leading to a game-winning field goal by the Wildcats.[16][17] Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads' play-calling in the final 90 seconds of the game, the culmination of a difficult 2015 season for ISU, ultimately led to his firing.[18]

Other uses

On September 23, 1991, in a Monday Night game between the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears, the Jets were leading 13–6 and had the ball with two minutes remaining. With thousands of fans already having given up and headed to the Soldier Field parking lot, running back Blair Thomas took a handoff. Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael stopped Thomas cold and then proceeded to wrestle the ball from his grasp, falling on the fumble at the Jets' 36-yard line with 1:54 remaining. On the final play of regulation, Jim Harbaugh threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Neal Anderson; Bears kicker Kevin Butler tied the game with the extra point. In overtime, Harbaugh scored from the one-yard line to clinch the win for Chicago.

On October 23, 2000, the New York Jets overcame a 30–7 fourth-quarter deficit in a Monday Night Football (MNF) contest against the Miami Dolphins to win 40–37 in overtime. It was the greatest comeback in MNF history, and was later voted the best Monday Night Football game ever by the show's fans. Jets fans have referred to this game, too, as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands", though it is known throughout the NFL as The Monday Night Miracle.

A punt return by Brian Westbrook of the Eagles with 1:16 left on the clock on October 19, 2003 is occasionally referenced as a "Miracle at the Meadowlands".[19][20] The play and subsequent extra point gave the Eagles a 14–10 victory over the Giants at Giants Stadium.

On December 14, 2008, the New York Jets were trailing the Buffalo Bills 27–24 with 1:45 left. The Jets had struggled to stop the Bills running game the entire day and the Bills were currently in possession of the ball on their own 20-yard line when Bills quarterback J.P. Losman ran a play action option. Jets safety Abram Elam sacked Losman and caused a fumble, which Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis picked up and ran for a touchdown to give the Jets a 31–27 victory (on the next Bills possession, Losman was picked off by cornerback Darrelle Revis). The New York Post ran an article the next day referring to the game as the Miracle at the Meadowlands sequel.[21]

The "Miracle at the New Meadowlands" was played on December 19, 2010. The Giants were leading the Eagles by a score of 31–10 with 7:28 left in the 4th quarter. The Eagles mounted a comeback by scoring 28 points culminating in a game-winning touchdown as time expired to win 38–31. Giants punter Matt Dodge kicked to DeSean Jackson on the final play, which resulted in a 65-yard punt return touchdown, as time expired.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Katz, Michael (November 19, 1978). "Giants Voice Mutual Animosity". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e Katz, Michael (November 20, 1978). "Giants Lose Unbelievably; 20 Seconds Left As Eagles Win". The New York Times.
  3. ^ NFL Game of the Week. NFL Films. 1978. Event occurs at 17 minutes. Tape 52935. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Katz, Michael (November 26, 1978). "Giants' Progress is Key Asset for McVay". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Katz, Michael (November 21, 1978). "Giants Oust Gibson A Day After Bungle". The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b Gola, Hank (November 18, 2008). "30 years later, Giant disappointment of 'The Fumble' still lingers". New York Daily News.
  7. ^ Daly, Buzz (November 4, 2005). "Mara's Legacy with Giants Recalled". Eye on Gambling. Retrieved February 24, 2006.
  8. ^ ESPN NFL Live, November 19, 2008, 4:00pm EST, second segment. Gibson was reached by telephone by ESPN and gave the following statement: "I haven't talked about the game for thirty years, and I'm not about to start now."
  9. ^ Barber, Phil (November 12, 2003). "Miracle of Meadowlands Turns 25". NFL.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
  10. ^ Scout.com: 100 Greatest Finishes – No. 41 to 50
  11. ^ http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2011/11/1/2528919/wurst-night-ever
  12. ^ http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/11/1/2528786/phillip-rivers-fumble-video-chargers-chiefs
  13. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mvIlyHGyVA
  14. ^ http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/11/1/2529467/san-diego-chargers-vs-kansas-city-chiefs-highlights-monday-night-football/in/2291673
  15. ^ http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Chargers-Rivers-This-is-the-worst-day-ever-2246062.php
  16. ^ Birch, Tommy, "Kansas State stuns error-prone ISU," Des Moines Register, November 21, 2015. Accessed 11-21-2015. [Kansas State stuns error-prone ISU]
  17. ^ Birch, Tommy, "Status report: Iowa State fumbles away a victory," Des Moines Register, November 21, 2015. Accessed 11-23-2015. [1]
  18. ^ Peterson, Randy, and Tommy Birch, "Paul Rhoads fired as Iowa State coach, will coach, will coach finale," Des Moines Register, November 22, 2015. Accessed 11-22-2015. [2]
  19. ^ Michael Lipinski (December 19, 2010). "Miracle...Part III. Jackson's Punt Return Clinches Win But Give Vick Credit For The Victory". Section 247 Sportsblog. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  20. ^ "Eagles pull off another Miracle at the Meadowlands". CBS Sports. October 19, 2003. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  21. ^ Vaccaro, Mike. "Sack, Scoop provide Miracle at Meadowlands Sequel". New York Post.
  22. ^ "Comcast SportsNet coverage of the December 19, 2010 game". Retrieved December 19, 2010.

References

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