Eagles New Year's Notebook

-Courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles

*Philadelphia captured its seventh NFC East Division title since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. The Eagles and the New England Patriots have each won their respective divisions five out of the last six years. Prior to that, the last NFL team to accomplish that feat was the Dallas Cowboys, who won five straight division titles from 1992-96.

*For the first time in team history, the Eagles climbed out of a last place finish in their division/conference to win it the following year. The Eagles were 6-10 in 2005 and finished in fourth place in the NFC East. The New Orleans Saints also improved from a 3-13 last place record in 2005 to finish in first place this year at 10-6. This is the fourth straight year in which two NFL teams have accomplished that feat in the same season. The only other NFC East team to go from worst to first was the 1997 New York Giants.

*The Eagles concluded the regular season with a five-game winning streak for the first time since 1949, when they finished with eight straight victories. That year, the Eagles went on to win the NFL championship with a 14-0 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

*The Eagles set a team record with 6,103 total net yards of offense. Their previous best of 5,766 yards was
accomplished in 1980. In 2006, the Eagles offense led the NFL with 74 offensive plays of 20-yards-or-more (18 of those for touchdowns). The Eagles lit up the scoreboard with 398 points this year, which ranked 2nd in team history to the 415 scored in 2002. The 398 points finished sixth in the NFL/third in the NFC.

*The Eagles starting offensive line of William Thomas, Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Shawn Andrews, and Jon Runyan became the second unit in team history to start all 16 games in a season. The 2000 line of Thomas, John Welbourn, Bubba Miller, Jermane Mayberry, and Runyan, also accomplished
that feat. The only other offensive line to start all 16 regular games in 2006 was the Dallas Cowboys.

*Runyan finished the year with a streak of 160 consecutive regular season starts, the last 112 in an Eagles uniform. Only Brett Favre (237), Will Shields (233), and Derrick Brooks (176) have longer current streaks in the NFL.

*A.J. Feeley's 89-yard TD pass to Hank Baskett versus Atlanta was the longest passing play in the NFL in 2006 and the eighth longest in team history. In fact, Baskett's 87 yarder from Donovan McNabb vs. Dallas on October 8 was the second longest of the year. Baskett became the first Eagle to catch two touchdowns of 80-yards-or-more in the same season. Baskett is the second rookie in NFL history to post two touchdown receptions of 85 yards-or-more in a single season since Green Bay's Billy Howton did so in 1952.