There have been countless DeSean Jackson plays where he's made men look silly trying to cover or chase him down. In recent years, he's toasted Eagles' cornerbacks every time the Birds have faced him, and Philly has gone 1-5 against Jackson since Chip Kelly released him. Dumb. Anyway, here are my top 10 DeSean Jackson plays. We'll start with 1 because that's more fun.
Miracle at the New Meadowlands
In a December 2010 regular season matchup, the Philadelphia Eagles faced off against the New York Giants in the Giants’ brand new stadium, then known as the New Meadowlands Stadium. As time began to wind down in the fourth, with just over eight minutes to play, Eli Manning threw his fourth touchdown of the day, and the Giants took a commanding 31-10 lead.
Shortly after, the most dramatic comeback in Eagles history happened. The birds scored 21 points in six minutes, and with just over a minute to go, the Giants attempted to keep a game winning drive attempt alive but were forced to punt. Matt Dodge, the Giants’ young punter, was specifically instructed to kick the ball out of the bounds. They didn’t want DeSean Jackson to do what he inevitably was going to do – return the punt for a touchdown.
Jackson, well, you know, just watch the clip. It’ll definitely get you excited for the 2019 season when Jackson finally makes his return to Philadelphia.
88-yard Monday Night Football Bomb
There hasn’t been a faster QB-WR duo in NFL history than Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson. In their prime, they were each the fastest players in the league at their respective positions. On a Monday Night Football game against the Washington Redskins, Jackson showed off his speed, hands, and unbelievable ability to track the deep ball.
Vick and the offense sold the run to the Redskins defense, and Vick spun around to the hash marks. He used his cannon of an arm to heave the ball as far as he could – about 70 yards down the field into Jackson’s hands who took it all the way for 88 yards. This is still one of the top three most beautiful deep balls I’ve ever seen.
91-yard catch and run against Dallas
One of the classics. Backed up near their own endzone, Michael Vick decided to throw a quick out route to Jackson who somehow managed to stay in bounds, retreat to the middle of the field, and out run three or four Cowboys who jokingly tried to chase him down. They simply did not have enough juice to catch Jackson.
Jackson celebrated his wonderful gift of speed and elusiveness by turning around just by entering the end zone and falling back into the touchdown.
Deep Ball Catch Against Green Bay
In 2013, Nick Foles took a chance on a deep pass to Jackson who was covered by Tramon Williams and Morgan Burnett of the Green Bay Packers. The two defenders collided and the ball had been tipped in the air. Jackson kept his focus, grabbed the ball, and back-walked his way into the endzone – viciously staring down the Green Bay players.
Jackson's Contribution to Foles' 7-Touchdown Performance
This one is in here purely off of historic significance. Nick Foles threw 7 touchdowns against the Raiders in Week 9 of the 2013 season, and is still the only quarterback to do so with a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Jackson gets wide open for Foles’ sixth touchdown throw of the game.
2008 NFC Championship Game Touchdown Over DRC
Down by five in the 2008 NFC Championship game with just under 11 minutes to go, Donovan McNabb aired it out for Jackson who was covered by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Jackson had a step on the Cardinals defensive back who would eventually play with Jackson in 2011, but Jackson was able to keep his focus on a tipped ball, gain possession, and strut his way into the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown.
The Forgotten Punt Return Against the Giants
There’s a punt return against the New York Giants that often is forgotten because the Miracle at the Meadowlands return is always going to be better, but Jackson actually ran a punt return back on the Giants twice. The first one came in 2009 in a shootout that the Eagles won 45-38. Jackson posted huge numbers in this one, catching 6 balls for 178 yards, a touchdown, and 83 total return yards with a touchdown.
End-Around Run for a Long Touchdown
In 2010, the Eagles squared off against the Falcons, and not only did Jackson catch a 34-yard touchdown in this game, he actually ran a touchdown in on an end-around that should honestly be a little higher up on this list. It’s only 34 yards, though, so we’ll keep it at 8.
Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!
In the aforementioned shootout game against the Giants, Jackson caught a deep ball and performed a dance while advancing into the end zone. It’s still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen a professional football player do in a game.
Snow Bowl Touchdown
Everyone remembers this game – the Snow Bowl. In 2013, when the Detroit Lions paid a visit to the Linc, the Philadelphia region was smacked with a ton of a snow – SO MUCH SNOW. The NFL decided to let’em play anyway, and the Eagles quickly found themselves down 14-0 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. On this particular play, Nick Foles rolled out to his right and chucked the ball up softly – it seemed to hang in the air forever until DeSean appeared in the back of the endzone, waiting for it to land in his arms for the Eagles’ first score of the game. They’d eventually come back and win.
Hopefully I'll be able to add to this list by the time he's finished his career up in Philadelphia.
