The Original Miracle at the Meadowlands and the Birth of ‘Victory Formation’

The National Football Conference East is one of the most storied divisions in NFL history. All four teams in the division are huge parts of the league's history, and the battles between them have created some of the most iconic matchups that fans have ever seen. One such matchup was the meeting between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 19, 1978.

The scene was set for a fantastic game between two teams that were decidedly unfriendly towards each other. The visiting Eagles were 6-5, a record that had them hanging around both the playoff picture and the NFC East divisional race. The Giants were in a similar boat with a 5-6 mark, a record that made the game a massively important one for New York to remain in the playoff hunt. Both teams needed a win, and both expected a hard-fought, drawn-out affair against an opponent that was evenly matched across the board.

Things got off to a hot start for the home team. Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik was giving the Philadelphia defense everything it could handle, tossing a couple of touchdowns in the first quarter, first to running back Bobby Hammond and then to wide receiver Johnny Perkins. New York was firmly in control in front of a rabid home crowd. The Eagles, who entered the game as two-point favorites, seemed to be pushed to the ropes.

However, Philadelphia got itself right back in the game in the second quarter. Running back Wilbert Montgomery punched through to the end zone on an 8-yard carry to draw the Eagles closer before halftime.

As the game progressed, both defenses stepped up their play. The Giants ended up picking off Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski a total of three times, a factor that helped keep them in the lead for the majority of the game. However, Pisarcik threw an interception of his own while failing to guide New York's offense to the end zone in the second half. New York's only second-half points came on the leg of kicker Joe Danelo, who nailed a field goal in the third quarter.

Jaworski only managed to lead one scoring drive in the second half, a touchdown from running back Mike Hogan. Hogan's trip to the end zone pulled Philadelphia to within five, but the Eagles looked doomed to lose 17-12 at the hands of their divisional rival.

Sports fans all over the world watch games for the endless "what ifs," the chance of something completely improbable happening in the biggest of moments. It is part of what makes all sports so appealing to watch and play. The fans who tuned into this game got every bit of what they hoped for at the end of this contest.

Time was about to expire, but the Giants still had to run one more play to run the clock down all the way. In a play that would never be called in today's NFL, Pisarcik opted to attempt to hand the ball off to fullback Larry Csonka in what should have been an easy exchange to seal a crucial victory. Instead, Pisarcik bumbled the handoff, with the ball falling to the turf, and with it, the Giants' chances of victory. Philadelphia defensive back Herm Edwards recovered the fumble and sprinted to the end zone, effectively ending the Giants' season.

The pure humiliation that resulted from the fumble had enormous ramifications for a New York team that once had a legitimate shot of making the postseason. Offensive coordinator Bob Gibson was immediately fired for calling a handoff, and head coach John McVay did not survive the offseason in his role at the head of the organization. New York obviously missed the playoffs, going 1-3 in its remaining games.

Pisarcik's iconic fumble also helped birth a new, far more effective way of closing out games. "Victory formation" was implemented into offenses throughout the NFL to ensure that offensive players did not even have to run a real play in order to finish off what remained of the clock in close games. What has become a fixture of every single NFL Sunday is owed to one brutal fumble by the New York Giants.

This type of loss usually happens once in the entire history of a franchise, but the Giants have had the misfortune of suffering through it twice. The most recent "Miracle at the Meadowlands" happened on Dec. 19, 2010, when Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson returned a punt for a touchdown against New York, the first walkoff win of its kind. Both games are considered two of the most improbable defeats ever suffered by any team, etching them in the history books.