Following a 4-0 start in 1992, the Eagles proceeded to lose three of their next four, prompting Philadelphia head coach Rich Kotite to bench starting quarterback Randall Cunningham for the team's next game, at home against the Raiders, in favor of Jim McMahon (during the aforementioned four-game span, Cunningham had a passer rating of 60.4 and was sacked 17 times, getting benched at halftime of the fourth game, at Dallas).
In that game, the Eagles routed the Raiders 31-10, greatly aided by 5 Raider turnovers, plus a 32-degree wind chill (the kickoff-time temperature was 39, with an 11 mph wind). The game was played on November 8.
The Eagles went 5-2 the rest of the way with Cunningham back in the lineup to finish 11-5 and obtain the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs, whereupon they traveled to New Orleans to defeat the Saints 36-20 for their first road playoff win since 1949 (!). True, they did lose 34-10 at the Hole-in-the-Roof (where God watched his team until 2009) in the divisional playoffs, but no team was going to beat them.
This team finds itself in an uncanny redux of 1992 this very week, as they play the Raiders at home again on Sunday — except that this Raider team is a lot worse than that one was, currently at 2-11 where the 1992 franchise was 7-9 (and 3-5 going into their game against the Eagles).
Not only that, but this season's Raiders are last in the entire NFL in points scored and next-to-last in total yards gained, whereas the '92 Raiders ranked 23rd (out of 28 teams) in both departments — and only Trevor Lawrence (83.3) and Cam Ward (74.9) have lower passer ratings among quarterbacks who have had enough attempts to qualify than Geno Smith (84.5) of Las Vegas (at the beginning of this century the average passing was about 79 — or midway between 0.0 and 158.3, which was how the passer rating system was supposed to work).
Furthermore, it was 18 degrees in Philadelphia this morning — and dating back to 2012, Oakland/Las Vegas is 7-25 straight up and 12-19-1 against the line "as a visitor in cold weather" — that's on the road at northern, outdoor venues in November or later, for those of you in Rio Linda, West Palm Beach and Staten Island.
In short, this is the perfect game in which to have Jalen Hurts sit this one out, as Jethro Tull sang in Thick as a Brick — just like it was for Randall Cunningham in 1992.
And if McKee impresses on Sunday, he can expect to become a permanent fixture in the team's offense — and given the 6-foot-6 McKee's superior "arm talent," it might open up the opportunity to use an early pick in the 2026 draft on a legitimate burner at wide receiver, like Zachariah Branch of Georgia (where else?), who is the great-nephew of fellow speedster and Hall of Famer Cliff Branch (1948-2019).
Another thing to keep in mind is that among the 18 quarterbacks who have played in all 13 of their teams' games, only three — Josh Allen (rather surprisingly), Tua Tagovailoa, and Sam Darnold — have attempted fewer passes than Jalen Hurts.
The 5 turnovers, including 4 interceptions, that Hurts served up on Monday night is clearly grounds for at least a temporary changing of the guard at quarterback.
You know what ABBA sang in their first hit single, Waterloo, in 1974:
"The history book on the shelf: it's always repeating itself."
Or as Yogi Berra famously said, it's deja vu all over again.
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