Eagles pay homage to late Jim Johnson with shutout win against New York Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles' 27-0 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday night was their first shut out performance in nearly 20 years. The Eagles' last shut out victory came all the way back in December of 1996. Coincidentally, it was the Giants that Philadelphia beat in that game.

As you can tell, that's a very long stretch. Especially when you consider the Eagles had some strong defensive units throughout that period. Not even the late, great Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson was able to accomplish this feat. Johnson surely came close a number of times, but he never able to fully achieve that elusive shut out victory.

Eagles veteran defender Trent Cole reminisced back to the days of Johnson following the Eagles victory on Sunday night. Via Mark Eckel of NJ.com:

"Oh, man I remember Jim would always talk about never getting a shutout. We came so close,'' Cole said holding his finger and thumb close together. "But we never got it. I know it bothered him. He really wanted one.

"Now we got that goose egg and it feels good. We did it. We shut them out.''

It's been five years since Johnson tragically passed away from cancer in 2009. The Eagles' defense has rarely been the same since he has been gone. On Sunday night, however, the Eagles put on a performance that surely would have made Johnson proud.