It wasn't necessarily Mike Michel's fault--a punter by trade, he wasn't even supposed to be shoudlering the Eagles' placekicking duties. But when Nick Mike-Mayer was lost for the season, it fell on Michel to do the all-around kicking, and the results were not good--only 75% of PATs converted in the regular season, and a miss off a Harold Carmichael TD reception in the Eagles' post-season contest against the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 24th, 1978.
Normally a missed extra point wouldn't end up being such a big deal, but as it turned out, the blown PAT might've made the difference in the game. After Wilbert Montgomery's one-yard rushing score in the second quarter, for which Michel made the kick, the Eagles did not score again, and after two Falcons touchdowns (both passes from Pro Bowler Steve Bartkowski), both with converted PATs, the Falcons took a 14-13 lead they would not relinquish.
Making the loss all the more painful was that it was, well...the first one the Eagles had played in a little while. In fact, the Birds had not sniffed the post-season in 18 years--since they won their last NFL Championship (back when it was still called the NFL Championship) in 1960. Luckily, even though the season itself was a little fluky (Miracle at the Meadowlands, anyone?), the Eagles' success turned out to be for real, and under Dick Vermeil's guidance, the team made the playoffs each of the next three seasons--making it to their first Super Bowl in 20 years in 1980.
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Philly would get their revenge on Atlanta in time. Twice this decade, the Eagles have dispatched the Dirty Birds from the playoffs, most notably in the 2004-'05 NFC Championship Game.