Adrian Fedkiw
A lot of Eagles content gets published each day, so here’s a recap of your Eagles news from this past week.
You can sum up Buddy Ryan’s views and defensive philosophy in this one epic quote.
“A quarterback has never completed a pass when he was flat on his back. We must hit the quarterback hard and often. Quarterbacks are overpaid, overrated pompous bastards and must be punished. Great pass coverage is a direct result of a great pass rush, and a great pass rush is simply a relentless desire to get to the quarterback,” Ryan once said.
I love it, he was one of a kind.
Ryan was also not a fan of gimmick offenses, as evidenced by his one-year stint as defensive coordinator of the 1993 Houston Oilers. He and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride engaged in a year-long feud over the run-and-shoot offense, which boiled over in the regular season finale against the New York Jets when the Oilers’ offense turned the ball over late in the first half. Ryan started yelling at Gilbride and took a swing at him. Houston then lost its playoff opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round and the team was blown up in the offseason.
I can only imagine what Ryan thought of today’s NFL, especially the up-tempo and Chip Kelly’s offense.
RIP Buddy.
On to the links:
Ryan, who coached the Eagles from 1986-1990, passed away Tuesday. Jeffrey Lurie and Doug Pederson released statements on his death and many took to Twitter to react to his passing.
In other Ryan news this week, Randall Cunningham described what Ryan meant for his career . One of my favorite memories of Ryan is when he ran up the score against the hated Dallas Cowboys. WIP’s Rob Cherry had a fantastic tribute to Ryan.
Tim Tebow made it into Philly Influencer twice this week. He led a prayer with passengers after a man suffered a heart attack on a plane. We can make fun of all of his physical limitations on the field, but this man is nothing short of amazing off of it. In other news, Donald Trump bought a signed Tebow helmet for $12,000.
In the latest installment of my Pederson play calling series, check out how he fared against the Oakland Raiders in Week 17 and the AFC West title up for grabs.
Cody Parkey became the fourth Eagle to get engaged this offseason, congratulations to him and his fiancee.