RIP Buddy Ryan

Ummm yes, that's the point.

 

There was no "point" to your post suggesting it was good or bad or otherwise.

 

True, the NFC was loaded back then, but McMahon getting hurt really hurt that Bears team. And then the players were not on board with Flutie. Well, the defense anyway. 30 years later, Richard Dent in that 30 for 30 was still referring to Flutie as "the midget."

 

RIP to one of my favorite coaches. He and Philly were a perfect fit.

If Randall Cunningham hadn't gotten hurt in 1991, the team Buddy left Rich Kotite probably would've won the Super Bowl.

That Gang Green defense is, for my money, the best of all time.

 

Mets would have a better shot if they were playing under today's playoff system. Back then, if you didn't win your division, you went home. '85 team was excellent, but they just fell short. '87 team had the rotation either hurt or in rehab.

'86 Bears were excellent, but McMahon was hurt and the Flutie experiment failed.

 

Your money is no good here.

 

The fact that that team went 10-6 with Rich Kotite coaching them and the rotating cast of losers they threw out there at quarterback is nothing short of astounding. There is no doubt in my mind they would have won the Super Bowl if Cunningham hadn't gotten hurt, or at least if Jim McMahon could've stayed upright every week. I think in Week 10 or 11 the injury report listed McMahon as "Questionable (body)."
When you have Pat Ryan, Brad Goebel and Jeff Kemp (who actually wasn't terrible in a backup role) playing prominent roles, you know things have gotten askew.

 

No one could replace Cunningham and what he meant to that offense. League MVP in 1990, with 30 passing touchdowns and 942 rushing. That is sick. Their whole offense was pretty terrible in 1991 after he went down. Didn't have a running back over 440 yards on the ground, and they averaged 3.1 ypc as a team. You can replace a Tom Brady with a Matt Cassel and make hay. You couldn't in that era replace Cunningham with anyone,. Definitely one of the great what-if teams. Meanwhile, sort of eery that three of their stars -- Jerome Brown, Reggie White and Andre Waters -- are all now deceased. Doesn't seem like that long ago.

 

Hey, loogit who Deadspin brought back to write about Buddy (and to start paying off his $100K penalty from the Gawker/Hulk Hogan trial).

http://deadspin.com/buddy-ryan-was-philadelphias-winningest-coach-who-never-1782746916

 

The '91 season was also right on the curve where the Eagles could have snuck in there and stolen a championship. The Giants and 49ers were both in a state of transition or outright decline, the Cowboys were still a year away from launching their dynasty. The Redskins were great, but the Eagles could've hung with them with a competent offense. It was there for the taking, and it all went <poof> when Bryce Fucking Paup went low on Cunningham.
That whole era was just snakebit. They had the fog game in the playoffs in '88; IIRC, the 1990 wild card game against the Redskins turned when replay overturned a fumble return TD; the entire '91 season; and then the misfortune of their window coming at the same time as some of the greatest teams in NFL history.