Dumb Decisions: The STUPIDEST PUNT EVER | Eagles @ Vikings (1988)

[@elijahpatterson2596]

JG9's editor should quit, considering how much they get blamed for no reason.

[@CTubeMan]

The pass interference call on Mike Quick would be the last controversial OPI called against a receiver wearing #82.

[@thecrazynodak]

For those of y'all who don't know what he's referring to: Darrell Jackson in Super Bowl XL

[@czars694]

It also brings the Eagles defense back on the field without as much rest.

[@MrTim2031]

In Buddy’s mind that was a feature not a bug.

[@marcdaley]

Another shining example of Buddy completely ignoring the offense.

[@Rockhound6165]

Funny thing. The offense was a top 10 offense while his vaunted defense was 2nd to last in yards.

[@redmustangredmustang]

That's why Buddy has ZERO playoffs wins as a head coach because of it.

[@chrisuncleahmad]

The reverse Don Coryell

[@nickbrennan8979]

That might just be your best "I'm sorry, WHAT!?" ever.

[@mrmoose6619]

Follow me on this one. Game is in Minneapolis... Minneapolis (at just shy of 45 degrees north) is further north than Toronto (about 43.5 degrees north) and Hamilton (south of Toronto), Ontario... two cities that have Canadian Football. In Canadian Football, there are 3 downs. Buddy had temporary amnesia as to where he was and therefore the rules of the gridiron football his team was participating in. Instead of going for it with only 1 chance to get the yardage, he decided to quick kick, as the chances of that happening were slim enough and hopefully his team could avoid a no yards and pin the Vikings deep by surprise. (Who am I kidding... this is a Grade A Dumb Decision and thanks to JG9 for another entry into my favorite series)

[@TheNoSystem]

Oh hi Jeff Fisher funny seeing you here

[@chrispappa704]

I was about to say the same thing. Is that a very young Jeff Fisher standing next to Buddy Ryan? The mustache never changed did it?

[@Womper1992]

@@chrispappa704Yep! they were on the Bears together before this too

[@thatduderobo1974]

Jeff 7-9 Fisher

[@wompastompa3692]

Now I just want to see a game where one team always punts on 1st down. "Nah, we don't want it."

[@Kylora2112]

The 2000 Ravens probably would have...

[@waverod9275]

Ok. Punting it here may have been more effective than punting on 4th and 18, since there's no return possible. But the same thing is true on 3rd and 18, and so you can try to do something on 2nd down, and *still* quick kick.

[@Bruce12867]

Funny thing was, the Eagles were never really out of this game. In fact, Philadelphia took a 4th quarter lead 21-20 on a 13-yard pass from Randall Cunningham to Keith Jackson, but Chuck Nelson hit the game winner from 32 yards out to win the game for the Vikings.

[@d_grainger1]

Punting on 3rd down is one thing, but 2nd down? Unintelligent. 😮‍💨👎

[@scottybbadd]

Yes, JG9, Da Iggles punted on 2nd down, hence why they're called Da Iggles.

[@xZOOMORPHICx]

My slow ass hasn't adjusted to football season yet. I literally forgot it was Thursday and my spirits were lifted when you mentioned that it's Thursdays Night Football. I forgot lol

[@Rockhound6165]

The funny thing is Ryan relied heavily on his defense but in 1988 his defense was not that good. They were 2nd to last in yards and in the middle in points. The Vikings gained almost 400 net yards in this game so Buddy thinking his defense was going to stop them was idiotic at best.

[@raymondhopwood9393]

If it was 2nd and 40, that's one thing, but 2nd and 18??? Not even in Canada, where they only have three downs!

[@curtisjoseph]

Punting in 2nd Down is the most Eagles thing ever

[@the6thpackbrewbuck]

I hate when coaches try to act like they made the right decision when in reality they made an insanely stupid mistake, just accept failure Buddy

[@E-Brightvoid]

Inexplicable

[@rjflesher]

4:33 Pretty much what any football fan with a functioning brain was thinking

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

punctuated by the loudest "I'M SORRY-WHAT?!?" JG9 has ever stated in a Dumb Decisions video.

[@rjflesher]

@@andrewpadaetz5549 How about the time the Rochester, NY CBS affiliate opted to show a tape-delayed HIGH SCHOOL football game over the Washington -NY Giants game back in '82? Yep, JG9 did a video on that.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

@@rjflesher of course it was the strike year.

[@rjflesher]

@@andrewpadaetz5549 Yep, the strike year is the gift that keeps on giving

[@76vike19]

Buddy thought he was playing the 85 Bears

[@gordonwhitney6052]

No thumbs up from me on this one. JG9 utterly failed to convince me this was actually a dumb decision. I am NOT saying teams should routinely punt on 2nd and long. One of the main reasons for a quick kick is to catch the opponent unprepared to return a punt, and thereby maximize the change in field position on the change of possession. Cunningham's quick kick went for 63 net yards by my count, so it's a little hard to argue that part didn't work. That, by itself, still doesn't make it a good decision, granted. But, in this case JG9's windup quote, with it's implication that the play backfired is an out-and-out lie. This play DID NOT BACKFIRE! I found it curious (and suspicious) that JG9 didn't report a damn thing about what happened after the quick kick. So I looked up the game on football reference. According to f-r, the Eagles led the game 14-10 at halftime, which means they outscored Minnesota 7-0 between the quick kick and the end of the first half. (According to the video, the kick happened with less than five minutes to go in the half, with the Vikes up 10-7). So whatever the consequences of the kick were, they were hardly disastrous for Philly. (Also, f-r reports the game was played on September 25, whereas JG9 says October 1 at the start of the video.)

[@DolFan316]

8:19 In a twisted sort of way I have to admire Buddy Ryan for getting an NFL head coaching job despite being awful at math. It's like an illiterate person becoming a columnist.

[@MrLeoni2]

*Sigh* Welcome to Buddy's World!!!! He trusted the defense too much back then.

[@jamiejohnson4524]

This game was played on September 25, 1988, not October 1.

[@rwboa22]

One wonders if Buddy Ryan had a Canadian Football playbook in his library, or did he pick up the idea of having Randall Cunningham punt the ball on 2nd Down by watching a CFL game on TV or seeing one in person.

[@krash22mini72]

Or he watched too much Rugby lol

[@americanidol30]

The date of the game was October 2, 1988. October 1, 1988 fell on a Saturday. Plus it was Week 5 as the season began on Labor Day Weekend.

[@Bruce12867]

Pro Football Reference lists the date of the game as September 25, so JG9 got the week right and the date wrong.

[@SuperGamerB]

The fact that you have Randall Cunningham should in itself be enough said. During that time period, he was of few QBs, where gaining 15 yards on single play was a drop in the bucket. So why not let him do it? Plus he was 1 the only duel threats at the position in the league at the time. Take advantage of that fact, let him do it, set up a 3rd and 4 or 3 and go from there.

[@Wildcat_Media]

Many years ago, I was dating a guy and we were getting along great. Things were going well (I thought) - until he called me one night and said that this wasn’t working and he didn’t want to go out anymore. I was pretty devastated. Also, I was visiting my parents when he called, so somehow that made it worse. But I’ll never forget what my dad said - He said if I ever talked to this guy again, tell him he punted on first down. I admit, I laughed. Because who in their right mind would punt on first down? True, punting on second down isn’t as bad. But it’s still pretty dumb. (Side Note: Years after this incident, I met another guy who asked me out. We clicked pretty well and, long story short, and we will have our 8th wedding anniversary this February. So things worked out eventually.)

[@kevingreen2400]

As a regular and avid watcher of your films, I wait for two things. One the inevitable QB rating that is worse than if do nothing but spike the ball on every single play. And the "I'm sorry...WHAT?" Did you not see Jeff Fisher on the sidelines? Did that not tell you that something dumb was going to happen?

[@DolFan316]

2:43 He catches the ball and takes two steps. That seems like a fumble to me.

[@ericpenner6375]

Buddy sure loved his Defense. Might of been a great Head Coach of he loved the team.

[@rwboa22]

Yet Buddy Ryan was a favorite of the the (mostly blue-collared) Philadelphia fan base. That was the biggest thing that counted in those early years.

[@flyersrobbedagain6770]

Loved buddyball back in the day but he sure made some dumb decisions

[@CardsOfTheHeart]

Anyone got the Surrender Index formula for this one?

[@cancerstinks1]

Was thinking the exact same thing

[@CardsOfTheHeart]

Oh wait, I don't think there's a modifier if the punt is NOT on 4th down...

[@VerveQuest-zc4ri]

I'm guessing he forgot what down it was, thinking it was 3rd. Even so, very stupid

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

Are there any circumstances where it'd actually make sense to punt earlier than 4th down? That seems like asking under what circumstances (real games, not chess problems) it'd actually make sense in chess to underpromote to a bishop.

[@johnbradbury8610]

None, But will find some buddy apologists who will try to find one.

[@Womper1992]

I wonder if this was a very early sign of Buddy's dementia that he dealt with in the end. RIP Buddy Ryan, us Bears fans love you

[@RetroJR3379]

Only conclusion Buddy by some miracle hoping by punting the D would get a big hit and the Eagles recovered to be in the red zone

[@DolFan316]

I actually am legit shocked that no team's punted on 2nd down since, considering the increasingly wacky things NFL coaches have tried due to believing they're the world's smartest men.

[@stevedalbor1001]

Punting on second down was extremely common in the early years of the NFL. So maybe Buddy's amnesia caused him to think it was 1928, not 1988, and he was playing Pottsville or the Providence Steam Roller.

[@stevedalbor1001]

NC State beat my Nittany Lions in the seventies with a 75-yard quick kick to the PSU 10. The following year, Cunningham quick-kicked 80+ yards vs. the Giants in December to win a key game. So, taking those factors into consideration, it was...um...a really stupid call.

[@JonPITBZN]

"It wasn't 2nd and 90." It wasn't even 2nd and 19. "At least he didn't call a running play on 2nd and 15." That definitely reeks of surrender but it's still better than punting on 2nd down. Maybe you catch the defense off guard and pick up a big chunk of yards. Maybe you don't, and you can still run 12- or 15-yard patterns on 3rd down and have a shot at moving the chains. It's a chickenshit call, but at least you didn't set out give the ball to the other team on 2nd down.

[@scottybbadd]

JG9, I noticed that you didn't mention what the Vikings did with that possession. They punted back to the Eagles, who went in for a go ahead touchdown. You didn't mention it because it didn't fit your narrative. I hate Buddy Ryan, but it worked out. This, at most, is a suspect decision, not a Dumb Decision.

[@MichaelMitchRailfan2009]

Suggestions: Dumb Decisions the stupidest punt ever on 3rd down and then fight: Broncos at Patriots Divisional round 2011

[@BranTheBald]

This is stuff I do on Madden just messing around

[@rohmarts]

Man I miss R. Cunningham

[@justinturley7071]

See kids, this is why switching sides on Madden to force your opponent to punt on second down when your team is losing works every time.

[@DolFan316]

5:38 Considering some tech from just 5 years ago is unusable today, I highly doubt it. Just sayin'.

[@Crunkboy415]

A quick kick is a legit strategy-when done right, like showing the defense they're going for it on fourth down and keeping the special teams off the field, then the QB can quick kick the ball to prevent a return. But to do it on 2nd down?!😮

[@tonythomas2391]

14:20 - Sean McDermott has taken the Bills as far as he is capable of. Brandon Beane should have fired McDermott and Frazier after the playoff game against the Chiefs a couple years ago, and promoted Brian Daboll to head coach.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

Relax, you could be a Browns fans or (shudder) a Bears fan.... Imagine being a fan of either team over the last 30+ years and only having like 1-2 halfway decent QBs apiece during that time.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

I would love to see you do a dumb decision on something that is a HORRENDOUSLY dumb, stupid, mad, insane decision.... And it works! It's still a terrible decision but luck helps them out to make it.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

In 2012 against the Texans, the Jaguars burned a timeout on 3rd and 21 or something ridiculous like that to avoid a delay of game penalty, as if the yardage would really make a difference Next play, Chad Henne throws an 81-yard TD to Justin Blackmon

[@CTubeMan]

@@OfficialJaguarGator9Greatest Dumb Decision (TM)?

[@toddbiesel4288]

The only thing missing was the final score.

[@Bruce12867]

Minnesota won 23-21 as Chuck Nelson kicked a 32-yard game winner in the 4th quarter.

[@toddbiesel4288]

@@Bruce12867 Thanks. Usually, he says something like, "Well, I'm sure that decision won't bite the coach in the.." just before flashing the final score on the screen.

[@aludka73]

What was going on with ball guy at 15:30?

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

To be honest, I think if that was ruled a fumble at first, there's no way to overturn that. He caught the ball and, while he didn't exactly turn around, he did take three steps of forward movement before the ball came out. That's a tough call. If it was the other way around and this was ruled incomplete, I'd probably say the same thing. That you have to stick with the original call. That pass interference though...

[@DolFan316]

I only saw two steps but IMO that's enough for a fumble.

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

@@DolFan316 I watched it again and realized that he didn't get the left foot down fully the second time. But yeah, two steps makes you a runner iirc

[@marquan1976]

Your editor is gonna lawyer up and sue you if you keep threatening him 😂

[@RetroJR3379]

Rex Ryan was probably playing Tecmo Bowl and his dad got inspires

[@JayTemple]

If nothing else, I imagine you've got a better chance of the other team getting a penalty that gives you first down if you make a normal play instead of punting.

[@marcus813]

No wonder the Eagles ran him a few years after this following a home playoff loss to Washington. I can understand why the Eagles took a chance on him, but he should've known better than to punt on 2nd down & 18, especially given how he and his offensive coordinator handled similar situations at RFK earlier that season.

[@CTubeMan]

Rematch of the “Body Bag Game”.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

Well, that and Buddy Ryan telling Norman Braman's cheap ass what everyone in the Eagles organization thought of him, but were too scared for their jobs to actually vocalize.

[@jrodlange8099]

Look, I'm not advocating punting on 2nd down in general. Very rarely, like almost never, is that the right play. But like most things in life, there are those rare exceptions. In this case, it worked. This game was in an era where field position mattered. If I was an Eagles fan, I would be more than happy to take a 2nd and 18 from my own 14 and completely flip the field and give the Vikings the ball at their own 27. Following the quick kick the Eagles proceeded to stop the Vikings, got the ball back and went in for a touchdown. And went into half up 13-10. Again, I'm not saying this should be the norm or happen more frequently. Furthermore, I'm not dying on a hill for Buddy Ryan who imo had several bad decisions in his head coaching career. However, I don't think this was that bad of a gamble. And nobody can say with a straight face that it didn't work out.

[@DolFan316]

IKR? It's like he leaves that part out to fit a narrative.

[@scottybbadd]

I noticed that JG9 never said what The Vikings did with this possession, I can see why.

[@johnbradbury8610]

The Eagles could have gotten the first down. They also could have punted with extra yardage. It was a stupid decision no matter what mental gymnastics you try.

[@CTubeMan]

Not mentioned by either you or Ryan (but by this man right here) is that Ryan may have tried to catch Minnesota off balance with the punt, force a fumble, and get free field position that way.

[@levikatriel]

Maybe he thought he was in the CFL?

[@johnbradbury8610]

It was a stupid play and a big middle finger to his offense. How was he going to force a fumble without any Vikings back there to take the kick?

[@johnbradbury8610]

@@levikatriel Even in the CFL it would be a stupid call

[@dentonyoung4314]

Back in 1934, in college football, Minnesota was playing Pittsburgh. This was in an era where everyone played both ways. Pittsburgh would run three plays and be forced to punt. (Except for the one possession where they broke off a 65-yard TD run.) Then Minnesota would, for the first three quarters, run one offensive play and punt it back on second down. It worked to perfection. Pittsburgh was so exhausted by the fourth quarter by going against Minnesota's immovable line that Minnesota began pounding them with running plays and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to convert a 7-0 deficit into a 13-7 win.

[@johncate9541]

Quick kicking was very common in that era, especially in college football. Teams were still doing it a lot as late as the 1950s. But as offenses got better, it stopped making sense.

[@warrensmitchell]

This may be the dumbest of all dumb decisions. Who punts on second down????????

[@andrewgrove1691]

I never heard of this before

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

So punting on 3rd and 25 is a lot better then? 😅

[@fishflake1209]

I’m watching this video asking myself this question: did Randall Cunningham get called into quick kicking duty so often during this era because Buddy Ryan didn’t trust his regular punter? The answer: the Eagles’ punter, John Teltschik, led the league in punts in 1988, just as he did in 1986 and 1987. Buddy just loved punting that much.

[@johncate9541]

Randall was an All-American punter at UNLV. You lost nothing by having him punt, other than there are very few situations where quick-kicking makes any sense. And especially not when you have Randall Cunningham the quarterback and three of your pass-catchers are Keith Jackson, Mike Quick, and Keith Byars! He's right, this was a very dumb decision, and Ryan deserved the L in this one, even though those guys nearly saved his butt. All three of them scored a TD in a 23-21 loss.

[@CoolHandC]

Randal use to quick punt a lot for Buddy, but usually it was 4th down and the opposing team thought they were going for it. They did they to prevent the team from returning the ball and to get a good roll and pin a team deep inside the 20.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

Thanks to modern salaries, YOU WILL NEVER see a QB punt the ball ever again, much less punt frequently like Danny White and Randall Cunningham did. No coach would ever want to be accused of costing his owner boatloads of money by getting his QB hurt on a special teams play.

[@Zluyto]

Have never seen thos footage but I remember readin about it in Football Outsiders' DVOA commentary on the 1988 season. I know Cunningham had an insanely strong leg, but still....second down???

[@Dave-fs5uu]

While i agree with most of what you said, it was dumb to punt on 2nd down in that situation. My gut tells me is he really thought it was 3rd down (despite what he said after the game) and tried to flip the field position. It was a dumb decision. However Eagles did not lose the game because of this and went on to win the NFC East that year. Certainly wouldn;'t call Buddy Ball a failure. However his career .500 record speaks volumes on how he his aplayer be a defensive genius but and hated offense, only problem that seemed to be directed to his own offense as well. Buddy was always one of those coaches you either loved or hated. HIs players were fiercely loyal to him. Very unique character in NFL history one of the most unique ever. For better & worse.

[@johnbradbury8610]

As you said, buddy Ryan was an awesome defensive coordinator, but his hatred of offense is why Randall Cunningham never got an offensive line. while not a failure. He never won a playoff game as a head coach despite his promises. The one problem with the 4-6 is that great quarterbacks can beat it with quick passes, such as Joe Montana and Dan Marino.

[@paulstephenduckworth2726]

Funny thing is that Buddy play did not back fired, in fact the Vikings went 3 and out (the last play was a stack for Kramer) Vikings punted and the Quick caught 2 long passes to score the touchdown. At haft time Eagles 14 Viking 10. Of course the Vikings will won that game, and the Eagles went 1-3…..wait 1-3 did the Eagles make the playoffs that year. After the 1-3 lost, the Eagles only lost 3 more game, Brown, Falcons and another time with the Redskins. The Giants was on Monday Night at the Vet, was a great game, and later in the Meadowlands was the weirdest game, going to OT. In OT Eagles won the ball but punted, Giants Hostetler threw INT. Later Eagles lined up for a FG but was blocked, only to recover behind the line of scrimmage to score a touchdown. The Giants and Eagles end up 10-6, The eagles were NFC Champions (Side note: Cowboys and Eagles played last game of the season in Dallas, that was Tom Landry last game) And the last games for the Giants were the Jets. The Jets beat the Giants and by tie breaker rulers the Giants were out of playoff (LA Rams were in). Well Eagles went to Chicago in NFC Division Round. I saw two Quarters and the other two,……did they play in that Fog????

[@MrTim2031]

I agree, dumb decision, but I think the worst case scenario here was not a punt on 4th, but a pick six. And it was probably more likely than you would think. In this era, rules did not favor the offense as much, interceptions were more common. Also, Randall was a free wheeling QB at this point (really until 1998) which led to some big plays and also big mistakes. So a pick six was not out of the question here. Buddy’s philosophy was for the Defense to carry the team and for the offense to not lose the game. So the call was in line with that. However, as Ryan never won a playoff game, we can see the flaw in this philosophy.

[@johnbradbury8610]

So by that logic, they should just down the ball. it's better than a pick-six. It was a dumbass call. That's it.

[@cancerstinks1]

I should also point out that Cunningham was 2nd in MVP voting that year. It’s not like Zach Wilson or 2022 Tom Brady was behind center.