Playoff pressure squeezed the patience and perspective of Philadelphia`s Buddy Ryan and Cincinnati`s Sam Wyche this week.
The Eagles and Bengals are supposed to win their home games in the opening playoff round Saturday and Sunday.
If they don`t, it will reflect on Ryan and Wyche and affect their future as head coaches.
Ryan never has won a playoff game with the Eagles. When reminded of that during a conference call with Washington media on Wednesday and asked whether he felt more pressure, Ryan snapped, ”Nope. I mean most people haven`t even been to the playoffs. When was the last time you`ve been to the playoffs?”
Reminded that the Redskins had won the 1987 Super Bowl, Ryan said, ”Oh sure, you won the Super Bowl in `87. What happened in `88 and `89? You guys are full of bull. Gotta go.”
In Cincinnati, Wyche trotted out one of his favorite subjects, media relations, and tried to make another case for limiting access to his players. Wyche has bragged that his $28,000 fine for preventing a woman reporter from entering a locker room following a game is being paid by contributions from an American public doing ”what`s right.”
Wyche believes he can improve his team`s chances against the Houston Oilers by creating more distractions than the media cause. Writing about locker room access, for example, precludes writing about Wyche`s 25th-ranked defense, by far the worst in the playoffs.
Wyche`s contract isn`t up, but boss Paul Brown has made note of Wyche`s mercurial moods and his team`s win-lose-win-lose-win season.
In Miami, coach Don Shula might have wished he had limited the mouth of cornerback Tim McKyer, who said unkind things about the Kansas City Chiefs. But Shula knows two things: some players cannot be limited, and what players say rarely has anything to do with how players play.
For Ryan and the Eagles, and for Joe Gibbs and the Redskins, Saturday`s matchup has huge implications.
”Buddy`s job is on the line,” quarterback Randall Cunningham said.
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While it might not be quite that urgent, Ryan is at the end of his contract. In five years, he has brought the Eagles from a sorry also-ran to a respectable also-ran, from no playoffs to no playoff victories in two appearances, and now is cursed by expectations to reach the next step.
Of all NFC playoff teams, the Eagles are given the best chance by most insiders to unseat the San Francisco 49ers, a large challenge for a team that has yet to win a postseason game.
The Redskins lost home-field advantage to the Eagles for this game by losing to Dallas on Thanksgiving and to the Indianapolis Colts, not the kind of excuse that sits well with eccentric and demanding owner Jack Kent Cooke.
Quarterback Mark Rypien is likely to feel more pressure than Gibbs, who has started three quarterbacks this year and would like Rypien to give him a reason to quit shuffling.
Rypien has not played in the last three Eagles games. In their first meeting of 1989, Rypien gained a 20-0 lead in the first quarter but lost a 42-37 shootout to Cunningham.
Of the eight coaches in the playoffs this weekend, Houston`s Jack Pardee has the least to lose. He`s the only first-year coach in the playoffs, although he previously coached the Bears and Redskins. He also is going to war with a backup quarterback, Cody Carlson, against a Bengals team that beat him 40-20 two weeks ago.
Warren Moon got hurt late in that game and Wyche said the injury would make a big difference in Houston`s ability to beat Pittsburgh and save Cincinnati`s playoff hopes. Carlson proved Wyche wrong and Wyche was happy to admit it.
The playoffs do unusual things to coaches and to normal people.