Sept. 14, 1964 - The blitzing defense of the Philadelphia Eagles, which caught the New York Giants unawares yesterday and led to their crushing 38-7 defeat at Franklin Field, was planned and played as “a calculated risk” against Y.A. Tittle. So said Joe Kuharich (left with Tim Brown), the Eagles coach today.
“We had to do it,” said Kuharich. “When you play Tittle, you just can’t let him get set and take a second look. He’ll rip you up. Our defensive coaches, Dick Evans and Fred Bruney, went to work on this defense in training camp. We never used it in the exhibitions and kept it secret last week.”
Don Burroughs, the free safety, was the Eagles’ key man. They do not call Burroughs “The Blade” because he shaves with a razor. This old pro is so tall and skinny he scarcely looks sturdy enough to handle the subway, let alone football. Burroughs was given the heavy-duty blitzing assignment, and this was risky in the event of injury — the Eagles had no spare defensive back. Claude Crabb, Burroughs’ back-up man, was out with a broken finger.
Did Kuharich realize that the Giants had been quite successful in the past against blitzing defenses and safetymen?
“Oh, sure,” said Kuharich. “But we tried to give them something a little different, and we predicated our defense on a constant rush. To handle this, you have to have done extensive work against it. Besides, it exerts real mental pressure on the offense.”
Allie Sherman, the New York coach, gave the Eagles full credit and the Giants no credit. As the game films flickered on the screen in his office, these were Sherman’s comments.
“The blocking was awful.” (Alex Webster tackled for no gain.)
“So far, that’s our best play.” (Eagles penalized for holding.)
“Here I sent in a play.” (The Eagles break up a screen pass for a 1-yard gain.) “I’m a real genius.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, gentlemen.” (Tittle fumbles the center snap from Greg Larson.)
“Watch this catch; it’s a beauty.” (Sherman catches a pass thrown out of bounds — on purpose — by Tittle.)
“That’s our fault, dammit, that’s lousy. And we pay the price.” (A pulling Giant guard trips over a penetrating Eagle lineman, and Joe Morrison’s sweep gains no yards instead of 10.)
“They cleaned our clocks.” (Tim Brown scores standing up from the 3.) “They had us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
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