1987 Washington Redskins season
The 1987 season was the Washington Redskins' strike-shortened 56th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 52nd in Washington, D.C. and their seventh under head coach Joe Gibbs. The season was a shortened due to the 1987 NFL strike.
| 1987 Washington Redskins season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Joe Gibbs |
| Home field | RFK Stadium |
| Local radio | WMAL |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–4 |
| Division place | 1st NFC East |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (Bears) 21–17 Won NFC Championship (Vikings) 17–10 Won Super Bowl XXII (Broncos) 42–10 |
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The team had finished second in the NFC East the previous season with a 12–4 record. Games to be played during the third week of the season were canceled, and replacement players were used to play games from weeks 4 through 6.
The Redskins won the NFC East with an 11–4 record. The Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos 42–10 to win Super Bowl XXII. It was the Redskins' second Super Bowl win in six seasons, and coincidentally, their second Super Bowl win in a strike-season.[1]
Redskins quarterback Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl and was the only individual to have emerged victorious until Russell Wilson won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks.[2]
By virtue of the Redskins' 17-10 victory over Minnesota in the NFC title game, head coach Joe Gibbs earned his 10th playoff victory. He surpassed the legendary Vince Lombardi, who had retired after his 9th playoff victory and (coincidentally) later coached the Redskins for one season. Also ironic was the rumor that, following a disastrous 5-9-1 season, Green Bay would hire Gibbs to replace the dismissed Forrest Gregg. However, after the game, Gibbs would deny that he was interested.[3]
On March 8, 2018 the Redskins announced that they would honor the replacement players from the 1987 team with Super Bowl XXII rings.[4]
Offseason
NFL Draft
Personnel
Staff
NFL replacement players
After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:
| Roster of the 1987 Replacement Redskins | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quarterbacks
Running Backs Wide Receivers
Tight Ends |
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers Defensive Backs Special Teams
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Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
Practice squad
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Pre season
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 14 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–17 | 1–0 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | August 22 | vs Green Bay Packers | W 33–0 | 2–0 | Camp Randall Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | August 29 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–17 | 2–1 | Tampa Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | September 5 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 26–14 | 3–1 | Anaheim Stadium | Recap |
Regular season
In 1987, Redskins starting QB Jay Schroeder got injured early in the opening game against the Eagles and was replaced by Williams, who led the team to victory.[5] In his NFL debut, replacement player Ed Rubbert passed for 334 yards.[5] Rubbert also threw three touchdown passes to Anthony Allen. Allen would have 255 receiving yards.[5]
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 34–24 | 1–0 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 20 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–21 | 1–1 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | N/A | New England Patriots | Cancelled due to the 1987 NFL strike † | |||
| 4 | October 4 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 28–21 | 2–1 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 11 | at New York Giants | W 38–12 | 3–1 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 19 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 13–7 | 4–1 | Texas Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 25 | New York Jets | W 17–16 | 5–1 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | November 1 | at Buffalo Bills | W 27–7 | 6–1 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 8 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 27–31 | 6–2 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 15 | Detroit Lions | W 20–13 | 7–2 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 23 | Los Angeles Rams | L 26–30 | 7–3 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 29 | New York Giants | W 23–19 | 8–3 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 6 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 34–17 | 9–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 13 | Dallas Cowboys | W 24–20 | 10–3 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 20 | at Miami Dolphins | L 21–23 | 10–4 | Joe Robbie Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 26 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 27–24 (OT) | 11–4 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Recap |
Game summaries
Week 1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 0 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Redskins | 10 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
- Date: September 13, 1987
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
- Game attendance: 52,128
- Referee: Dick Jorgensen
- TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and John Madden
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
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Week 2
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redskins | 7 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| Falcons | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia
- Date: September 20, 1987
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
- Game attendance: 50,982
- Referee: Ben Dreith
- TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dick Vermeil
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
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| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Regular Season summaries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Week 1: vs Philadelphia Eagles
Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins
at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons Week 2: Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons
at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
Week 4: vs St. Louis Cardinals Week 4: St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins
at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
Week 5: at New York Giants Week 5: Washington Redskins at New York Giants
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Week 6: at Dallas Cowboys Week 6: Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Week 9: at Philadelphia Eagles Week 9: Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Week 12: vs New York Giants Week 12: New York Giants at Washington Redskins
at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
Week 13: at St. Louis Cardinals Week 13: Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals
at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Week 14: vs Dallas Cowboys Week 14: Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
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Standings
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Washington Redskins(3) | 11 | 4 | 0 | .733 | 7–1 | 9–3 | 379 | 285 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 340 | 348 | W2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 3–5 | 7–7 | 362 | 368 | L1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 3–5 | 4–7 | 337 | 380 | W2 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 280 | 312 | W2 |
Playoffs
| Playoff Round | Date | Opponent (Seed) | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFC Wild Card Playoffs | Bye | ||||||
| NFC Divisional Playoffs | January 10, 1988 | at Chicago Bears (2) | W 21–17 | 1–0 | Soldier Field | Recap | |
| NFC Championship | January 17, 1988 | Minnesota Vikings (5) | W 17–10 | 2–0 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
| Super Bowl XXII | January 31, 1988 | Denver Broncos (A1) | W 42–10 | 3–0 | Jack Murphy Stadium | Recap | |
Notes:
Awards and honors
- Charles Mann, Pro Bowl selection
References
- The 1982 season also had a players' strike
- As of the 2014 season, he is one of only two African-American quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl, the other being Russell Wilson; Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb and Cam Newton have all started at quarterback in the Super Bowl, but each of the three lost their Super Bowl appearance.
- http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1988/02/01/page/27/article/gibbs-squashes-packer-rumors/
- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2763188-redskins-to-award-1987-replacement-players-with-super-bowl-rings
- Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16