1988 Redskins

[CSKreager]

Washington's only losing season from 1981-1992

They added Wilbur Marshall and essentially got their QB of the future by drafing Rypien

And yet it didn't translate during this season as they alternated between competitive losses (5 of them by 7 points or less) and bad days at the office (3 losses in a 4 week stretch to the Oilers/Bears/49ers by a combined score of 112-52)

Their 2 QB's combined for 4,136 passing yards and 33 touchdowns (which if that were one player would have ranked 2nd and 1st, respectively)..... but 25 interceptions

#9 against the run but #22 against the pass resulted in the NFL's 3rd most points allowed

Safe to say, the SB hangover bit hard in a way their 1983/1992 versions were able to avoid

So what the heck happened in 1988, a year in which the Redskins didn't by their high standards Fight for Old DC?

[Brian wolf]

Its simple ... Doug Williams flopped at QB. Yet some people insist he should be in the HOF. Gibbs jettisoned him pretty quickly for Rypien. Timmy Smith got out of shape and flopped as well. The running attack just wasnt there. The defense gave up too many points with Mann making the PB with less than six sacks.

[Halas Hall]

I remember they lost their season opener to the Giants in New Jersey on a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown by the Giants. Then they lost to the Giants at RFK when rookie kicker Chip Lohmiller missed an extra point early and a field goal late. It seemed like R. Petibon really got a lot out of what he had on defense.

[Jay Z]

In their last game Jamie Morris set the NFL record for most rushing attempts in a game with 45. This record still stands. It was broken a few times in the 1980s, the era of the single back offense where one back sometimes got every single carry no matter what. James Wilder had the record on a couple of occasions, and Butch Woolfolk had it when Morris broke it.

That last game was the first in years that meant nothing to the Redskins. They played the Bengals in Cincy on a Saturday. Bengals were still fighting for home field. Morris started the last four games, after the Redskins gave up on Timmy Smith and Kelvin Bryant got hurt. He had a total of 51 carries in those other three games.

The Redskins wanted to run the ball a lot because Darrell Green was out and they didn't think they could stop Boomer and company. Doug Williams had a good day, 17 of 22, and they controlled the ball. Morris would gain 152 yards on his 45 carries. But he missed on a fourth down in the fourth quarter when the Redskins were up 17-10 and in FG range. Boomer then hit Eddie Brown for a big TD to tie the score. The Redskins got down close again, could have given Morris a carry to tie the record and center the ball. But they left it on the right hashmark. Lohmiller's FG attempt was completely straight and bounced straight back off the upright. So it went to OT. Morris got his record there, then Williams threw an INT and Jim Breech kicked the winner.

Morris was a tiny plugger, three yards and a puff of dust. The Redskins picked up Byner and Riggs the next year. Morris got three starts and had a hundred yard game and another where he carried 38 times. He had a cup of coffee the next year with the Pats and was done.

[SeahawkFever]

In their last game Jamie Morris set the NFL record for most rushing attempts in a game with 45. This record still stands. It was broken a few times in the 1980s, the era of the single back offense where one back sometimes got every single carry no matter what. James Wilder had the record on a couple of occasions, and Butch Woolfolk had it when Morris broke it.

That last game was the first in years that meant nothing to the Redskins. They played the Bengals in Cincy on a Saturday. Bengals were still fighting for home field. Morris started the last four games, after the Redskins gave up on Timmy Smith and Kelvin Bryant got hurt. He had a total of 51 carries in those other three games.

The Redskins wanted to run the ball a lot because Darrell Green was out and they didn't think they could stop Boomer and company. Doug Williams had a good day, 17 of 22, and they controlled the ball. Morris would gain 152 yards on his 45 carries. But he missed on a fourth down in the fourth quarter when the Redskins were up 17-10 and in FG range. Boomer then hit Eddie Brown for a big TD to tie the score. The Redskins got down close again, could have given Morris a carry to tie the record and center the ball. But they left it on the right hashmark. Lohmiller's FG attempt was completely straight and bounced straight back off the upright. So it went to OT. Morris got his record there, then Williams threw an INT and Jim Breech kicked the winner.

Morris was a tiny plugger, three yards and a puff of dust. The Redskins picked up Byner and Riggs the next year. Morris got three starts and had a hundred yard game and another where he carried 38 times. He had a cup of coffee the next year with the Pats and was done.

Should that 45 carry performance by one player in a game be considered an unacknowledged unbreakable NFL record?

[Jay Z]

In their last game Jamie Morris set the NFL record for most rushing attempts in a game with 45. This record still stands. It was broken a few times in the 1980s, the era of the single back offense where one back sometimes got every single carry no matter what. James Wilder had the record on a couple of occasions, and Butch Woolfolk had it when Morris broke it.

That last game was the first in years that meant nothing to the Redskins. They played the Bengals in Cincy on a Saturday. Bengals were still fighting for home field. Morris started the last four games, after the Redskins gave up on Timmy Smith and Kelvin Bryant got hurt. He had a total of 51 carries in those other three games.

The Redskins wanted to run the ball a lot because Darrell Green was out and they didn't think they could stop Boomer and company. Doug Williams had a good day, 17 of 22, and they controlled the ball. Morris would gain 152 yards on his 45 carries. But he missed on a fourth down in the fourth quarter when the Redskins were up 17-10 and in FG range. Boomer then hit Eddie Brown for a big TD to tie the score. The Redskins got down close again, could have given Morris a carry to tie the record and center the ball. But they left it on the right hashmark. Lohmiller's FG attempt was completely straight and bounced straight back off the upright. So it went to OT. Morris got his record there, then Williams threw an INT and Jim Breech kicked the winner.

Morris was a tiny plugger, three yards and a puff of dust. The Redskins picked up Byner and Riggs the next year. Morris got three starts and had a hundred yard game and another where he carried 38 times. He had a cup of coffee the next year with the Pats and was done.

Should that 45 carry performance by one player in a game be considered an unacknowledged unbreakable NFL record?

No one's made it to 40 since 2006. 40+ has been reached 19 times, 3 times in the 1970s, 6 in 1980s, 7 in 1990s, 3 in 2000s. Rudi Johnson did 43 in 2003. I think there were times it could have been beaten, but it wasn't, now no one has gotten close in 20 years.

I think it could be broken in some unusual circumstance game. Injured QB, one healthy RB, OT game. Unlikely but not impossible.

[Ten Minute Ticker]

In my mind, 1988 Redskins were a market correction as the 1987 Redskins are near the bottom in terms of Super Bowl winners.

[74_75_78_79_]

Not an impressive defending-SB-champ, but there have been worse. Some good to say about this team though bad overall, of course, given the 7-9 no playoffs result.

Get the bad out of the way -
Week #2, at home, they barely beat the Steelers who were at their lowest since Noll first took over two decades earlier. What would turn out to be a reoccurring theme in the immediate years to come, they lose at home to Dallas next-to-last-week of the season in what would be Landry's last win along with Michael Irvin's 3 TD "coming out party". 26th in points allowed with, of course, a negative PD and, on offense, ranked near the bottom in all rushing categories. Mid-season they suffer three lopsided losses in four weeks - at Houston, home against Chicago, and at San Fran on MNF. Only TB and Pittsburgh, at the time of the latter defeat, allowed more points thus far. FWIW, Washington's D was better yardage-wise ranked at #16. They get swept by the Giants, but as the case with the following year (and almost in '90 as well), each loss to Parcells was by a TD-or-less.

The (FWIW) good -
They beat the Eagles twice. That Week #14 completion of the sweep at the Vet looked to end it for the Birds. Washington, though just barely at 7-7, were still mathematically alive after the win. They split with the Cardinals within their 7-4 start. The aforementioned three blowouts last paragraph...interrupting that was a Wk#10 win against the, then, 7-2 Saints which placed the Redskins at 6-4 and just a game out of first place (but then the Bears came to town the following week, and then that 6-5 vs 6-5 MNF trip to Candlestick against that very team that would finally get-it-in-gear for the remainder). Other than INTs at a horrid 25 (making them...25th in that very category), they were at or near the top in the other passing stats. They were a positive in yardage as well as Y/P. Yes, all FWIW stuff. Still a failure of a season.

1988 was Chuck Noll's nadir, '69 notwithstanding. '88 the nadir of the Joe Gibbs Era as well.

[7DnBrnc53]

In my mind, 1988 Redskins were a market correction as the 1987 Redskins are near the bottom in terms of Super Bowl winners.

They were better than the 91 Redskins, the most overrated team ever from what I see online.

[SeahawkFever]

In my mind, 1988 Redskins were a market correction as the 1987 Redskins are near the bottom in terms of Super Bowl winners.

They were better than the 91 Redskins, the most overrated team ever from what I see online.

How good should the 91 Skins be considered for what they were in your opinion? And why is 87 better?

In my book they could be seen as overrated online by some (being a team with historic stats helps them stand out to people there in that regard), but from what I can tell the media doesn't overrate that team because it's typically not brought up to begin with in their circles.