1986 Washington Redskins season

The 1986 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 55th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 51st in Washington, D.C. The team improved on their 10–6 record from 1985 and returned to the playoffs after missing them the previous year, finishing with a 12–4 record, a second place finish in the NFC East, and qualified for the playoffs as a wild card. They defeated the Los Angeles Rams 19–7 in the NFC Wild Card Game at RFK Stadium, then upset the defending champion Chicago Bears 21–17 in the Divisional Playoffs. The season came to an end in the NFC Championship Game when the Redskins were defeated by their division rivals, the New York Giants 17–0.

1986 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
General manager	Bobby Beathard
President	John Kent Cooke
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
Offensive coordinator	Joe Bugel
Defensive coordinator	Richie Petitbon
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Rams) 19–7 Won Divisional Playoffs (at Bears) 27–13 Lost NFC Championship (at Giants) 0–17

Offseason

Roster

1986 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Mark Rypien 10 Jay Schroeder 17 Doug Williams Running backs (RB) 35 Keith Griffin PR 31 Ken Jenkins PR 38 George Rogers 24 Kelvin Bryant 29 Reggie Branch 26 Rick Badanjek Wide receivers (WR) 84 Gary Clark 81 Art Monk 46 Ricky Sanders 88 Derek Holloway 83 James Noble 89 Clarence Verdin 80 Eric Yarber Tight ends (TE) 86 Clint Didier 87 Terry Orr 85 Don Warren 82 Anthony Jones 88 Todd Frain

Offensive linemen (OL) 53 Jeff Bostic C 68 Russ Grimm C 66 Joe Jacoby T 73 Mark May T 63 Raleigh McKenzie G 69 R.C. Thielemann G 60 Dan McQuaid T/G 76 Ron Tilton G Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Dave Butz DT 77 Darryl Grant DT 72 Dexter Manley DE 77 Darryl Grant DT 71 Charles Mann DE 74 Markus Koch 78 Dean Hamel DT 64 Steve Hamilton DE 67 Tom Beasley

Linebackers (LB) 55 Mel Kaufman 57 Rich Milot 52 Neal Olkewicz MLB 51 Monte Coleman 56 Calvin Daniels 54 Joe Krakoski 59 Jeff Paine 59 Angelo Snipes 58 Shawn Burks Defensive backs (DB) 32 Vernon Dean CB 28 Darrell Green CB 48 Ken Coffey SS 23 Todd Bowles 40 Alvin Walton 45 Barry Wilburn CB 22 Curtis Jordan FS 41 Tim Morrison CB Special teams 12 Steve Cox P  3 Mark Moseley K 14 Max Zendejas K  4 Jess Atkinson K

Reserve 50 Ravin Caldwell LB (IR) 56 Anthony Copeland LB (IR) 30 Dwight Garner KR (IR) -- Kurt Gouveia MLB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game recap
1	September 7	Philadelphia Eagles	W 41–14	1–0	RFK Stadium	53,982	Recap
2	September 14	Los Angeles Raiders	W 10–6	2–0	RFK Stadium	55,235	Recap
3	September 21	at San Diego Chargers	W 30–27	3–0	Jack Murphy Stadium	57,853	Recap
4	September 28	Seattle Seahawks	W 19–14	4–0	RFK Stadium	54,157	Recap
5	October 5	at New Orleans Saints	W 14–6	5–0	Louisiana Superdome	57,378	Recap
6	October 12	at Dallas Cowboys	L 6–30	5–1	Texas Stadium	63,264	Recap
7	October 19	St. Louis Cardinals	W 28–21	6–1	RFK Stadium	53,494	Recap
8	October 27	at New York Giants	L 20–27	6–2	Giants Stadium	75,923	Recap
9	November 2	Minnesota Vikings	W 44–38 (OT)	7–2	RFK Stadium	51,928	Recap
10	November 9	at Green Bay Packers	W 16–7	8–2	Lambeau Field	47,728	Recap
11	November 17	San Francisco 49ers	W 14–6	9–2	RFK Stadium	54,774	Recap
12	November 23	Dallas Cowboys	W 41–14	10–2	RFK Stadium	55,642	Recap
13	November 30	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–17	11–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	35,637	Recap
14	December 7	New York Giants	L 14–24	11–3	RFK Stadium	55,642	Recap
15	December 13	at Denver Broncos	L 30–31	11–4	Mile High Stadium	75,905	Recap
16	December 21	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–14	12–4	Veterans Stadium	61,816	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Eagles

See also: 1986 Philadelphia Eagles season and Eagles–Redskins rivalry

Week One: Philadelphia Eagles (0–0) at Washington Redskins (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	7	0	0	14
Redskins	3	17	14	7	41

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

• Date: September 7
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C) • Wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
• Game attendance: 53,982
• Referee: Gene Barth
• Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database

Game information
Eagles Ron Jaworski 23/40, 227 Yds, 2 TD, INT Randall Cunningham 2 Rush, 31 Yds Phil Smith 3 Rec, 50 Yds Redskins Jay Schroeder 19/38, 238 Yds, 2 TD, INT George Rogers 20 Rush, 104 Yds, TD Gary Clark 7 Rec, 100 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PHI WSH 1 9:21 Redskins 19-yard field goal by Mark Moseley 0 3 1 6:59 Eagles Ron Johnson 17-yard touchdown reception from Ron Jaworski, Paul McFadden kick good 7 3 2 8:48 Redskins Kelvin Bryant 36-yard touchdown reception from Jay Schroeder, Mark Moseley kick good 7 10 2 5:39 Redskins Jay Schroeder 1-yard touchdown run, Mark Moseley kick good 7 17 2 0:33 Eagles Junior Tautalatasi 3-yard touchdown reception from Ron Jaworski, Paul McFadden kick good 14 17 2 0:00 Redskins 55-yard field goal by Steve Cox 14 20 3 7:51 Redskins Clint Didier 36-yard touchdown reception from Jay Scroeder, Mark Moseley kick good 14 27 3 4:26 Redskins Kelvin Bryant 16-yard touchdown run, Mark Moseley kick good 14 34 4 3:36 Redskins George Rogers 5-yard touchdown run, Mark Moseley kick good 14 41 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 14 41

Week 4: vs Seattle Seahawks

Week Four: Seattle Seahawks at Washington Redskins – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	7	0	0	7	14
Redskins	6	3	7	3	19

at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

• Date: September 28
• Game time: 1:00 pm local
• Game weather: cloudy, 67 °F (19 °C), 90% humidity, wind SE 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
• Game attendance: 54,157
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo
• Gamebook

Game information

First quarter SEA – Curt Warner 2-yard run (Norm Johnson kick), 10:05 (SEA 7–0) WAS – George Rogers 24-yard run (PAT failed), 5:21 (SEA 7–6) Second quarter WAS – Steve Cox 57-yard field goal, 0:12 (WAS 9–7) Third quarter WAS – George Rogers 7-yard run (Mark Moseley kick), 1:25 (WAS 16–7) Fourth quarter WAS – Mark Moseley 36-yard field goal, 8:14 (WAS 19–7) SEA – Steve Largent 11-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 1:50 (WAS 19–14) Top passers SEA – Dave Krieg: 19/32, 219 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT WAS – Jay Schroeder: 14/26, 195 yds Top rushers SEA – Curt Warner: 16 car, 106 yds, 1 TD WAS – George Rogers: 25 car, 115 yds, 2 TD Top receivers SEA – Byron Franklin: 5 rec, 79 yds WAS – Art Monk: 5 rec, 103 yds Team – pass – rush – total – to SEA – 213 – 148 – 361 – 2 WAS – 195 – 162 – 357 – 1

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants(1)	14	2	0	.875	7–1	11–1	371	236	W9
Washington Redskins(4)	12	4	0	.750	5–3	9–3	368	296	W1
Dallas Cowboys	7	9	0	.438	5–3	6–6	346	337	L5
Philadelphia Eagles	5	10	1	.344	1–6–1	3–8–1	256	312	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	4	11	1	.281	1–6–1	3–10–1	218	351	W1

Playoffs

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Venue	Attendance	Game recap
Wild Card	December 28	Los Angeles Rams (5)	W 19–7	RFK Stadium	54,180	Recap
Divisional	January 3, 1987	at Chicago Bears (2)	W 27–13	Soldier Field	65,141	Recap
NFC Championship	January 11, 1987	at New York Giants (1)	L 0–17	Giants Stadium	76,633	Recap

NFC Wild Card Game

Washington Redskins 19, Los Angeles Rams 7

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	0	7	7
Redskins	10	3	3	3	19

at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 54,180
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

NFC Divisional Playoff

Washington Redskins 27, Chicago Bears 13

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	7	0	7	13	27
Bears	0	13	0	0	13

at Soldier Field, Chicago

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 65,141
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Dierdorf

In knocking off the defending Super Bowl champion Bears, the Redskins scored their first road playoff win under Joe Gibbs. It would not be the Gibbs-led Redskins' last road playoff win, though, as they scored wins in 1987 at Chicago, in 1990 at Philadelphia, in 1992 at Minnesota, and in 2005 at Tampa.

NFC Championship Game

New York Giants 17, Washington Redskins 0

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	10	7	0	0	17

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 76,633
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden