1985 Washington Redskins season

1985 Washington Redskins season
Head coach	Joe Gibbs (5th season)
General manager	Bobby Beathard (Since 1978)
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke (Since 1974)
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1985 Washington Redskins began the season with the team trying to improve on their 11–5 record from 1984. The biggest moment of the year occurred on a November 18 Monday Night Football game, which witnessed Joe Theismann's career-ending injury after a sack by New York Giants outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor. The tackle resulted in a serious leg injury, and Theismann never played in the NFL again. Though the team failed to make the playoffs, they remained in contention for the entire regular season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
2	33	Tory Nixon	DB	San Diego State
5	122	Raphel Cherry	DB	Hawaii
6	163	Danzell Lee	TE	Lamar

^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 9, 1985	at Dallas Cowboys	L 44–14	62,292
2	September 15, 1985	Houston Oilers	W 16–13	53,553
3	September 22, 1985	Philadelphia Eagles	L 19–6	53,748
4	September 29, 1985	at Chicago Bears	L 45–10	63,708
5	October 7, 1985	St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–10	53,134
6	October 13, 1985	Detroit Lions	W 24–3	52,845
7	October 20, 1985	at New York Giants	L 17–3	74,389
8	October 27, 1985	at Cleveland Browns	W 14–7	78,540
9	November 3, 1985	at Atlanta Falcons	W 44–10	42,209
10	November 10, 1985	Dallas Cowboys	L 13–7	55,750
11	November 18, 1985	New York Giants	W 23–21	53,371
12	November 24, 1985	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–23	59,293
13	December 1, 1985	San Francisco 49ers	L 35–8	51,321
14	December 8, 1985	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–12	60,737
15	December 15, 1985	Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–24	50,544
16	December 21, 1985	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–16	28,090

Game summaries

Week 1: at Dallas Cowboys

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 7 0 7 14 • Cowboys 3 14 13 14 44 Date: Monday, September 9 Location: Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 88°F, wind 10 mph Television network: ABC Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Cowboys Rafael Septien 53-yard field goal Cowboys 3–0 2 Cowboys Timmy Newsome 1-yard run (Rafael Septien kick) Cowboys 10–0 2 Redskins John Riggins 1-yard run (Mark Moseley kick) Cowboys 10–7 2 Cowboys Mike Renfro 55-yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick) Cowboys 17–7 3 Cowboys Rafael Septien 39-yard field goal Cowboys 20–7 3 Cowboys Rafael Septien 43-yard field goal Cowboys 23–7 3 Cowboys Tony Dorsett 9-yard run (Rafael Septien kick) Cowboys 30–7 4 Cowboys Victor Scott 26-yard interception return (Rafael Septien kick) Cowboys 37–7 4 Redskins Clint Didier 19-yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) Cowboys 37–14 4 Cowboys Dennis Thurman 21-yard interception return (Rafael Septien kick) Cowboys 44–14

Week 2: vs. Houston Oilers

Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 10 3 0 13 • Redskins 13 3 0 0 16 Date: Sunday, September 15 Location: RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C. Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 62°F, wind 8 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Redskins Calvin Muhammad 17-yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) Redskins 7–0 1 Redskins George Rogers 31-yard run (kick failed) Redskins 13–0 2 Redskins Mark Moseley 34-yard field goal Redskins 16–0 2 Oilers Tony Zendejas 44-yard field goal Redskins 16–3 2 Oilers Drew Hill 2-yard pass from Warren Moon (Tony Zendejas kick) Redskins 16–10 3 Oilers Tony Zendejas 35-yard field goal Redskins 16–13

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys^(3)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	7–5	357	333	L1
New York Giants^(4)	10	6	0	.625	5–3	8–4	399	283	W1
Washington Redskins	10	6	0	.625	4–4	6–6	297	312	W3
Philadelphia Eagles	7	9	0	.438	4–4	6–8	286	310	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	5	11	0	.313	1–7	3–9	278	414	L2

References

1. http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?season=1985