1991 Washington Redskins season

1991 Washington Redskins season
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
General manager	Charley Casserly
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	14–2
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Super Bowl XXVI

The 1991 Washington Redskins season was the team's 60th in the National Football League (NFL), and its 55th in Washington, D.C.. The Redskins dominated the league all season, winning their first eleven games. Their two losses were by margins of 3 and 2 points, respectively.

The Redskins led the league in scoring with 485 points, and allowed the second-fewest points (224) in the league in 1991.^[1] (As of the 1991 season, this was the third-highest total in NFL history, and still ranks in the top 20 all-time.) They had a +18 turnover ratio, also best in the NFL. In 2016, Chris Chase of USA Today ranked the team as the greatest to ever win a Super Bowl.^[2]

The season

Quarterback Mark Rypien had an outstanding year. His 8.5 yards per pass attempt was second in the league, and his 3,564 passing yards were best in the NFC and fourth in the league. Running back Earnest Byner's 1,048 rushing yards were 5th best in the NFL.^[3] The Redskins had two wide receivers who went over 1,000 yards receiving in 1991: Gary Clark (1,340) and Art Monk (1,049).^[4]

The Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37–24 to win Super Bowl XXVI. The team is the last Super Bowl champion to never trail in any of their playoff victories.^[5] The Redskins' Super Bowl XXVI win was their first in a non-strike season.^[6] With the championship, coach Joe Gibbs also became the first head coach to win three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks.^[7]

In 2007, ESPN.com ranked the 1991 Redskins as the 4th greatest team in NFL history,^[8] noting, "you can look at two stats to get a pretty good idea of just how great a team is: yards gained per pass attempt, and yards allowed per pass attempt. The 1991 'Skins topped the NFL in each category, with Mark Rypien averaging 8.5 yards per attempt, while his colleagues on Washington's defense allowed only 6 yards per attempt.... The 'Skins outscored their opponents 485–224, and they had a tough schedule. After going 14–2, they romped through the NFC playoffs, beating the Falcons 24–7 and demolishing the Lions 41–10 on their way to the Super Bowl. In the Big Game, the 'Skins beat the cursed early-1990s Bills 37–24."

Statistics site Football Outsiders has ranked the 1991 Redskins as the greatest team in their ratings history,^[9] stating that the team "may have been the most well-rounded team in NFL history. [...] A lot of the best teams in NFL history got a little extra boost by picking on an easy schedule, but not Washington. They had an average schedule, and a harder-than-average schedule of opposing defenses. One reason for that: 1991 was not only the year of the best overall team in [their rating system's] history. It was also the year of the best defense in DVOA history, which showed up on Washington's schedule twice: the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles."

Personnel

Staff

1991 Washington Redskins staff
	Front office Chairman of the Board/Chief Executive Officer – Jack Kent Cooke Executive Vice President – John Kent Cooke General Manager – Charley Casserly Assistant General Manager – Bobby Mitchell Director of Player Personnel – Kirk Mee Director of Pro Scouting – Joe Mack Director of College Scouting – George Saimes Scouting Administrator – Mel Kaufman Head coaches Head Coach – Joe Gibbs Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Richie Petitbon Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Passing Game – Rod Dowhower Running Backs – Don Breaux Research and Development/Wide Receivers – Charley Taylor Offensive Line – Jim Hanifan Offensive Line – Rennie Simmons Offensive Assistant/Receivers – Jack Burns			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Larry Peccatiello Defensive Line – LaVern Torgeson Defensive Backs – Emmitt Thomas Admininistrative Assistant/Defensive Line – Bobby DePaul Special teams coaches Special Teams – Wayne Sevier Strength and conditioning Strength – Dan Riley Assistant Strength – Steve Wetzel

^[10]

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record
1		Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–7	Three Rivers Stadium	0–1
2		New England Patriots	W 27–6	Foxboro Stadium	1–1
3		Cleveland Browns	L 24–21	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	1–2
4		New York Jets	L 13–9	Williams-Brice Stadium	1–3

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	TV	Time
1	September 1, 1991	Detroit Lions	W 45–0	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	1–0	TNT^[b]	8:00pm
2	September 9, 1991	at Dallas Cowboys	W 33-31	Texas Stadium	2–0	ABC	9:00pm
3	September 15, 1991	Phoenix Cardinals	W 34–0	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	3–0	CBS	1:00pm
4	September 22, 1991	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 34–27	Riverfront Stadium	4–0	CBS	1:00pm
5	September 30, 1991	Philadelphia Eagles	W 23–0	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	5–0	ABC	9:00pm
6	October 6, 1991	at Chicago Bears	W 20–7	Soldier Field	6–0	CBS	1:00pm
7	October 13, 1991	Cleveland Browns	W 42–17	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	7–0	NBC	1:00pm
8	Bye
9	October 27, 1991	at New York Giants	W 17–13	Giants Stadium	8–0	ESPN^[c]	7:30pm
10	November 3, 1991	Houston Oilers	W 16–13	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	9–0	NBC	1:00pm
11	November 10, 1991	Atlanta Falcons	W 56–17	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	10–0	CBS	1:00pm
12	November 17, 1991	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 41–14	Three Rivers Stadium	11–0	CBS	1:00pm
13	November 24, 1991	Dallas Cowboys	L 21–24	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	11–1	CBS	1:00pm
14	December 1, 1991	at Los Angeles Rams	W 27–6	Anaheim Stadium	12–1	CBS	4:00pm
15	December 8, 1991	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 20–14	Sun Devil Stadium	13–1	CBS	4:00pm
16	December 15, 1991	New York Giants	W 34–17	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	14–1	CBS	4:00pm
17	December 22, 1991	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 22–24	Veterans Stadium	14–2	CBS	4:00pm

Notes:

^a All times in North American Eastern Time. (UTC–4 and UTC–5 starting October 27)

^b Simulcast on WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.

^c Simulcast on WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 0 0 0 0 • Redskins 21 14 7 3 45 Date: September 1 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 52,958 Game weather: Clear; 76°F Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (TNT): Skip Caray and Pat Haden

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 7 13 3 10 33 Cowboys 14 7 3 7 31 Date: September 9 Location: Texas Stadium Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,025 Game weather: Clear; 81°F; wind 11 Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, and Frank Gifford

Scoring summary Q1 DAL Novacek 3 yard pass from Aikman (Willis kick) DAL 7–0 Q1 WSH Johnson 3 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 DAL Smith 75 yard run (Willis kick) DAL 14–7 Q2 WSH Lohmiller 37 yard field goal DAL 14–10 Q2 DAL Smith 5 yard pass from Aikman (Willis kick) DAL 21–10 Q2 WSH Monk 37 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick) DAL 21–17 Q2 WSH Lohmiller 52 yard field goal DAL 21–20 Q3 WSH Lohmiller 45 yard field goal WSH 23–21 Q3 DAL Willis 51 yard field goal DAL 24–23 Q4 WSH Riggs 1 yard run (Lohmiller kick) WSH 30–24 Q4 WSH Lohmiller 46 yard field goal WSH 33–24 Q4 DAL Irvin 6 yard pass from Aikman (Willis kick) WSH 33–31

^[11]

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 • Redskins 7 7 14 6 34 Date: September 15 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 54,662 Game weather: Clear; 76°F Referee: Tom White TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Randy Cross

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 3 21 3 7 34 Bengals 7 3 14 3 27 Date: September 22 Location: Riverfront Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 52,038 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 59°F Referee: Stan Kemp TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Merlin Olsen

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 • Redskins 0 10 3 10 23 Date: September 30 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,198 Game weather: Clear; 64°F Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, and Frank Gifford

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 10 0 10 20 Bears 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 6 Location: Soldier Field Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 64,941 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 43°F Referee: Bernie Kukar TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 7 0 10 0 17 • Redskins 7 14 7 14 42 Date: October 13 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 54,715 Game weather: Clear; 55°F Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 0 7 10 17 Giants 10 3 0 0 13 Date: October 27 Location: Giants Stadium Game start: 7:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 76,627 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 64°F; wind 9 Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann

Scoring summary Q1 NYG Allegre 23 yard field goal NYG 3–0 Q1 NYG Hampton 1 yard run (Allegre kick) NYG 10–0 Q2 NYG Allegre 36 yard field goal NYG 13–0 Q3 WSH Clark 7 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick) NYG 13–7 Q4 WSH Clark 54 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick) WSH 14–13 Q4 WSH Lohmiller 35 yard field goal WSH 17–13

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 6 0 7 13 • Redskins 0 3 3 10 16 Date: November 3 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,096 Game weather: Cloudy; 48°F Referee: Gerry Austin TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 3 0 14 0 17 • Redskins 7 21 7 21 56 Date: November 10 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 52,461 Game weather: Cloudy; 39°F Referee: Dale Hamer TV announcers (CBS): James Brown, Randy Cross, and Lesley Visser

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 7 10 10 14 41 Steelers 0 0 0 14 14 Date: November 17 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 56,813 Game weather: Clear; 47°F Referee: Tom White TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Merlin Olsen

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 0 14 0 10 24 Redskins 7 0 0 14 21 Date: November 24 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,561 Game weather: Clear; 52°F Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 7 0 14 6 27 Rams 3 3 0 0 6 Date: December 1 Location: Anaheim Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,027 Game weather: Clear; 55°F Referee: Dick Hantak TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Merlin Olsen

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 0 14 6 20 Cardinals 0 14 0 0 14 Date: December 8 Location: Sun Devil Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 48,373 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 60°F Referee: Bernie Kukar TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dan Fouts

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 3 7 7 0 17 • Redskins 7 17 3 0 27 Date: December 15 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 54,722 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 40°F Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Week 17

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 3 10 3 6 22 • Eagles 7 0 0 17 24 Date: December 22 Location: Veterans Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 58,988 Game weather: Clear; 37°F Referee: Dale Hamer TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dan Fouts

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Washington Redskins	14	2	0	.875	6–2	10–2	485	224	L1
^(5) Dallas Cowboys	11	5	0	.688	5–3	8–4	342	310	W5
Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	5–3	6–6	285	244	W1
New York Giants	8	8	0	.500	3–5	5–7	281	297	W1
Phoenix Cardinals	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–11	196	344	L8

Playoffs

Schedule

NFC Divisional Playoffs	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–7	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	15–2	CBS	12:30pm
NFC Championship	Detroit Lions	W 41–10	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	16–2	CBS	4:15pm
Super Bowl XXVI	Buffalo Bills	W 37–24	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	17–2	CBS	6:15pm

Divisional

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 7 0 0 7 • Redskins 0 14 3 7 24 Date: January 4 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,181 Game weather: Rain; 49°F Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Dan Fouts, and Lesley Visser

NFC Championship

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 10 0 0 10 • Redskins 10 7 10 14 41 Date: January 12 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 4:15 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,585 Game weather: Clear; 40°F Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall, John Madden, and Lesley Visser

Super Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 17 14 6 37 Bills 0 0 10 14 24 Date: January 26 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Game start: 6:15 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,130 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall, John Madden, and Lesley Visser

Roster

Defense CB Martin Mayhew ⋅ CB Darrell Green ⋅ Offense WR Gary Clark ⋅ TE Don Warren ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Jim Lachey Raleigh McKenzie Jeff Bostic Mark Schlereth Joe Jacoby ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Ron Middleton ⋅ WR Art Monk Ricky Sanders QB Mark Rypien ⋅ Special Teams PK Chip Lohmiller P Kelly Goodburn KR Brian Mitchell PR Brian Mitchell RB Earnest Byner ⋅

Statistics

Passing

Player	G	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yds.	TD	INT
Mark Rypien	16	249	421	59.1	3,564	28	11
Jeff Rutledge	16	11	22	50.0	189	1	0

Rushing

Player	G	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD
Earnest Byner	16	274	1,048	3.8	5
Ricky Ervins	15	145	680	4.7	3
Gerald Riggs	16	78	248	3.2	11

Receiving

Player	G	Rec.	Yards	Y/G	Avg.	TD
Art Monk	16	71	1,049	65.6	14.8	8
Gary Clark	16	70	1,340	83.8	19.1	10
Ricky Sanders	16	45	580	36.3	12.9	5
Earnest Byner	16	34	308	19.3	9.1	0
Ricky Ervins	16	16	181	11.3	11.3	1
Terry Orr	16	10	201	12.6	20.1	4

Kicking

Player	FGM	FGA	Pct.	XPM	XPA	Pct.
Chip Lohmiller	31	43	72.1	56	56	100.0

Awards and records

• Mark Rypien, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player
• Mark Rypien, UPI NFC Player of the Year
• Mark Rypien, Pro Bowl Selection

Milestones

• November 10, 1991 – Mark Rypien threw for 442 yards and 6 touchdowns yards against the Atlanta Falcons, despite being taken out of the game in the middle of the 4th quarter;^[12] when Atlanta did the same, their third-string quarterback, a rookie named Brett Favre, made his NFL debut – and his first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. On that same day, Warren Moon of the Houston Oilers threw for over 400 yards as well in an overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Best team ever

In 2010, ESPN conducted a "super league," consisting of the best Super Bowl winning teams of all time; the 1991 Redskins finished the regular season in first place with record of 14–2 and beat the 1992 Dallas Cowboys in the league finals to be named the greatest team of all time.^[13] Football Outsiders also has them ranked as the best team in NFL history based on their advanced analysis.^[14]

References

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1991 Washington Redskins
2. Chase, Chris. "Ranking all 49 Super Bowl champions, from best to worst". USA Today. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1991 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards
4. Pro-Football-Reference: 1991 Washington Redskins
5. As of 2011 season
6. The Redskins previously won the Super Bowl after the 1982 and 1987 seasons, both shortened by strikes
7. Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien
8. ESPN.com, Page 2 – The List: Greatest NFL teams of all time, 2007
9. Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary, published July 16, 2012, spanning 1991–2011 seasons.
10. Washington Redskins 1991 Press Guide. pp. 3–36.
11. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-31.
12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKc36GyGS0E
13. http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/promotions/nfl/superleague/?gameId=121 "Redskins win on dramatic final play"
14. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2014/historical-dvoa-estimates

External links

• 1991 Washington Redskins at Pro-Football-Reference.com