1987 Washington Redskins season

1987 Washington Redskins season
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	11–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Bears) 21–17 Won Conference Championship (Vikings) 17–10 Won Super Bowl XXII (Broncos) 42–10

The 1987 Washington Redskins season was a shortened 15-game season due to the 1987 NFL strike.

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 would go on to beat 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]

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.^[3] In his NFL debut, replacement player Ed Rubbert passed for 334 yards.^[3] Rubbert also threw three touchdown passes to Anthony Allen. Allen would have 255 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Game time	TV	Record	Attendance
1	September 13, 1987	Philadelphia Eagles	W 34–24	RFK Stadium	1:00et	CBS	1–0	52,188
2	September 20, 1987	at Atlanta Falcons	L 20–21	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	1:00et	CBS	1–1	50,882
–	September 27, 1987	New England Patriots	Canceled	RFK Stadium	1:00et	NBC	1–1
4	October 4, 1987	St. Louis Cardinals	W 28–21	RFK Stadium	1:00et	CBS	2–1	27,728
5	October 11, 1987	at New York Giants	W 38–12	Giants Stadium	4:00et	CBS	3–1	9,123
6	October 19, 1987	at Dallas Cowboys	W 13–7	Texas Stadium	9:00et	ABC	4–1	60,415
7	October 25, 1987	New York Jets	W 17–16	RFK Stadium	1:00et	NBC	5–1	53,497
8	November 1, 1987	at Buffalo Bills	W 27–7	Rich Stadium	1:00et	CBS	6–1	71,640
9	November 8, 1987	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 27–31	Veterans Stadium	1:00et	CBS	6–2	63,609
10	November 15, 1987	Detroit Lions	W 20–13	RFK Stadium	1:00et	CBS	7–2	53,593
11	November 23, 1987	Los Angeles Rams	L 26–30	RFK Stadium	9:00et	ABC	7–3	53,614
12	November 29, 1987	New York Giants	W 23–19	RFK Stadium	4:00et	CBS	8–3	45,815
13	December 6, 1987	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–17	Busch Memorial Stadium	1:00et	CBS	9–3	31,324
14	December 13, 1987	Dallas Cowboys	W 24–20	RFK Stadium	1:00et	CBS	10–3	54,882
15	December 20, 1987	at Miami Dolphins	L 21–23	Joe Robbie Stadium	8:00et	ESPN^[b]	10–4	65,715
16	December 26, 1987	at Minnesota Vikings	W 27–24 (OT)	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	4:00et	CBS	11–4	59,160

NFC Divisional Playoffs	10 January 1988	at Chicago Bears	W 21–17	Soldier Field	12:30et	CBS	12–4	58,153
NFC Championship	17 January 1988	Minnesota Vikings	W 17–10	RFK Stadium	12:30et	CBS	13–4	55,212
Super Bowl XXII	31 January 1988	N Denver Broncos	W 42–10	Jack Murphy Stadium	6:25et	ABC	14–4	73,302

Notes:

^a All times in North American Eastern Time. (UTC–4 and UTC–5 starting October 25)

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

Regular Season summaries

Week 1: vs Philadelphia Eagles Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins 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 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 52,128 Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator) Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons Week 2: Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 7 0 6 7 20 Falcons 7 0 7 7 21 at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta Date: September 20 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 50,882 Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Dick Vermeil (color commentator) Week 4: vs St. Louis Cardinals Week 4: St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins 1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 7 7 7 21 Redskins 7 7 14 0 28 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C Date: October 4 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 27,728 Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan (play-by-play) and Joe Theismann (color commentator) Week 5: at New York Giants Week 5: Washington Redskins at New York Giants 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 3 21 7 7 38 Giants 3 0 9 0 12 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date: October 11 Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 9,123 Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator) Week 6: at Dallas Cowboys Week 6: Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 3 0 7 3 13 Cowboys 0 0 7 0 7 at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Date: October 19 Game time: 9:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 60,415 Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play-by-play) and Dan Dierdorf (color commentator) Week 9: at Philadelphia Eagles Week 9: Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 7 14 0 6 27 Eagles 7 10 14 14 45 at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia Date: November 8 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,609 Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton (play-by-play) and Terry Bradshaw (color commentator) Week 12: vs New York Giants Week 12: New York Giants at Washington Redskins 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 10 6 3 0 19 Redskins 0 0 9 14 23 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C Date: November 29 Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 45,815 Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator) Week 13: at St. Louis Cardinals Week 13: Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 10 0 21 3 34 Cardinals 0 14 3 0 17 at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri Date: December 6 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 31,324 Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan (play-by-play) and Joe Theismann (color commentator) Week 14: vs Dallas Cowboys Week 14: Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins 1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 3 0 10 7 20 Redskins 7 10 7 0 24 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C Date: December 13 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 54,882 Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator)

Roster

1987 Washington Redskins roster
	Quarterbacks 10 Jay Schroeder 17 Doug Williams 11 Mark Rypien · Running backs 35 Keith Griffin PR 38 George Rogers '36 Timmy Smith' 24 Kelvin Bryant Wide receivers 81 Art Monk 84 Gary Clark 80 Eric Yarber PR 83 Ricky Sanders 89 Clarence Verdin		Tight ends 86 Clint Didier 85 Don Warren 87 Terry Orr Offensive linemen 68 Russ Grimm C 66 Joe Jacoby T 73 Mark May T 63 Raleigh McKenzie G 69 R.C. Thielemann G 76 Ed Simmons (T) 53 Jeff Bostic ·(C)		Defensive linemen 65 Dave Butz DT 77 Darryl Grant DT 72 Dexter Manley DE 71 Charles Mann DE 74 Markus Koch (DE)· Linebackers 51 Monte Coleman OLB 55 Mel Kaufman LLB 52 Neal Olkewicz MLB 57 Rich Milot · 55 Mel Kaufman · 50 Ravin Caldwell ·		Defensive backs 23 Todd Bowles FS 28 Darrell Green CB 40 Alvin Walton SS 45 Barry Wilburn CB 32 Vernon Dean (CB) 23 Todd Bowles (S) 31 Clarence Vaughn · 34 Brian Davis · Special teams 12 Steve Cox P  6 Ali Haji-Sheikh K Rookies in italics

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

Awards and honors

• Charles Mann, Pro Bowl selection

References

1. The 1982 season also had a players' strike
2. 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 and Donovan McNabb have started at quarterback in the Super Bowl, but both lost the game.
3. Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16