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The 2016 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 85th season in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, the 20th playing their home games at
FedExField FedExField (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 un ...
and the third under
head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...
. The season saw the Redskins play in London for the first time in franchise history, where they tied the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
27–27. After a disappointing loss in the final week to the New York Giants, the Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention. Despite missing the playoffs, the Redskins finished the season with a record of 8–7–1, which was the first consecutive winning seasons for the team since the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Along with the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
, Washington was the only team in 2016 that played seven regular-season games against teams that would reach the playoffs: four games combined against Dallas and the New York Giants, games against Green Bay and Detroit (as the NFC North was the only division besides the NFC East to send more than one team to the 2016 postseason) and a game against the sole AFC North 2016 playoff team (Pittsburgh); the Redskins' 2–5 record in these contests was a major reason they did not return to the playoffs.


Off-season changes


Free agency

All 2015 contracts expired to coincide with the beginning of the 2016 NFL League Year at 4:00 EDT on March 9, 2016. However, before that date, all teams had until March 1 to place the franchise tag on a player, and could begin negotiations with a player's agent on March 7.


Waivers and releases

On March 8, the Redskins released S
Dashon Goldson Dashon Hugh Goldson (born September 18, 1984) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Washington, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round o ...
, DE
Jason Hatcher Jason Dewayne Hatcher (born July 13, 1982) is a former American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players o ...
, QB
Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RG3 and RGIII, is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Baylor, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected second overa ...
, and S Jeron Johnson. On April 14, the Redskins
waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...
OLB
Jackson Jeffcoat Jackson Jeffcoat (born December 26, 1990) is a Canadian football defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jeffcoat won the 107th and 108th Grey Cup when the Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats ...
.


Team re-signings/contract extensions


Free agency transactions


2016 Draft

The 2016 NFL Draft occurred from April 28 to April 30, 2016. Going into the draft, the Redskins had eight selections, two of which were from another team: the additional seventh-round (#232) selection from the
Dashon Goldson Dashon Hugh Goldson (born September 18, 1984) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Washington, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round o ...
trade in 2015 and a sixth-round selection (#187) from the New Orleans Saints (the Redskins sent their sixth-round selection to Tampa Bay as part of the Goldson trade). During the draft, the Redskins swapped first-round selections (#21 for #22) with the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
in exchange for their 2017 sixth-round selection, traded their 2016 fourth round selection (#120) to the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
in exchange for the Saints' fifth-round selections in 2016 (#152) and 2017, and traded their fifth-round selection (#158) to the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
in exchange for their 2017 fourth-round selection.


Undrafted free agents

After the draft, the Redskins signed 14 undrafted college free agents to the team as part of the off season roster:


Staff


Final roster


Schedule


Preseason


Regular season

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.


Game summaries


Week 1: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Redskins entered this Week 1 matchup against the Steelers having lost five consecutive games against Pittsburgh dating back to 1991. They scored an average of 8.2 points per game in those five losses. The Redskins' 22-point defeat was their worst in a Week 1 game in 15 years. It was also their worst opening day home loss since 1966. The Redskins defense had a very hard time containing DeAngelo Williams as he exploded for 143 rushing yards and the Steelers explosive receiving corps of Antonio Brown and Eli Rogers who would go on to have strong performances.


Week 2: vs. Dallas Cowboys


Week 3: at New York Giants

With the win, the Redskins improved 1-2 and won at
MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants an ...
for the first time since 2011.


Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns


Week 5: at Baltimore Ravens


Week 6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles


Week 7: at Detroit Lions

The Redskins rallied with a late touchdown run by Cousins, but the Lions responded with Matthew Stafford throwing the game winner to Anquan Boldin, thus ending the Redskins winning streak.


Week 8: at Cincinnati Bengals

NFL International Series The NFL International Series is a series of American football games during the National Football League (NFL) NFL regular season, regular season that are List of National Football League games played outside the United States, played outside th ...
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Detroit Lions, the Redskins played in the third and final game of the year in London against the Cincinnati Bengals. With a few minutes left in overtime, Dustin Hopkins missed a game-winning field goal and allowed the Bengals to take over. After that, Bengals' Andy Dalton fumbled and allowed the Redskins to take back the ball. A Hail Mary attempt failed, making the Redskins tie for the first time since 1997 when they tied 7–7 against the Giants.


Week 10: vs. Minnesota Vikings

After their tie against the Bengals and their bye week, the Redskins came back home to host the Minnesota Vikings on Homecoming Weekend. After allowing the Vikings to score 20 unanswered points to end the first half, the Redskins shut out the Vikings 12-0 in the second half, improving to 5-3-1 on the season.


Week 11: vs. Green Bay Packers

The Redskins avenged their 35–18 loss to the Packers in the wildcard round of last season's playoffs by beating them 42–24. They also were the last team to beat the Packers, as they went on a 6-game winning streak to finish the season.


Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys

Thanksgiving Day game An attempted rally by the offense did not pay off. The Redskins dropped to 6–4–1 and were swept by the Cowboys for the first time since 2013.


Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...
attempted to drive down the field but was intercepted by
Patrick Peterson Patrick De'mon Peterson Jr. (born July 11, 1990) is an American football cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU, where he won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the best defensive ...
to seal the second straight loss for the Washington Redskins. With the loss, the 'Skins dropped to 6-5-1 and allowed the
Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...
to clinch a playoff spot by virtue of the loss.


Week 14: at Philadelphia Eagles

The Redskins rebounded from a disappointing loss at Arizona to break their two-game losing streak. Chris Thompson scored the game-winning touchdown, while
Ryan Kerrigan Patrick Ryan Kerrigan (born August 16, 1988) is an American football coach and former outside linebacker and defensive end who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played c ...
sealed the game with a strip sack of
Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Wentz played college football at North Dakota State, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS nat ...
.


Week 15: vs. Carolina Panthers

Josh Norman's revenge against his former team came up short in an abysmal Monday Night performance by the Redskins.


Week 16: at Chicago Bears


Week 17: vs. New York Giants

With their playoff hopes on the line, the Redskins hosted the 10-5 New York Giants. The Redskins were pressured all day and two picks by
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Dominique Reshard Rodgers-Cromartie (born April 7, 1986) is a former American football cornerback who played 11 years in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Tennessee State University, and was drafted by the Arizona ...
made the Redskins miss out on the playoffs.


Standings


Division


Conference


Notes


References


External links

* {{2016 NFL season by team
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
Washington Redskins seasons
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...