1991 Washington Redskins season
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1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...
was the
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 ...
' 60th in the
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(NFL), their 55th representing
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and the eleventh 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 ...
Joe Gibbs. The Redskins were coming off two consecutive 10–6 seasons and looking to return to the playoffs for a second straight season. Not only did the Redskins improve their position, but they also put together a season that is considered by some to be one of the best any team has ever played. Washington won a franchise record-tying 14 games, the best record in the league, and their two losses (to two of their division rivals) were by a combined five points. The Redskins ended their campaign as world champions, knocking off the defending AFC Champion Buffalo Bills in
Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
. The Redskins led the league in scoring with 485 points and allowed the second-fewest points (224) in the league in 1991. (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 ''
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'' ranked the team as the greatest to ever win a Super Bowl. As of 2021, this is Washington's most recent appearance in the
NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...
and the Super Bowl. In addition, this is also Washington's most recent season winning more than 10 regular season games. Statistics site ''
Football Outsiders Football Outsiders (FO) is a website started in July 2003 which focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. The site is run by a staff of regular writers, who produce a series of weekly columns using both the site's in-house statistics ...
'' ranks the 1991 Redskins as the best team they have measured (from 1986 to present). The team ranked #15 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary.


The season

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Mark Rypien Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962) is a Canadian-born former American football quarterback who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington State and was drafted by the Washington Redsk ...
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 A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
Earnest Byner's 1,048 rushing yards were 5th best in the NFL. The Redskins had two wide receivers who went over 1,000 yards receiving in 1991: Gary Clark (1,340) and Art Monk (1,049). The Redskins beat the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
37–24 to win
Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
. The team is the last Super Bowl champion to never trail in any of their playoff victories. The Redskins' Super Bowl XXVI win was their first in a non-strike season. With the championship, coach Joe Gibbs also became the first head coach to win three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. In 2007,
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ranked the 1991 Redskins as the 4th greatest team in NFL history, 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 Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult 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 Football Outsiders (FO) is a website started in July 2003 which focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. The site is run by a staff of regular writers, who produce a series of weekly columns using both the site's in-house statistics ...
'' has ranked the 1991 Redskins as the greatest team in their ratings history, 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 heir rating system'shistory. It was also the year of the best defense in heir system'shistory, which showed up on Washington's schedule twice: the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles."


Personnel


Staff


Roster


Preseason


Regular season


Schedule


Game summaries


Week 1


Week 2


Week 3


Week 4

Washington would not beat the Bengals again until
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.


Week 5


Week 6


Week 7


Week 9


Week 10


Week 11


Week 12


Week 13


Week 14


Week 15


Week 16


Week 17


Standings


Playoffs


Schedule


Game summaries


NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs Atlanta Falcons


NFC Championship Game: vs Detroit Lions


Super Bowl XXVI: vs Buffalo Bills


Statistics


Passing


Rushing


Receiving


Kicking


Awards and records

*
Mark Rypien Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962) is a Canadian-born former American football quarterback who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington State and was drafted by the Washington Redsk ...
, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player * Mark Rypien,
UPI NFC Player of the Year From 1970 to 1984, United Press International (UPI) awarded the NFC Player of the Year award to players from the National Football League's National Football Conference (NFC). An NFC Defensive Player of the Year was named from 1975 to 1996, and an N ...
* Mark Rypien, Pro Bowl Selection


Milestones

* November 10, 1991 – Mark Rypien threw for 442 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons, despite being taken out of the game in the middle of the 4th quarter; when Atlanta did the same, their third-string quarterback, a rookie named
Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...
, made his NFL debut – and his first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. On that same day,
Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonto ...
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 a record of 14-2 and beat the 1992 Dallas Cowboys in the "Super Bowl" to be named the greatest team of all time. Football Outsiders also has them ranked as the best team in NFL history based on their advanced analysis.


References


External links


1991 Washington Redskins
at
Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...
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