Today is my first day off in a long time. I stay so busy these days with work and the baby that when I do have any free time I really don't even know what to do. I got the boy down for a nap and the house is clean so I figured I would fuck with yall today with a thread inspired by a topic I seen in one of the Facebook groups I'm in. 

The facebook group post asked who would win between the 91 Redskins vs 94 49ers and it got me to really thinking about how good this team really was. Where do you stand on where this team ranks among the all time greats? Were they as good as the 92-93 Cowboys that came after them? Would they have beat a healthy Randall or the 49ers in the playoffs? Did they just get lucky and win out in a weak season in the NFL? 

The consensus in the group was that this team doesn't belong in the same conversation with the 92-93 Cowboys or 94 49ers and they were a fluke one-off team that got lucky because the 49ers had a down year, the Cowboys were too young, and Randall Cunningham got injured. Would you agree or disagree? I have an interesting and maybe controversial take on this team I'll post all about it later my boy just woke up haha. 

When I did my count down that I never finished I had the 1991 Redskins as the 6th best team in NFL history. I don't think any of the Super Bowl champions that came after them over the last 30 years were as good as they were, that includes the 92-93 Cowboys, 94 Niners, 96 Packers, 98 Broncos, 03-04 Patriots, 09 Saints, 2013 Seahawks, or 2021 Rams. The 91 Redskins had an unfair advantage over the last 30 years of Super Bowl winners because they didn't have to deal with unrestricted free agency or the salary cap, both of which were installed in 1993-94 and decimated this team(along with old age) those years. This was a wise team of veterans that had an amazing level of experience, like a group of battle hardened soldiers that had been in firefights on the front lines.

The 91 Washington defense is one of the most underrated units. They were one of the hardest hitting defenses of the era. Wilber Marshall looking back at him now has to be one of the true all time great linebackers in NFL history. He was a major factor on the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl run so when Washington picked him up that was huge. Marshall to me was in his prime these years in 1991 and 1992 with Washington, he was just all over the field killing everybody those years. This defense also had Matt Millen from the 1980-1983 Raiders and 89 49ers Super Bowl squads. Charles Mann had 11.5 sacks and Darrell Green one of the all time greats had one of his best seasons.

This defense allowed only 14 points per game average, that is up there among the great single season defensive performances. There were teams that allowed fewer points per game average but compare their schedule and who they played with this 1991 Redskins team. This defense had to play all of the Run N Shoot teams at the height of their powers, the Lions with Barry Sanders, the Falcons, and the Oilers all ran the Run N Shoot and all had their best years in 1991. This Redskins team was built so much like that 1990 Giants team that was designed to beat the "Fancy stuff" that Parcells called Buffalo's offense after winning Super Bowl XXV, and they did just that. They demolished Atlanta and Detroit in the regular season and again in the playoffs and beat Houston before laying a merciless beat down on Buffalo in the Super Bowl.

Some say this Skins team was lucky that the 49ers missed the playoffs that year. This was their first year without Montana they finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs because Atlanta won their division. It says a lot that San Francisco got swept by Atlanta in 1991 and then Washington just dismantled Atlanta like 56-17 in the regular season and another blowout in the playoffs. I believe had San Francisco made the 1991 playoffs Washington would have hurt them the same way the Giants did the year before in the NFC Championship.

Then there is the 1991 Eagles, who had one of the all time greatest defenses led in fewest rushing and passing yards allowed, I believe one of the only teams to ever lead the league in both categories in NFL history. They had Reggie White, Jerome Brown, and Clyde Simmons up front, Seth Joyner at linebacker, Eric Allen in the secondary. Their season was doomed when Randall Cunningham got injured for the year in week 1. Backup Jim Mcmahon came in and played well but also got injured so Philly played with 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks. Washington beat them in the first game and I just watched it today. Jim Mcmahon got hurt on a non contact play and the 3rd string quarterback played terrible. It was interesting to see the Hogs squaring up on White, Simmons, and Brown on the trenches and some of the push they were able to get on them was very interesting to watch.

I do believe Philly would have given Washington trouble in 91 had Randall not got hurt. The thing is though the Redskins beat Philly 20-6 in the 1990 playoffs, this same defense with a healthy Randall.

What really would have been interesting is if Dallas would have been able to get past Detroit to play Washington a 3rd time that year in the NFC Championship. Dallas really got good towards the end of the 91 season and they were the team that ended their win streak at 11-0. Detroit was a thorn in Dallas' side that year because Dallas didn't know how to defend the Run N Shoot the same way San Francisco couldn't defend it vs Atlanta. Washington had it figured out and went 5-0 against the Run N Shoot.

But this offensive line is the greatest of all time. Rypien was only sacked 7 times all year long and look at who he played against, Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner, Jerome Brown, LT, Jim Jeffcoat, Richard Dent, Kevin Greene those guys would get eliminated from games by that line that year. Holy shit man.

The 91 Redskins is a team that never happens in this era of salary cap and unrestricted free agency, just not going to be able to get an ensemble of veteran talent like this together and keep them together long enough to get what this team did that year. They were also the pinnacle of the entire "Iron Sharpens Iron" effect the NFC East had in the 80's. This team was built this way because of having to play Buddy Ryan's bounty hunting 4-6 defense and having to play Lawrence Taylor twice a year. This team also to me is the reason why the Dallas Cowboys got as good as they did that next season. That 92 Cowboys team was a young team with nobody on the roster with over 5 years experience. They hung with the big dogs against that 91 Redskins team and came of age that year because of it.

The only teams I had ranked over the 91 Skins were the 72 Dolphins(1st), 85 Bears(2nd), 89 49ers(3rd), 78 Steelers(4th), and 84 49ers(5th). I had the 86 Giants and 94 49ers behind the 91 Skins at 7th and 8th, with the 92 Cowboys and 73 Dolphins rounding out the top 10 at 9th/10th. I just think this team was too dominant at 14-2 the quality of competition they faced and also playing in to me what was the toughest era in NFL history there in the pinnacle of the 1988-1993 era, with all do respect to the 84 49ers and 85 Bears the 1991 NFL was much tougher league that Redskins team dominated.

Refrained from posting earlier but my gut says the 1989 49ers (which even you conceded) and some of those 90s Cowboy teams were better than the '91 Skins. During my half-hearted research I did come across this...

www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/best-point-differential-by-an-nfl-team-in-a-season

The 1991 Redskins had the 6th highest point differential of all the teams listed at a whopping +261. And you can whittle it down even further by confining it to just the Super Bowl era. That eliminates the 42 Bears (guessing this was Sid Luckman's all time great season?), 61 Oilers(!), and 62 Packers. Which leaves only the 2007 Patriots (best team I ever saw) and the 1999 Rams who you covered in last your series above the 91 Skins.

Mar 14, 2022 3:26:56 GMT Baker said:

Refrained from posting earlier but my gut says the 1989 49ers (which even you conceded) and some of those 90s Cowboy teams were better than the '91 Skins. During my half-hearted research I did come across this...

www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/best-point-differential-by-an-nfl-team-in-a-season

The 1991 Redskins had the 6th highest point differential of all the teams listed at a whopping +261. And you can whittle it down even further by confining it to just the Super Bowl era. That eliminates the 42 Bears (guessing this was Sid Luckman's all time great season?), 61 Oilers(!), and 62 Packers. Which leaves only the 2007 Patriots (best team I ever saw) and the 1999 Rams who you covered in last your series above the 91 Skins.

Super interesting stuff I didn't know their point differential was that high historically. 

1942 wasn't Sid Luckman's historic season that was 1943 if I'm not mistaken. The 1942 Bears were an amazing team, they went undefeated 11-0 and going into the 1942 NFL Championship Game they had to have been considered the greatest team the NFL had ever seen(it was only 23 years old at that point). They just dominated everybody. I want to say this was the year they fucked everybody up with Halas using the T-Formation. The fucked up everybody they played but lost the NFL Championship Game and the perfect season to Sammy Baugh's Redskins, If I remember correctly it was the game where Baugh beat them passing, maybe had an interception or played well as a defensive back, and was dropping coffin corner punts. What a beautiful era. 

The 1961 Oilers were such a crazy anomaly of an offense, playing in the AFL in the league's 2nd season the league was a mess, there was no defense. I can only put as much stock in their records that season as I can put in the Cleveland Browns AAFC titles. The AFL was nowhere near as strong in 1961 as it would be two or three seasons later. 

The 1962 Packers would be a team I would consider ranking over the 91 Redskins I can't remember where I had them ranked honestly I blanked on them when remembering my top 10 I had. 

The 2007 Patriots were something else for sure but when I was making my top 100 I came to the conclusion that I just could not rank teams that did not win an NFL title among the ones that did. My first draft had a lot of teams that didn't win the title, including my favorite the 1993 Oilers, but I could never figure out how to rank them. I finally just decided they just did not belong on the list and should have their own separate "Top 100 Teams That Didn't Win The Super Bowl" or whatever. When ranking the true all time great teams in NFL history to me it all begins and ends with whether or not they won the Championship. I just couldn't rank a team that failed over a team that won it all. That was going to be my big shocker at the end of the top 100, not only did the 07 Patriots not finish #1 they didn't even make the count down at all. 

But the 2007 Patriots were phenomenal. They had a huge win over the Redskins that year like 56-7 or something and it was a call back to that 1991 Redskins season where Joe Gibbs ran the score up on Belichick that year. It was Belichick's first year as a head coach taking over the Browns and Washington dominated them in 1991 like 42-10 or something. I remember the Pats were really running the score up in that game against Gibbs' Redskins in 2007 so it was always interesting to hear that back story why. 

Also I don't think the 99 Rams were on the same level as the 91 Redskins either, the difference in strength of schedule is pretty substantial. To me the 99 Rams played the easiest schedule of any Super Bowl winner.

I'm watching the 1991 week 9 game between the Giants vs Redskins. The Skins I believe are 8-0 or 7-0 at this point while the Giants are 4-3. This is Ray Handley's first year as head coach of the Giants after Parcells retired. But man halfway through this game and these Giants look great, they have dominated the Redskins up to this point in the game and still looked really tough, especially on defense. This was still all the same guys from that 1990 Super Bowl team. 

During the game they put up a graphic showing how this Redskins team was built, showing of the 22 starters on this squad they acquired 7 of them through the draft, 10 through free agency(plan b?), 5 through trades. 

One underrated element of the 91 Redskins that I think puts them up there was just how well rounded this team was at every level, even and maybe especially with special teams. Digging through their stats they led the NFL with 610 total punt return yards(second place was 416 by Philly). Brian Mitchell is one of the all time great return men had 2 punt returns for touchdowns that year. They ranked 2nd in the NFL(behind Detroit) with 13.3 yards per return.

The kicker Chip Lohmiller was money that year. As I'm typing this I got the week 2 Washington vs Dallas game going and he hits 3 long field goals to help them win that one, two of them were over 50 yarders. Lohmiller led the NFL in kickoff yards with almost 1,000 more yards than the second place team(Buffalo). He tied for 1st in the NFL in total field goals made with 31 and was 2nd in the NFL with 34 touchbacks. Lohmiller also led the NFL in kicking the next year in 1992 even with Washington's offense scoring far fewer points overall. to sum it up this Redskins team had the best kicker in the NFL that year and a dangerous return game as well.

So they had the best kicker in the NFL and the best return man in the NFL in 1991.

The week 9 game vs the Giants was a real treat to watch last night I really enjoyed it. I always figured the 1991 Giants had fallen apart because Belichick and Parcells left following their winning Super Bowl XXV. But watching their first game against Washington that team was still all there, LT, Leonard Marshall, Carl Banks, and Everson Walls. They were in full force in the first half of this game against Washington they shut the NFL's top offense down and looked really good doing it. One thing about watching that defense that really stood out to me was just how recklessly fast the game was, everything was such a high speed head on collision it was really crazy. There is no question that the NFL was just chewing guys up and spitting them out and it had to change, but that doesn't make the brutality of these old games any less awe inspiring.

The second half it was like the Redskins out Gianted the Giants, just long grinding smash mouth scoring drives where they controlled the clock. The offensive line started to get a big push on that Giants defense in the second half and watching them wear them down was something else.

Jim Lachey is an interesting case to look at. He was a 6' 6" 295 pound offensive tackle that was probably one of the biggest factors in that 1991 Redskins title run. He just dominated the NFL that year playing against nothing but all time legends and some of the best to ever play. It was a sight to see him manhandle LT in this game I watched against the Giants. He was an elite tackle when Washington brought him in from the Raiders in 1989, All Pro level in 1990 and 1991 but then got hurt in 1992, missed the entire 1993 season due to injury, came back and was not good in 1994, only started 3 games in 1995 before being out of the league at 31. That's a pretty huge fall from grace after being a 3 time All Pro. I noticed him in the NFL 75 year anniversary book in the "Stars Of The Future" article, he was really expected to be one of the best linemen in the NFL in the 1990's decade but it just didn't happen. Because of that his greatness in 1991 I believe is forgotten, what a fucking amazing season long performance he put in for Washington in 91, maybe even one of the most dominant offensive lineman performances ever in a season?

Washington comes back from a 13-0 deficit against the defending NFL Champion Giants to beat them 17-13. Rypien hit Gary Clark for a really fucking nice deep touchdown pass in this game, the guy was really on that year and had games/moments where he looked as good as the Elways or Montanas or Moons. But this win over the Giants I believe had to be a huge turning point for this 91 Redskins. The Giants were 4-3 and still had a shot at the division had they won this game against the 7-0 Redskins. The Redskins had been dominated by the Giants in the years before 91 so this was a big passing of the torch game and a big game that built Washington's confidence going forward that year, they conquered their demons in a hard fought battle and took down the defending NFL Champs. Good stuff.

Rypien when he was on looked just as good as any of the elite QB's in the NFL in that era.

Just looking into how this Redskins team acquired Wilber Marshall from the Bears, very interesting. They signed him as a free agent in 1988 and this was before Unrestricted Free Agency existed so this was a massive signing that I think gets way overlooked(Marshall in general seems criminally underrated).

Apparently when Washington signed him in 1988 it was the first free agent signing in the NFL in 11 years. Due to the rules of free agency back then Washington had to give the Bears 2 first round picks to compensate for signing him after his contract was up. Unrestricted free agency didn't exist until 1993, at that point any veteran with 4 years experience was free to go where they wanted after their rookie deal was over. The Redskins making the type of free agency moves they did in the 80's was next level GM stuff. 

Its interesting that this 91 Redskins team wasn't built through the draft, they made really smart trades and brilliant free agent signings to put this team together, continuing the George Allen anti-rookie approach.

Been watching through whatever 1991 Redskins games I can find on Youtube since posting this thread, it's been a fun ride.

I watched their week 4 game against the Bengals in Cincy, Washington was 3-0 going into this game and Cinci was just beginning their free fall into being the worst team in the NFL in the 1990's decade here at 0-3. The Bengals were still a really tough team in 1990, they finished 9-7 then destroyed the Oilers in the Wild Card playoffs before losing to the Raiders in the second round(the Bo Jackson injury game). The 1991 season was the beginning of the downward spiral for the franchise. Paul Brown died before the start of the 1991 season and his son Mike Brown took over for 1991. Wyche was still the head coach, Boomer was still starting QB, Munoz at tackle, but I think for the most part the team had turned over from that 1988 Super Bowl team and they were on their way to an 0-8 start and a 3-13 finish in 1991. David Shula was an assistant coach on this team and he would get the head coaching job in 92, these poor Bengals fans were in for a long long decade.

But the Bengals played the Redskins very tough in this game. Washington took a 24-10 lead into the half after Brian Mitchell took a punt return to the house in the second quarter. The Bengals came out fired up in the second half and overcame a 27-10 third quarter deficit to tie it up 27-27 in the fourth quarter. Gerald Riggs would win it for Washington 34-27 with his 3rd touchdown run of the game, putting Washington at 4-0 on the season.

Gerald Riggs was one of the best running backs in the NFL in the mid 80's for the Falcons, right up there with Eric Dickerson as the best in the league(he rushed for over 1,700 yards in 1985). He was one of those guys that had his career cut short with injuries and was kind of forgotten about. From watching the games I get the feel that they modeled this 1991 Skins roster after the 1990 Giants roster, Ernest Byner was like their version of Otis Anderson, but it was like they had 2 Otis Andersons with Riggs as the backup. Riggs had 3 touchdowns in this game to help Washington win it.

One interesting development I've noticed watching through these games was the rise of rookie runner Ricky Ervins, who they took in the 3rd round of the 1991 draft. Through the course of the season Ervins kind of took Riggs job as the backup running back and he looked like he had the potential to be Washington's franchise back going into the future. I think he led all rookie running backs in the NFC that year with 4.7 yards per carry average. Ervins is another guy like Jim Lachey that Washington was counting on for their future that turned out to be a bust, one of the reasons why this team was so bad in 1993-1994 was the young guys like Ervins and Lachey failing to live up to the potential they showed in 91, then add in the collapse of Rypien and it was set up for this team to have a free fall of their own.

Just checked to make sure I got my years right and, yep, 1991 Gerald Riggs was an all time great touchdown vulture...
Byner: 1048 rushing yards- 5 touchdowns
Riggs: 248 rushing yards- 11 touchdowns

Credit to the great Zander Hollander, whose sports handbooks were the PWI Almanac of real sports, for correctly predicting the Skins to win the NFC in '91. Wish I had kept all those books

Man this has been an awesome rabbit hole to go down. The 91 Redskins rabbit hole has led me down a 1991 NFL rabbit hole which has given me this strong sudden urge to play some Tecmo Super Bowl here lately.

I watched the 91 Redskins vs Browns game from week 7. Of course this is the infamous Bill Belichick blowout, his first season as a head coach and Joe Gibbs embarrasses him running the score up 42-17. After watching a few games at this point I'm starting to notice certain tendencies in their playcalling. First of all this 91 Redskins had their own version of the Packer sweep with this run play to the left side, Joe Jacoby pulls from the right tackle position and sweeps through between the left tackle and guard, with Jacoby over 300 pounds and like 6'7" this play is fun to watch because he comes around that corner and usually mauls or swallows up whatever poor linebacker or defensive back that tries to come through that hole. This is the biggest Hall Of Fame snub to me is Joe Jacoby, easily without question one of the all time great linemen and this year's inductee Toni Boselli has not done anything to me to get in over Jacoby. Just a huge travesty to me. But they called this run play a lot in these 1991 games and other teams couldn't really stop it. Also Rypien rolled out of the pocket a lot to the right side on those deep passes to Clark and Monk, with Jacoby sliding out that way to protect him. Those two plays have been their bread and butter in all of these games. 

Also Rypien should get some of the credit for only getting sacked 7 times all season, he got rid of the football really fast in all of these games and always made good decisions when shit got crazy. For him to have only been sacked 7 times and to have thrown so few interceptions is really fucking impressive, he was really good at getting rid of the ball to avoid the sack while also not chucking interceptions. He never held onto the ball for long and this Redskins team has to be one of the all time best teams at picking up the blitz. After watching Bill O'Brien's Texans offense for so many years there this was something amazing to see how effectively this 91 Redskins team handled an oncoming blitz. 

But the Redskins run over Belichick's Browns here 42-17. Something interesting about the 91 Redskins is that they shut out all 3 of their first 3 home opponents, shutting out Detroit 45-0 in week 1, then shutting out Phoenix 34-0 in week 3, then shutting out the Eagles 23-0 two weeks later. So Belichick's Browns were the first team to score on Washington in RFK in 91.

Belichick always remembered this blowout and got his payback when Gibbs came back to the NFL in the 2000's. When the 2007 Patriots beat Joe Gibbs' Redskins that year New England took a 38-0 lead into the fourth quarter. Belichick didn't run the ball out in the 4th quarter they kept attacking Washington and ran the score up to 52-7.

Just another note that I missed about how this team was built, they actually got Jim Lachey from the Raiders in 1988 in the trade for Jay Schraoeder or however you spell his name. Boy the Raiders got screwed there. Eek.

Man there is a shit load of games from 1991 on Youtube, like 150 of them, including both of the Falcons vs 49ers games from that season. I know one of those is a damn good game I've read about. Atlanta swept the 49ers in 91(they were in the same division, NFC West).

But I'm closing this down with Redskins season finale against the Eagles. God I can't remember anymore the specifics but this Eagles defense was like the only unit ever to lead the league in fewest rushing and passing yards allowed, statistically one of the all time great defenses.

Going into this game Washington is 14-1, Philly is 9-6 but has been eliminated from playoff contention, so this was totally meaningless. But going into this game Rypien had only been sacked 6 times all year, which was an NFL record. This Philly defense made sure they didn't get that record by bringing Rypien down for his 7th sack of the season.

During the game the commentators talk about how Jim Lachey always dominated Clyde Simmons and never allowed a sack against him. But watching them go at it in this game I noticed Lachey got away with a lot of holding against Simmons, like A LOT.

For this to be a meaningless game it sure was a fun watch. This Eagles defense from 1991 was out of this world. Randall Cunningham was lost for the year in week 1 and they lost backup Jim Mcmahon for a bulk of the season as well, so they went 10-6 playing with 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks.

The Redskins appeared to be well on their way to 15-1 with a comfortable lead in the 3rd quarter. Washington pulls their offensive starters but a lot of their defense stays in there and gets burned by the Eagles no name 3rd string quarterback. They give up 2 touchdown passes to the guy and then let him drive Philly into range for the game winner in the end for the 24-22 victory.

I am left with the impression that Philly would have been a major problem for Washington in 1991 had Randall not got hurt. Sure this same Washington team beat Philly in the 1990 playoffs but this Eagles defense was even better in 1991. Even in their first game of the year the 23-0 win by Washington was ugly because Philly's 3rd stringer kept throwing interceptions. Had Philly had a legit quarterback Philly could have easily took that game, their defense played really well.

But Washington finishing 14-2 instead of 15-1 is a knock against them if you want to compare them to other all time great teams like the 85 Bears or 84 49ers and maybe even 62 Packers. They could have and should have won that 15th game even after they pulled the offensive starters, the starting defense let a 3rd string quarterback beat them with 2 touchdowns and a 4th quarter game winning drive.

But also when you compare 91 Washington's 14-2 record with other all time great 14-2 teams like the 78 Steelers, 89 49ers, maybe they weren't really that dominant. They did beat up on some bad teams and some teams who were playing with major injuries, the Eagles played with 3 quarterbacks in their first loss to Washington and still the defense sacked Rypien twice and intercepted him twice. So I got to believe Philly would have been Washington's achilles heel in 91 with a healthy Randall Cunningham. When you really put a magnifying glass on the 91 Redskins schedule their only real big wins over good teams were over Dallas(11-5), Detroit(11-5, playing without Barry Sanders in week 1), Atlanta(10-6), and Chicago(11-5). The win over Dallas was in week 2 where that team was still developing, by the time of the rematch later in the season Dallas had really come together. To me the toughest win was over Chicago at Soldier Field taking on Richard Dent, Mike Singletary, and Co. and Rypien was never touched, meanwhile Wilber Marshall shut down his former team.

Another factor that hasn't been covered about this 91 Redskins team. They were able to stay remarkably healthy all season. Nobody really got injured, while every other team in the NFL in 1991 was dealing with the injury bug it seems. This team really didn't have a lot of depth to the roster so that was major that their starters were able to stay so healthy that season. You can look to the 1992 season for Washington and see how a few key injuries really held that team back, they finished 9-7 and barely made the playoffs as a 6th seed. 

Also I love how they kept old man Russ Grim around still in 1991 and threw him in there for goal line plays. 

Also have to wonder what happens to the Bears if they never let Wilber Marshall go to Washington in 1988? The guy was a fucking animal, after watching the 91 Redskins games I got to say he is crazy underrated, I'd put him up there with the all time great linebackers for sure.

Got to wonder how much better the Bears would have been in 1988 with Marshall, could they have beaten San Francisco to make it to Super Bowl XXIII?

And then this 11-5 Bears team in 1991 with Marshall on the roster could have been the difference in them winning the division instead of giving it up to Detroit.

Letting Wilber Marshall go to Washington in 1988 has to be one of the most underrated gaffe's of any franchise. He was a huge part of their Super Bowl run in 1985, with no salary cap back then it seems like a no brainer to get him signed of all people. Instead they let him go to a conference rival where he has a massive impact on them winning a Super Bowl. Such a huge signing by Washington in '88 and such a huge fuck up by Chicago on the other side.

Interesting that Marshall was snubbed in pro bowl voting in 1991, that's crazy. He did make the pro Bowl in 1992 where he was reunited with Mike Singletary for 1 game.

Mar 26, 2022 0:27:34 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The 91 Redskins rabbit hole has led me down a 1991 NFL rabbit hole which has given me this strong sudden urge to play some Tecmo Super Bowl 

Do it! Report your progress right here on PW. Watch out for that Bo Jackson if you happen to meet the Raiders in the Super Bowl. 

Mar 27, 2022 1:32:59 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Also have to wonder what happens to the Bears if they never let Wilber Marshall go to Washington in 1988? The guy was a fucking animal, after watching the 91 Redskins games I got to say he is crazy underrated, I'd put him up there with the all time great linebackers for sure.

Got to wonder how much better the Bears would have been in 1988 with Marshall, could they have beaten San Francisco to make it to Super Bowl XXIII?

And then this 11-5 Bears team in 1991 with Marshall on the roster could have been the difference in them winning the division instead of giving it up to Detroit.

Letting Wilber Marshall go to Washington in 1988 has to be one of the most underrated gaffe's of any franchise. He was a huge part of their Super Bowl run in 1985, with no salary cap back then it seems like a no brainer to get him signed of all people. Instead they let him go to a conference rival where he has a massive impact on them winning a Super Bowl. Such a huge signing by Washington in '88 and such a huge fuck up by Chicago on the other side.

Interesting that Marshall was snubbed in pro bowl voting in 1991, that's crazy. He did make the pro Bowl in 1992 where he was reunited with Mike Singletary for 1 game.

My guess is that the Bears probably thought that Wilbur was a system player, that he wouldn't be that great outside of the 46 defense, which was starting to fall out of favor.   He proved them dead wrong in Washington, excellent pick up for the Redskins. (I will NEVER call them the "Commanders")

Mar 14, 2022 3:26:56 GMT Baker said:

Refrained from posting earlier but my gut says the 1989 49ers (which even you conceded) and some of those 90s Cowboy teams were better than the '91 Skins. During my half-hearted research I did come across this...

www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/best-point-differential-by-an-nfl-team-in-a-season

The 1991 Redskins had the 6th highest point differential of all the teams listed at a whopping +261. And you can whittle it down even further by confining it to just the Super Bowl era. That eliminates the 42 Bears (guessing this was Sid Luckman's all time great season?), 61 Oilers(!), and 62 Packers. Which leaves only the 2007 Patriots (best team I ever saw) and the 1999 Rams who you covered in last your series above the 91 Skins.

I do think the 91 Skins were definitively better than either of the 3 Cowboys champions from the 90’s. For starters the Skins finished 14-2 better Dallas did 13-3 in 92, 12-4 in 93(12-2 with Emmitt), and 12-4 in 95.

The thing is that this same Redskins roster was responsible for giving the 92 Cowboys their 3rd loss on the season. Only in 92 they were plagued with injuries and Rypien fell apart hard. Washington beating Dallas in 92 points out the better coach that Gibbs was over Jimmy Johnson, definitely over Switzer ‘95.

Also the 91 Skins have all 3 Cowboys 90’s champs beat on point differential, average points per game scored, average points per game allowed, and strength of schedule. The 91 Redskins beat 3 division champs along with 2 other playoff teams and the legendary 10-6 Eagles defense. The 92 Cowboys beat only 3 playoff teams and didn’t beat any division winners, only playoff teams they beat were the 9-7 Redskins(that barely made the playoffs), 10-6 Chiefs(who were one and done), and they beat the 11-5 Eagles. Dallas got beat by a pretty awful Rams team in 92 also, neither of Washington’s losses in 91 came from bad teams.

The 93 Cowboys schedule wasn’t as tough as 91 Skins schedule either. They only had 1 win over a division winner, the 10-6 49ers. They only had the sweep over the 11-5 Dan Reeves Giants and the win over 9-7 Green Bay as their other playoff teams they played in the regular season.

95 Cowboys I feel are underrated out of those 3 Cowboys teams from the 90’s. They definitely had the toughest schedule out of the 3, beating 3 division winners(including the top team in the AFC the 13-3 Chiefs) and 3 other playoff teams. They also beat 3 very tough 8-8 teams that didn’t make the playoffs(Vikings, Raiders, and Broncos).

When you compare 91 Washington’s playoff opponents(Atlanta, Detroit, Buffalo) to the 90’s Cowboys playoff opponents you could make a case that the Cowboys had the tougher route in 92 beating the Eagles and the 14-2 49ers in Candlestick. But I think the Redskins beat the toughest version of the Bills Super Bowl teams, they were really good in 91 and even favored over Washington in that Super Bowl. The 92 Bills should have never made it out of the wild card round, they were severely busted up in that Super Bowl route against Dallas. The 93 Bills team was tough but those Packers and 49ers teams they beat in the 93 playoffs were not that tough. In 95 the Cowboys beat the Rodney Pete Eagles and beat the 11-5 Packers before beating Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX.

There is a playlist on Youtube of NFL Primetime highlights for every game of the 1991 season I have been making my way through it here and there over the past week or so when I have time, it is a very awesome time capsule that really captures the ebbs and flows of that 1991 season.

In watching through them I have made it to about week 10 or 11 and it's remarkable how truly awesome those 1991 Saints were. There are some really good highlights of that defense in this playlist they were really one of the all time greats, the Dome Patrol. This is one team I would have liked to have seen the 91 Skins play that year, at one point the Saints were 9-1, that would have been a hell of a matchup seeing the Saints defense against that offensive line.

New Orleans would end up losing 4 in a row that sent them to the wild card round where they lost at home in a rubber match against Atlanta. I actually played with New Orleans through a season of Tecmo Super Bowl last time and they really sold the Dome Patrol short in that game, no where near as good as they were in real life 1991. I finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs

So I went back and watched 2 key games that put this 1991 Redskins team into context, I watched both of the Redskins playoff games from their 1990 postseason run. Their first was a victory over the Buddy Ryan Eagles in Philadelphia in the Wild Card Round. This was a healthy Eagles team with Cunningham at his peak and all of that defense in prime form with Reggie White, Jerome Brown, et. al.

Something I noticed really for the first time while watching this Eagles vs Skins 1990 Wild Card game was that the Eagles biggest weakness and the one big thing that held that team back has to be their offensive line. Their offense was DOA in this game and Washington won 20-6. Interesting connection from this 91 Skins rabbit hole to the 1999 rabbit hole was that Jeff Fisher was the defensive coordinator of this Eagles' defense in this game and at the time the youngest DC in the NFL. Also Jim Hanifan was Washington's offensive line coach and that o-line played really fucking well against Fisher's defense. Hanifan was also the oline coach for the 1999 Rams that beat Fisher's Titans defense in the 1999 Super Bowl. 

Then I watched their divisional game against Joe Montana and the 14-2 49ers at Candlestick. This was the 49ers team that was going for the 3peat as they were defending back to back Champs. They really put it on Washington's ass in this game it was over by the second quarter like 28-10. Montana was ridiculously good in this game making some god like throws to dudes where were well covered.

Best part of this game was Darrell Green suplexing Jerry Rice, awesome play I never seen before that should be a permanent fixture on Darrell Green's highlight reel, just never recall anybody manhandling Rice that way. The play did get an unnecessary roughness penalty and gave San Fran 15 yards, it was a bullshit penalty.