It was December 21st, 1986 and in the bowels of Veteran Stadium Joe Gibbs was angry…Incredible Hulk angry. Redskins players had never seen this kind of rage coming out of Gibbs and I guess his tirade can only be described as "epic". But, in true Joe Gibbs fashion, even as his voiced raised louder and louder and the veins stuck out of his neck he managed to never say a single curse word.
What had Gibbs so worked up? The Redskins trailed the Eagles 14-0 at halftime on the last game of the year. The Redskins had dropped their previous 2 games and even though they had a playoff spot locked up with an 11-4 record, they had lost their chance to win the division and were definitely backing into the playoffs.
The score remained Eagles 14 Redskins 0 until the 4th quarter when Gibb’s words finally sunk in with the Redskins offense. Jay Schroeder would throw 2 TD passes to his tight ends to tie the score at 14. The first TD went to Clint Didier for 26 yards and the 2nd went to Don Warren for 2. As the defense continued to shut down Randall Cunningham and the Eagles the Skins got the ball back with minutes to play. A long pass play from Schroeder to Ricky Sanders got the Redskins in position for the win and George Rogers capped it off with a 5 yard TD run. Game. Set. Match. Redskins 21 Eagles 14.
Video of the game and more after the jump.
Offensively the Redskins didn’t put up impressive stats. Sanders led the team with 94 yards receiving and Rogers chipped in with 64 yards rushing. Art Monk had a very quiet game with only 4 catches for 39 yards. Schroeder did have the 2 TD’s but also hurt the Redskins by throwing 3 INT’s.
The Skins had a great game on defense, neutralizing Cunningham and only allowing him 153 yards passing and 33 rushing. The Eagles leading rusher was Keith Byars with 57 yards and the leading receiver was Mike Quick who led the way with 55 receiving. Charles Mann and Rich Milot each had 1.5 sacks while Dexter Manley & Neal Olkewicz each added another.
The 86’ Redskins would defeat the Rams 19-7 in the NFC Wild Card game at RFK. The following the Redskins would knock off the Bears 27-13 in Soldier Field in what would be Walter Payton’s final game in the NFL. The season would end the following week in the swirling winds of The Meadowlands as the Giants defeated the Redskins 17-0 in the NFC Championship game.
As always I leaned heavily on www.profootballreference.com and Rich Tandler‘s 'The Redskins Chronicle' which is a book I believe every diehard fan should have.
Cheers and Hail