It was December 16, 1984 and RFK Stadium was rocking. The St Louis Cardinals and Washington Redskins were facing off on the last regular season game of the year…a game that was for all the marbles. The winner would be crowned NFC East Champions while the loser faced being eliminated from the playoffs all together.
The Redskins entered the game having won 5 out of the last 6 games to position themselves for the NFC East crown. The Redskins were also coming off a huge 30-28 victory at Dallas a week earlier that had further muddled the NFC East picture. Washington stood at 10-5 while the Cowboys and Cardinals were 9-6 heading into the last week of the season. Thus the win or possibly go home scenarios. There was additional drama as well…Art Monk came into the contest needing 7 receptions to break the NFL season record for receptions of 101.
Game recap and video after the jump.
The Redskins came out firing with a pair of Joe Theismann to Art Monk TD passes to jump out to a 13-0 lead. The Redskins would lead 23-7 at halftime after a John Riggins 5 yard TD run and a short FG by Mark Moseley. The Skins appeared to be in great shape to lock up the division but this game would become a nail biter in the 2nd half.
Neil Lomax would hook up twice with Roy Green for touchdowns in the 2nd half. Neil O’Donoghue would add 2 FG’s as well while all the Redskins could muster was another Moseley FG. The Redskins found themselves trailing 27-26 in the waning minutes of the game. The Redskins mounted 1 final drive that stalled out and brought on Moseley to kick the go ahead FG. The kick was true and the Redskins took the lead 29-27 with 1:42 to play. Of course this wild and crazy game wasn’t over yet. Lomax led the Cardinals down the field and had his team in position to win on the final play of the game. But, O’Donoghue missed from 50 and the Redskins were the NFC East Champions.
Monk broke the record and finished the day with 11 receptions for 136 yards and 2 TD’s. Calvin Muhammad also went over the century mark with 110 yards on 5 catches. Theismann threw for 298 yards and 2 TD’s with 1 INT. John Riggins was held to 76 yards on 27 carries and a TD.
The Redskins had very few stars on defense. Lomax racked up 468 yards and 2 TD’s passing. Ottis Anderson caught 12 balls out of the backfield for 124 yards while Roy Green had a spectacular 8 receptions for 196 yards and 2 TD’s. The Redskins were able to sack Lomax 3 times with the late Perry Brooks, Monte Coleman and Dexter Manley getting to him. Darrell Green had a pretty rough day but did have an interception.
The 84’ Redskins would have a bye week before facing the Chicago Bears at home in the NFC Divisional Playoff. The Skins would suffer their first ever home playoff loss at RFK, losing 23-19 and ending their hopes of a 3rd straight Super Bowl appearance.
Cheers and Hail