How Dominant was the 91 Team?

[Ax]

I remember his first season or two here, he was usually pulled on 3rd down in favor of Coleman who had superior coverage skills. The press at the time questioned the wisdom of Petitbon, and Gibbs, for this.

If the enter-webs had been around then, there would have been some server crashing going on.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Also, Matt Millen quietly accepted not playing in that Super Bowl because of Buffalo's offense. Team first. How many players today would be tweeting their displeasure at being dissed.

 

[BigRedskinDaddy]

Definite oversight on their part. I think that team gets overlooked because it was a typical Gibbs team - no franchise QB or dominant RB, just a massive (at the time) OL that dominated the line of scrimmage. The defense was dominant...not sure why they aren't mentioned in the all-time defenses.

And they annihilated teams in the playoffs...24-7, 41-10, and 37-24. They just rolled!

Good point, LL. And NO, Goaldeje, you're not misremembering. They were awesome. Head and shoulders above the rest of the league, which still featured at that time a few formidable dynasties or near-dynasties, most notably the Niners' and Giants' runs. That year belonged to the Skins from the get-go, however. They BLEW TEAMS AWAY. IIRC they STILL own the record for largest avg playoff margin of victory. A record that will be hard to beat in today's league.

They weren't flashy, as LL said. But boy did they get the job done. Emphatically.

Thanks for the heartwarming trip down mem lane btw. Much needed these days. Soon I hope to add some new fuzzies to those oldies but goldies.

 

[BigRedskinDaddy]

The 85 bears were the most dominating defencive team, but the 91 redskins were the most dominating all around team...the 91 skins had a very good defence but also had a prolific offence.

Again, couldn't agree more. The '91 Skins were scary because unlike some of the other SB "Greatest Ever's" they were supremely solid on BOTH sides of the ball, and could be counted on not to have a single bad game. Had they fielded only one of those units coupled with a mediocre other one, they would still have made the playoffs IMHO. But trying to beat them BOTH was next to impossible.

I remember following games that year with something akin to boredom, although it could probably more accurately be termed nonchalance. I KNEW they were going all the way, knew it in my bones. Never doubted it. The SB was almost anti-climactic because of it.

Almost. Hosting a giant 4 tv full-house pardoo with all my good buddies and getting the opportunity to go absolutely bonkers the whole time without any fear of negative consequences was the icing on the cake. As plastered as I ended up immediately after the game, I can still vividly remember nearly all of my friends' reactions, and of course my own, on every pivotal play.

Hope I never forget 'em.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Ryan, I remember very well that Bears team of the 80's that probably would have gone down as the best team in history had it not been for Gibbs being a far better coach than Ditka. That does not change the fact that Wilber Marshall did not fall off as Redskins LB from his days as a member of that Bears team.


Here are his career statistics that show his last 3 years with the Skins were almost identical as his 3 productive years as a Bear (His 1st season he saw little action).

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MarsWi00.htm?redir

In 1992 he had his best season as a pro Ryan. He beat out players like Reggie White, Derrick Brooks, Junior Seau, Deion Sanders, and Bruce Smith for the Defensive Player of the Year.

He was more dominant as a player in any single year of his career as a member of the Washington Redskins than the Bears. There is just no denying that fact Ryan. And that was his last season with us. It wasn't until he began to follow Buddy Ryan from team to team that his production truly dropped off.

i actualy didnt realise he was with us longer than the bears, i just remember the rapid fall off when he left and assumed he was on the downside lol either way one of my favourite skins. one could argue that his best year was with the bears though. but my real question is why cant we find more marshalls lol btw by downside i meant he was nearing the end of his career, my assumption was caused by the rapid drop off.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Man, this thread is full of win. I can't wait until we're arguing about exactly how dominant a Redskins team is again - hopefully its in the next couple years.

 

[Bulldog]

the balance on both sides of the ball (as well as winning the SB) is the reason the 1991 team rather than the 1983 team is the best one the Redskins have produced since the merger.

Doc Walker was on the 1983 and pointed back to the fact that team set the NFL scoring record and put 10 guys in the pro bowl. All true.

But it's also true the 1983 Redskins gave up a lot of yards through the air and finished next to last against the pass, something that hurt them in the Super Bowl against the Raiders.

You can also look at games like the 48-47 loss to the Packers on MNF during the season in which the Redskins looked very mortal. 48 points against? Would that have been a record for points against in a game for a SB champion if Washington had beaten LA?

 

[Bulldog]

I think the difference between the first Super Bowl against the Dolphins and the latter two with proven veteran teams is that we didn't really know IF the Redskins were going to win that game.

To be honest, I thought the Redskins were going to crush the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 22. Too many veterans on that team had been through the 38-9 loss to the Raiders in 1984 and were seeking redemption to lose that game. Not to mention the fact the Redskins were such a bigger, faster team. Our OL and DL towered over the Broncos on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Ditto to a large degree in SB 26 against the Bills. I thought it was going to be closer than the run to 24-0 in that game, but the Redskins in my mind were going to cover the 9 point spread on the contest.

 

[Henry]

when Elway came out in the first qtr and hit his WR in stride for a TD I thought we were in trouble. Halfway thru the 2nd qtr I was off the edge of my couch and talking to friends again.

Interesting to note that in their first two Superbowl wins, the Redskins gave up a TD on a big pass play early in the first quarter, which turned out to be the only offensive TD they'd give up.

 

[hail2skins]

Head and shoulders above the rest of the league, which still featured at that time a few formidable dynasties or near-dynasties, most notably the Niners' and Giants' runs.

Not to take anything away from the great '91 team, but some of the other good teams in the conference had issues that year. Parcells retired after the '90 season and his replacement (Ray Handley) made the head-scratching decision to start Jeff Hostetler over Phil Simms. I recall that Montana missed a lot of games that year and the 49ers barely missed the playoffs. Ditto with Randall Cunningham and the Eagles.

Of course, the Skins didn't have to do anything except take care of the business they had in front of them, and they did in a big way. But it would've been cool to have seen the Skins go up against at least one of those teams in the conference playoffs. The one team that we almost played in the NFCCG that would've been quite intriguing was the Cowboys, especially after they had given us our first loss of the season at RFK. But Dallas got demolished by Detroit in the divisional round.