The Redskins 25-Year Report Card

April 17, 2018

by Steve Thomas

Since my last column was a comparison of the Bruce Allen and Vinny Cerrato eras (click here to read), and, frankly, we’re in a slow news week, it seemed like the right time to tackle something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: how have the Redskins objectively stacked up against the rest of the NFL in the recent and long-term past?  It’s going to come as no surprise to anyone who hasn’t been in coma for the past 25 years that this franchise has not seen much success during that time.  The real question is how far down the list of awful the team really resides.  Are the Redskins truly bottom-barrel dreck, or is the fanbase just being overly negative?  Let’s find out, in as objective a fashion as possible.

We’re going to evaluate the team in comparison to the rest of the NFL over three separate time periods: since the first retirement of Joe Gibbs prior to the 1993 season, the Dan Snyder era, and the ongoing tenure of Jay Gruden as head coach.

I don’t mean this to be a downer of a column, but the numbers are what they are, so stay with me.

1993 – 2017

Since the retirement of Joe Gibbs after the 1992 season, a full year removed from the Redskins’ last Super Bowl on January 26, 1992, the team has posted a combined, cumulative regular season record of 168 – 230 – 2.  The 168 wins is ranked 27th in the NFL, with the following teams being the only franchises that have fewer victories:

28: Rams (166)

29: Jaguars (165)

30: Lions (161)

31: Browns (111)

32: Texans (110)

The Texans, of course, are last only because the franchise came into existence in 2002.  For those who are curious, the Patriots (273), Steelers (254), Packers (252), Broncos (238), and Colts (229) are the top 5.  The Eagles, the Cowboys, and the Giants have all won significantly more games than Washington, at 221 (ranked 6th), 220 (ranked 7th), and 205 (ranked 12th), respectively.

The Redskins have a .423 winning percentage over that same time period, which is ranked 28th, ahead of only the Raiders (.420), Rams (.416), Lions (.403), and Browns (.315).  Leading the pack are the Patriots (.683), Steelers (.636), Packers (.631), Broncos (.595), and Colts (.573).

The Redskins have played regular 170 games against opponents that had a winning record for the season (tied for 21st), winning 50, for a winning percentage of .297, which is ranked 21st.

The Redskins have played a total of 7 playoff games from 1993 – 2017, which is tied for 31st in the NFL with the Texans and Bengals.  Only the Browns have played fewer, with just 3.  New England, (44), Green Bay (38), Pittsburgh (35), Indianapolis (29), and Philadelphia (26) lead the NFL.  NFC East rivals Dallas and the Giants come in at 10th (20 games) and 12th (19 games), respectively.  22 different teams have played in a Super Bowl over that time span.  26 teams have played in a conference championship game, not including Washington, Houston, Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit.

The Redskins scored 8,018 points in the regular season from 1993 – 2017, which is ranked 23rd, ahead of the Jets (7,857), Cardinals (7,838), Bears (7,767), Panthers (7,732), Bucs (7,553), Ravens (7,547), Jaguars (7,501), Browns (5,993), and Texans (5,228). The Patriots (10,173), Packers (10,094), Broncos (9,694), Saints (9,354), and Colts (9,350) led the NFL in points scored over that time period.

Defensively, the Redskins have surrendered a total of 8,898 points in the regular seasons from 1993 – 2017, which is 24th in the NFL, ahead of the Colts (8,926), Bengals (9,016), Falcons (9,069), Cardinals (9,195), Saints (9,316), Raiders (9,322), Rams (9,374), and Lions (9,439)

The Redskins combined point differential over this time is -880, which is 26th, ahead of the Cincinnati (-947), Detroit (-1,117), Rams (-1,185), Raiders (1,194), Cardinals (1,357), and Browns (1,889).

In summary:

Wins:                              27th

Winning %:                    28th

Winning % against

Tms w/ winning rcds   21st

# of playoff gms:         31st

Points for:                    23rd

Points against:             24th

Point differential:        26th

AVERAGE:                    25.7

In other words, the Redskins have basically stunk.  Not a novel thought.  As you can see, the average of these rankings is 25.7, meaning that by these measures, Washington has been roughly the 25th ranked team in the NFL.  As I mentioned, one variance to these numbers is that the Texans are an expansion team that came into existence in the 2002 season, so the accumulating stats – everything except winning percentage – are not accurate with regard to Houston.  In reality, then, the Redskins should probably be ranked slightly lower than the Texans if evaluated on a per season basis.

The Dan Snyder Era

Dan Snyder purchased the Redskins prior to the 1999 season.  During his leadership, the Redskins have won 132 regular season games, which is tied with Buffalo for 26th in the NFL, ahead of Jacksonville (130), Oakland (122), Detroit (113), Houston (110), Cleveland (88).  Much like the 1993 – 2017 data, the Texans get a pass on the accumulating stats since they came into existence in 2002.  The NFL leaders were the Patriots (222), Steelers (194), Colts (193), Packers (186), and Eagles (177).  The Cowboys have won 158 games since 1999, ranked 10th, and the Giants have won 156 games, ranked 12th.

Over that same time period, the Redskins earned a .436 winning percentage, which was 26th in the NFL, ahead of Buffalo (.434), Houston (.430), Jacksonville (.428), Oakland (.401), Detroit (.372), and Cleveland (.289).  The NFL leaders were the Patriots (.730), Pittsburgh (.640), Indianapolis (.635), Green Bay (.613), and Philadelphia (.584).

The Redskins have played 132 regular season games against opponents that had a winning record for the season (tied for 20th), winning 40, for a winning percentage of .303, which is ranked 20th.

The Redskins have played 7 playoff games in the Dan Snyder era, which is tied for 29th.  The only teams that have played fewer playoff games are Detroit, Buffalo, and Cleveland.  Washington has won just 2 of those 7 playoff games, which is tied for 28th ahead of Kansas City (1), Cincinnati (0), Detroit (0), Buffalo (0), and Cleveland (0).  At the other end of the spectrum are the Patriots (37 games played), Steelers (25), Colts (25), Seahawks (24), and Green Bay (24).  Unsurprisingly, the Patriots have also won the most playoff games, at 27.  19 teams have played in at least one Super Bowl during this time, and 23 have played in at least one conference championship game.

The Dan Snyder Redskins have scored 6,132 points, which is ranked 23rd, ahead of the Jaguars (6,115), Bills (6,095), Cardinals (6,094), Dolphins (6,056), Bears (6,048), Jets (6,047), Bucs (5,993), Texans (5,228), and Browns (5,060).  The Patriots (8,166), Packers (7,682), Saints (7,599), Colts (7,583), and Eagles (7,262) lead the NFL.

Over this period, the Redskins have allowed 6,760 points, also ranked 23rd, ahead of Atlanta (6,839), Tennessee (6,847), San Francisco (6,873), Cleveland (7,015), the Rams (7,078), Arizona (7,083), New Orleans (7,193), Oakland (7,269), and Detroit (7,417).  The NFL leaders were the Ravens (5,558), Steelers (5,564), Patriots (5,679), Texans (5,831), and the Seahawks (6,134).

The Redskins earned a -628 point differential during this period, which was ranked 26th in the league ahead of Buffalo (-631), San Francisco (-674), Arizona (-989), Oakland (-1050), Detroit (-1173), and Cleveland (-1955).  The league leaders were the Patriots (+2,487), Steelers (+1,417), Packers (+1,254), Eagles (1,035), and Ravens (1,023).

In summary:

Wins:                             26th

Winning %:                   26th

Winning % against

Tms w/ winning rcds   20th

# of playoff gms:         29th

Points for:                    23rd

Points against:             23rd

Point differential:        26th

AVERAGE:                    24.7

This data shows that the Dan Snyder Redskins have essentially been just as bad as the 1999 – 2017 teams, which isn’t surprising, averaging 24.7 over the evaluated time period.  Once again, the Texans throw the accumulating statistics off, so the Redskins would most likely fall about a point if evaluated on a pro rata basis to account for the three non-existing Texans seasons.

The Jay Gruden Era

Under the leadership of head coach Jay Gruden, who’s been with the team since 2014, the Redskins have played 64 regular season games and posted a record of 28 – 35 – 1, which is tied for 21st in the NFL by number of wins.  The top 5 teams over this period by this measure are the Patriots (51), Steelers (45), Chiefs (42), Seahawks (41), and Packers, Panthers, Cardinals, and Vikings having earned 39 wins.  The Cowboys are next with 38 wins, and the Giants are 25th with 26 wins.

The Redskins are also 21st when measured by winning percentage, which is .445 during the Gruden era.  Tampa (.344), Jacksonville (.328), San Francisco (.328), Chicago (.297), and Cleveland bring up the rear (.172).  The NFL leaders are the Patriots (.797), Steelers (.703), Chiefs (.656), and Seattle (.648), with the Panthers and Cardinals tied at .617.

The Redskins have played 28 regular season games against opponents that had a winning record for the season (tied for 26th), winning 6, for a winning percentage of .214, which is ranked 25th.  As is the case for seemingly every stat, the Patriots are ranked 1st in the NFL by this statistic, winning .724 percent of their games against teams with winning records (29 games, 21 wins).  The Browns are the worst in the NFL by this measure (and most other measures), with 2 wins in 35 games, for a .057 winning percentage.

Jay Gruden’s Redskins have played one playoff game, which is tied for 21st.  New England (11), Green Bay (7), Seattle (7), Pittsburgh (7), and Carolina (6) lead the NFL in number of playoff games from 2014 – 2017.  During this time period, 12 different teams have played in a conference championship games, and 6 teams have played in a Super Bowl.

As an aside, all of these teams except Carolina have played as many or in the case of New England, more, playoff games in just this four year period than the Redskins have played in 25 years.  Cheers everyone.

Washington has scored 1,427 points over the past 4 regular seasons, which is ranked 17th in the NFL.  The bottom five are Tennessee (1,268), the Jets (1,243), Chicago (1,197), San Francisco (1,184), and Cleveland (1,075).  To the surprise of no one, the Patriots lead the NFL by this statistic with 1,832 points, followed by the Saints (1,726), Eagles (1,675), Steelers (1,664), and Falcons (1,613).

The Redskins have surrendered 1,588 points under Gruden’s leadership, which is good for 27th place, ahead of the 49ers (1,590), Titans (1,595), Raiders (1,609), Browns (1,631), and Saints (1,680).  The NFL leaders in this statistic over this time frame are the Seahawks (1,155), Patriots (1,174), Vikings (1,204), Chiefs (1,218), and Bengals (1,287).

The Redskins are 23rd in the NFL in point differential between 2014 and 2017, at -161.  The NFL leaders are the Patriots (+658), Seahawks (+382), Chiefs (+344), Steelers (+342), and Eagles (+219).  The Raiders (-280), Titans (-327), Bears (-361), 49ers (-406), and Browns (-556) bring up the rear.

In summary:

Wins:                             21st

Winning %:                   21st

Winning % against

Tms w/ winning rcds   25th

# of playoff gms:         21st

Points for:                    17th

Points against:             27th

Point differential:        23rd

AVERAGE:                    22.1

Conclusion

The obvious conclusion here, which isn’t exactly earthshattering, is that the Redskins haven’t been very good for most of a generation.  Take a look at the Redskins rankings for each era, side by side:

 

                                1993 – 2017                Dan Snyder era             Jay Gruden era

Wins:                            27th                             26th                                  21st

Winning %:                  28th                             26th                                  21st

Winning %/winning

records                        21st                             20th                                   25th

# of playoff gms:        31st                             29th                                    21st

Points for:                   23rd                             23rd                                   17th

Points against:            24th                             23rd                                   27th

Point differential:       26th                             26th                                   23rd

AVERAGE:                    25.7                             24.7                                     22.1

What should jump out at you from this comparison chart is that Gruden’s teams have been noticeably better across the board in all categories except points against, meaning, defense.  This jives with the eye test, which is that Jay is a strong offensive coach who has done little to fix or  improve the defense.  It’s worth noting that a 4 year timeframe is not really a big enough sample to be statistically relevant enough to compare to either 19 or 25 years, but it’s the best we can do for these purposes.  Also, I’d guess without analyzing it that Joe Gibbs’ second stint as head coach would have similar or better numbers as does Jay’s period.  Nonetheless, it is an indication to me that by Redskins standards Jay is on the right track, at least offensively.  Overall, though, the numbers bear out that the Redskins have been roughly a bottom 8 – 10 team over the past two and a half decades, sadly.  Let’s hope that when I write this column again after another 25 years, things will have turned for the better.

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