Coaching Greats versus the Redskins
May 29, 2020
By Noonefromtampa
One of our faithful readers, Mista Moe, posted this question in our comment section about future columns in the comments awhile ago: “Shula (a great coach) died… so what is his history against the Redskins?” So, I decided to take that question and expound on it. I’m going to look at some of the coaches who coached the most games in the modern era of football and how their teams fared against the Redskins.
Teams coached:
- Baltimore Colts 1963-1969
- Miami Dolphins 1970-1995
The Redskins’ all-time record against Shula was 3-12, for a 0.200 winning percentage.
The Redskins were 1-1 in Super Bowls against Shula, losing to the perfect 1972 Dolphins team and winning the 1982 season Super Bowl with the memorable John Riggins game-clinching touchdown run on 4th and 1. The interesting note here is that the Redskins only scored 21 or more points against Shula-coached teams three times, the Super Bowl game plus regular season games in 1987 and 1990, going 2-1 in those games.
Teams coached:
- Cowboys 1960-1988
The Redskins’ all-time record against Landry was 24-32-2, for a 0.431 winning percentage.
The good news is that the Redskins are 2-0 in NFC Title games (1972 and 1982 seasons) against Coach Landry, outscoring them 57-20 in the two games. The bad news is that Washington had two regular game losing streaks that each lasted three years against him, the first between 1968-1970 and the second between 1980-1982. 1982 was a strike shortened season with only one game against the Cowboys, which was the only game the team lost that season, going 12-1 with 8 regular season wins and 4 playoff victories.
Bill Belichick
Teams coached:
- Browns 1991-95
- Patriots 2000-19
The Redskins’ all-time record against Belichick is 2-4, for a 0.333 winning percentage.
The Redskins have not played against Belichick coached teams very often since he has coached only in the AFC. They won the first two and lost every game since then. The average point differential in those four loses is 24 points, a pretty wide margin since most NFL games are usually decided by a touchdown or less.
Teams coached:
- Broncos 1981-92
- Giants 1993-96
- Falcons 1997-2003
The Redskins’ all-time record against Reeves was 5-8, for a 0.385 winning percentage.
The Redskins did not do well against the Reeves-led Giants, going 2-6. The highlight here is the 1987 season 42-10 Super Bowl victory over the Broncos team coached by Reeves. Doug Williams was the MVP in that game throwing 4 touchdown passes in the second quarter setting a Super Bowl record.
Teams coached:
- Steelers 1969-91
The Redskins’ all-time record against Noll was 4-2, for a 0.667 winning percentage.
The Redskins-Steelers history goes all the way back to 1933 when Pittsburgh played as the Pirates, playing a total of 67 games. However, soon after Noll took over as coach the Steelers moved from the NFC to the AFC as part of the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. The frequency of meeting decreased significantly with the Redskins playing Noll’s Steelers only six times all in the regular season.
Teams coached:
- Oilers/Titans 1994-2010
- Rams 2012-2016
The Redskins’ all-time record against Fisher was 3-5, for a 0.375 winning percentage.
The majority of Fisher’s coaching career was in the AFC, so that limited the number of times he faced the Redskins. Probably the most memorable game was the 2012 St. Louis Rams game after the big offseason trade that allowed the Redskins to draft Robert Griffin III. The Redskins entered the game 1-0 after a dramatic opening day 40-32 win against the Saints in New Orleans. The Redskins lost to the Rams 31-28 with the Rams scoring a late 4th quarter TD to take the lead. The game also featured the longest touchdown reception of Leonard Hankerson’s short career, 68 yards.
Teams coached:
- Eagles 1999-2012
- Chiefs 2013-2019
The Redskins’ all-time record against Reid is 11-19, for a 0.367 winning percentage.
Andy Reid was a thorn in the Redskins’ side for decades. Besides all the wins, he also traded two quarterbacks to Washington, Donovan McNabb and Alex Smith. One played poorly and the other suffered a devastating injury, so the Redskins coming out on the losing side of those two trades. Luckily, he is in the AFC West now, so the Redskins only face him every four years. One of the worst home losses in Redskins history was the Monday night, November 15, 2010 a 59-28 fiasco against the Reid-coaches Eagles in front of a national TV audience.
Chuck Knox
Teams coached:
- Rams 1973-1977
- Bills 1978-1982
- Seahawks 1983-1991
- Rams 1992-1994
The Redskins’ all-time record against Knox was 6-3, for a 0.667 winning percentage.
Knox is of the two coaches on this list that the Redskins had success against. Washington 3-2 against his Rams teams, 3-0 against his Seahawks, and 0-1 against his Bills. The Redskins’ best game against Knox was a 29-0 pummeling of the Seahawks during the 1989 season which enabled the Redskins to finish 10-6. Unfortunately, that was not enough to secure a playoff slot as the Rams and Eagles finished 11-5 to capture the two wildcard spots.
Bill Parcells
Teams coached:
- Giants 1983-1990
- Patriots 1993-1996
- Jets 1997-99
- Cowboys 2003-2006
The Redskins’ all-time record against Parcells was 11-16, for a 0.407 winning percentage.
Bill Parcells is one of the few NFL coaches ever coach two different teams in the same division twice. 25 of the 27 games in which the Redskins faced Parcells were against either his Giants or Cowboys teams. The Redskins were a combined 9-16 against those teams. Washington was 2-0 against Parcells when he led the Patriots and Jets. The best game against Parcells was in 2005, which was one of the two playoff seasons under the Gibbs 2.0 tenure, a 35-7 win over the Cowboys which helped the Redskins to a 10-6 record and a wildcard playoff spot. Chris Cooley had a career high 3 touchdowns receiving in that game.
Overall, the Redskins’ track record against some of the best coaches in NFL history is mediocre at best, which is not too unexpected.