Redskins vs. Championship Teams over the last 10 Years

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

It’s Final Four weekend in pro football, and for the 19th straight season the Redskins aren’t one of the Four. Once upon a time, they were at the center of the NFL solar system, but now they’re like more Pluto, the Planet That’s No Longer a Planet.

Sad but true: You’d have to be at least 25 years old to have much memory of the last Redskins team to play in the NFC championship game (Joe Gibbs’ 1991 juggernaut, which won it all). An entire generation of fans has grown up thinking a 10-6 record – and occasional wild-card berth – is the absolute limit of the club’s capabilities.

That should scare the bejabbers out of Dan Snyder. I mean, if the franchise keeps scuffing along like this, keeps changing coaches and quarterbacks and the way most people change radio stations, who in the future is going to buy Redskins belt buckles?

Hard as it is to believe, the Redskins have been lousy almost as long as they were from 1946 to 1970 (the years between Sammy Baugh’s last title game and George Allen’s first playoff team). To go 19 seasons without making the Final Four nowadays – in this glorious Era of Parity – defies probability. Consider:

• Only two NFC clubs HAVEN’T reached the conference championship game in the last 19 years – the Lions being the other. These are the depths to which the Redskins have plunged. (And Detroit, of course, has beaten them the last two seasons.)

• 12 of the NFC’s 16 teams have gotten to the conference title game AT LEAST TWICE since ’92. (Indeed, 23 of the 32 teams in the league have been to the conference title game at least twice.)

• The Panthers, who started from Square 1 in 1995 as an expansion club, have been to the NFC championship game THREE times.

Here’s how the title game berths (1992-2010) break down by conference:

NFC: Eagles 5, Packers 5, Cowboys 4, 49ers 4, Panthers 3, Vikings 3, Bears 2, Bucs 2, Falcons 2, Giants 2, Rams 2, Saints 2, Cardinals 1, Seahawks 1, Lions 0, Redskins 0.

AFC: Steelers 8, Patriots 6, Colts 4, Broncos 3, Jets 3, Bills 2, Chargers 2, Jaguars 2, Raiders 2, Ravens 2, Titans 2, Chiefs 1, Dolphins 1, Bengals 0, Browns 0, Texans 0.

(And let’s not forget, the Texans didn’t join the league until 2002, and the Browns didn’t rejoin it until 1999.)

In Washington, in other words, Final Four weekend has become Somebody Else’s Party. And what makes it particularly galling for Redskins fans is that Somebody Else has often been the Steelers, Eagles and/or Ravens – the three franchises closest to D.C. (15 conference championship games among them since ’95).

So if you’re feeling a sense of emptiness the next few days – of deprivation even – it’s perfectly understandable. It’s been a lengthy dry spell for the Redskins, lengthy enough to test the resolve of the most loyal rooter. It’s also been more than a bit disorienting. For decades, after all, teams like the Saints and Cardinals existed, basically, to be beaten . . . and now they’re going to the Super Bowl.

On Sunday afternoon, the Bears and Packers, eternal blood enemies, did battle at Soldier Field in the NFC title game. In the evening, the Steelers and Jets battled for AFC honors. And the Redskins once again will be sitting in the Peanut Gallery – and wondering when the nightmare is going to end. So it has been for 19 seasons, as long as many of their young fans can remember.

Good info & good point about the fan base. Let's hope history is repeating itself to some degree, this time w/the next generation of Allen. Just like his Dad broke the team out of a long slump after the down yrs. of 46-70, he & Shan. can do the same now.

[skinsguy]

That's a hard reality, Longtimefan! But yet, it's fact! And since that last time the Redskins have made it to championship weekend, they have only had four playoff appearances. It's no wonder the younger fan has a short leash on coaches/players/team itself.... they don't know what it truly means to root for an elite/great team like the Redskins were in the 80's. They can't fathom the thought of looking forward to football on Sunday with the confidence knowing that more times than not, the Redskins are going to win.

And even for long time fans like us....we have tasted that, but have forgotten that feeling! Just for a short while, I had that feeling again when Joe Gibbs had came back. Even though he wasn't very successful in his second tenure, I had that faith in the team again. It's going to take Shanahan consecutive winning, playoff seasons for me to have that confidence in another Redskins coach.

[44ever]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

That's a hard reality, Longtimefan! But yet, it's fact! And since that last time the Redskins have made it to championship weekend, they have only had four playoff appearances. It's no wonder the younger fan has a short leash on coaches/players/team itself.... they don't know what it truly means to root for an elite/great team like the Redskins were in the 80's. They can't fathom the thought of looking forward to football on Sunday with the confidence knowing that more times than not, the Redskins are going to win.

And even for long time fans like us....we have tasted that, but have forgotten that feeling! Just for a short while, I had that feeling again when Joe Gibbs had came back. Even though he wasn't very successful in his second tenure, I had that faith in the team again. It's going to take Shanahan consecutive winning, playoff seasons for me to have that confidence in another Redskins coach.

Mind Reader...

[BringBackJoeT]

For whatever it's worth, I consider that 2005 win over Seattle to be the most memorable on this list. I was actually at that 2003 game against NE (which was the last game NE lost that year), but I still enjoyed that Seattle win more. Maybe it's the connection to the 2005 season (although it was an overtime win, so it had some independent value).

[freddyg12]

I always point this out about that 2000 team - they beat the best in the nfl. In addition to beating both super bowl teams, they beat the Rams, who were defending champs & still a really good playoff team. They also beat Tampa, who was in the playoffs that year.

But, that 2000 team did play down to its competition; swept by dallas & lost to arizona e.g. People will always hold that team up as the example of the danny trying to buy a championship, but that team was really good, they just fell apart & lacked leadership. Norvelle was not the guy that could pull together that group of vets.

[saden1]

We can beat anybody, but we also lose to anybody. You can't be a Champion losing to teams you should beat. The culture at Redskins Park is real shit compare to that of Packers and Steelers. I mean, look at the Steelers linebackers...them boys are so swollen you got to figure they live in the gym.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by saden1

We can beat anybody, but we also lose to anybody. You can't be a Champion losing to teams you should beat. The culture at Redskins Park is real shit compare to that of Packers and Steelers. I mean, look at the Steelers linebackers...them boys are so swollen you got to figure they live in the gym.

Well...the Packers lost to the 7-9 Dolphins this year and only scored 3 points in a loss to the Lions

[saden1]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Well...the Packers lost to the 7-9 Dolphins this year and only scored 3 points in a loss to the Lions

Dolphins are a good team and the Lions are a division opponent and they're pretty damn compared to last year or they year before. Plus Rogers didn't play against the Lions much.

[MTK]

Dolphins are a good team? That's news.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Dolphins are a good team? That's news.

Maybe not a good team, an avg team....more like the AFC version of the Redskins. My point is the Packers aren't consistent failures. They have had a number of changes and in the last 10 years they've made the playoffs 7 times.