Miami's defense dominated the Redskins in the first half, limiting Washington to 49 yards rushing, 23 yards passing, and four first downs.

The Redskins defense was led by 6-foot-7 296-pound defensive tackle Dave Butz, who anchored the line, along with defensive ends Dexter Manley and Tony McGee, who each recorded 6. 5 sacks.

But the Dolphins defense only allowed Washington to advance to the 3-yard line on their next three plays, and so the Redskins had to settle for another field goal from Moseley to cut their deficit to 17 – 13.

In addition, the Redskins set new NFL records with 541 points ( since broken by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings and 2007 New England Patriots ), a givaway / takaway ratio of + 43, and had the top rated rush – defense.

The Redskins defense led the league in the fewest rushing yards allowed ( 1, 289 ).

Dickerson was the NFL's leading rusher with 1, 808 yards and 18 touchdowns during the season, but could only gain 16 yards on 10 carries against the Redskins defense.

Coming into Super Bowl XVIII, the Redskins were favored to win because of their offense, their number one-rated rush – defense, their league best 14 – 2 regular season record, and their Super Bowl win from last season.

Meanwhile, the Redskins could not generate any offensive momentum in the first quarter, with the Bronco defense forcing a punt on every drive.

Beathard decided to rebuild the Chargers using the same model that he used to build the Redskins into Super Bowl contenders during the 1980s – a powerful running game built around big lineman, a passing game that helped sustain extremely long drives, and a bending but steady defense.

Parcells, whose stifling 3 – 4 defense ( known as the Big Blue Wrecking Crew ) led by Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Harry Carson, and Leonard Marshall, and an offense under the direction of Phil Simms, knocked off the San Francisco 49ers 49 – 3, and the Washington Redskins 17 – 0, in the playoffs before routing the Denver Broncos, 39 – 20, in Super Bowl XXI.

With a porous defense unable to stop the Redskins offense, Elway was forced to take more risks on the offensive end.

Gibbs was able to lure former Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams to join the Redskins to run the defense and hired one of his former runningbacks, Ernest Byner to serve as runningbacks coach.

The Redskins finished 5 – 11, the team's worst regular season record under Gibbs ' leadership thus far, and placed near the bottom in the NFL in defense.

He was a large presence on an inconsistent Redskins defense and benefited from time spent with Hall of Fame cornerback teammates Deion Sanders and Darrell Green.

In the Redskins ' 3-0 loss to the New York Jets in Week 15 ( December 12 ), Gannon was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Mark Rypien, but the Redskins could not handle the Jets ' defense.

The Redskins gained the chance to contest the undefeated Miami Dolphins for the world championship, a team they had beaten in the pre-season, but in Super Bowl VII at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the "' Skins " were overmatched by the Dolphins ' relentless running game and staunch defense, losing 14-7.

He was also part of an offensive line that helped ( Emmitt ) Smith rush for 150 yards and a touchdown against the Redskins and the NFL ’ s fourth ranked defense on December 10.

However, in 2010 the Redskins hired a new coach, Mike Shanahan, who changed their 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense which required Carter to play outside linebacker.

Also, the Packer defense went from the NFL's 10th best in 1973 to # 6 in fewest total yards allowed trailing teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Los Angeles Rams, the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys, while also being in the NFL top 5 in fewest points allowed with 206.

In Washington, with Williams ' aggressive defensive scheme, the Redskins ' defense ranked third in the NFL in 2004 and ninth in 2005.

The Bears upset the two-time NFC champion Redskins with clutch plays and a stout defense that forced 3 turnovers and 7 sacks.

After starting the season with a poor performance against the Washington Redskins defense, Jones proceeded to recover with season statistics of 1, 335 yards and 9 touchdowns.

In 1991 the Cowboys replaced offensive coordinator Dave Shula with Norv Turner ; the Cowboys raced to a 6-5 start then defeated the previously-unbeaten Redskins despite injury to Troy Aikman.

Since then, a number of other teams have worn their white uniforms at home, including the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins.

The Redskins then advanced from their own 17-yard line to the Miami 48-yard line ( their first incursion into Miami territory ) with less than two minutes left in the half.

The game then became a rematch of Super Bowl VII, also played in the Los Angeles area at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ten years before, where the Dolphins completed their 17 – 0 perfect season at the Redskins ' expense by a score of 14 – 7.

The Redskins then drove to Miami's 43-yard line, and once again tried to fool Miami with a trick play, this time a flea flicker.

The Redskins ran three plays to reach Miami's 43-yard line, but then faced a fourth down and one to go.

The Redskins then executed 5 consecutive running plays by Riggins, consuming a lot of time off the clock and moving the ball to the 23-yard line.

Meanwhile, the Redskins crushed the Los Angeles Rams 51 – 7, and then narrowly defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 24 – 21, with Mark Moseley kicking the game winning field goal with just 40 seconds left.

The Redskins then drove 51 yards in 5 plays to score with Byner's 10-yard touchdown reception.

A 14-yard run by Ricky Ervins then set up fullback Gerald Riggs ' 1-yard touchdown run to expand the Redskins ' lead, 17 – 0.

The Redskins then increased their lead 24 – 0 just 16 seconds into the second half after linebacker Kurt Gouveia intercepted Kelly's pass on the first play of the third quarter and returned it 23 yards to the Bills ' 2-yard line.

The Redskins then met the Bears again in the 1940 NFL Championship Game on December 8, 1940.

The following season, the Redskins then hosted their first post-season game in Washington since 1942, where they beat the Green Bay Packers 16 – 3 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

Short sold the team to Washington Redskins owner and publisher Jack Kent Cooke in 1965 for a then league record amount of $ 5, 175, 000.

A time-honored and perhaps apocryphal story about Nagurski is a scoring gallop that he made against the Washington Redskins, knocking two linebackers in opposite directions, stomping a defensive halfback and crushing a safety, then bouncing off the goalposts and cracking Wrigley Field's brick wall.

He then went on to play for, and eventually coach, the Washington Redskins.

* J. T. Smith, wide receiver for the St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals, Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs, played 13 years in the NFL, then coached the San Angelo indoor team.

On December 7, 2008, an M & T Bank Stadium then record crowd of 71, 438 watched the Baltimore Ravens defeat the Washington Redskins 24-10 on Sunday Night Football, only to be surpassed the next week when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Ravens 13-9 in front of 71, 502.

Finally, in 1962, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall issued an ultimatum — unless Marshall signed a black player, the government would revoke the Redskins ' 30-year lease on the year-old D. C. Stadium ( now Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium ), which had been paid for by government money and was owned by the Washington city government ( which, then and now, is formally an arm of the federal government ).

The Patriots lost to the Washington Redskins 20-17 in Week Four but swept the rest of the NFC East and the entire AFC South ; the Patriots shut out Dallas in bitter cold and edged the Giants in the rain while hammering Philly following the infamously erroneous " They hate their coach " quote from Tom Jackson ; the Patriots also edged the Titans, Houston in overtime, and former division rival Indianapolis in shootouts while routing Jacksonville ( which like Carolina had entered the NFL in 1995 ) in the regular season, and then edged the Titans and hammered the Colts in the playoffs.

The Redskins then once again won an NFC Championship, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 24 – 21 on a last-second field goal ( aided by a controversial pass interference call ), advancing to Super Bowl XVIII.

The 1987 Redskins made the playoffs and again defeated the Chicago Bears 21 – 17 on the road in the divisional round, then beat the Minnesota Vikings 17 – 10 at home in the NFC Championship Game, then at Super Bowl XXII, they rode on the arm of quarterback Doug Williams to blow out the Denver Broncos 42 – 10.

He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952.