Historically ugly. That’s what Washington Redskins nose tackle Barry Cofield says this season could become. Sorry, no matter how poorly the Redskins play the rest of the season, there’s little chance of that. Well, maybe it could be the worst season in the past 50 years.
The 1961 Redskins were the franchise’s worst team ever at 1-12-1. They ended that season with a win over the Dallas Cowboys after tying them four weeks earlier. Washington was 1-9-2 in 1960, the final 12-game season. Yes, that makes it a 2-21-3 two-year run.
In a shiny new D.C. Stadium (now RFK), that 1961 team averaged only 12.4 points a game, nearly a field goal less than the current crew. Norm Snead threw 11 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions. The Redskins were shut out two straight games and three of four, including a 53-0 loss to the New York Giants.
Amazingly, first-year coach Bill McPeak lasted four more seasons despite never posting a winning mark. In fact, the Redskins started 4-0-2 in 1962 and finished 5-7-2. So there’s precedent for keeping a coach — ahem, Mike Shanahan — after a collapse.
Since the NFL expanded to 16 games in 1978, the Redskins have finished with less than five wins just three times: 3-13 in 1994 and 4-12 in 1993 and 2009. Having covered all three teams, 1993 seemed like the worst.
Maybe 1993 seemed so awful because it came just two seasons after Washington’s third Super Bowl championship. With coach Joe Gibbs suddenly retiring in March, defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon spent his only season running an aging team … straight into the ground. Actually, the choice of Rod Dowhower as offensive coordinator sank the Redskins. Passes usually were toward the sideline rather than downfield as Washington averaged only 14.4 points.
The Redskins won only three games the following year, but at least they scored 320 points in coach Norv Turner’s first season, 90 more than under Petitbon. Still, when a team’s best weapon is punter Reggie Roby, that’s not saying much for the offense.
That year was the beginning for quarterback Gus Frerotte and the beginning of the end for first-rounder Heath Shuler with Redskins fans. Frerotte proved to be the quicker learner, and he lasted 15 seasons with seven teams, including seven starts in 2000-01 in Denver under Shanahan. Shuler was out of the NFL following 1998 after 33 interceptions and 15 touchdowns, though he is a congressman nowadays.
As bad as the Jim Zorn era seemed, the Redskins averaged 16.6 points in both 2008-09. Strangely, Washington scored one more point in the second year but won half as many games as in 2008.
So Cofield might not know it, but there have been seasons worse than this one — unless, of course, the offense continues to average 6.9 points as it has over the past three games. Then 1961 might not be the benchmark of ineptitude anymore.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
