1987 Washington Redskins season

The 1987 season was the Washington Redskins' strike-shortened 56th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 52nd in Washington, D.C., and their seventh under head coach Joe Gibbs. The season was a shortened season due to the 1987 NFL strike.

The team had finished second in the NFC East the previous season with a 12–4 record. Games to be played during the third week of the season were canceled, and replacement players were used to play games from weeks 4 through 6.

The Redskins won the NFC East with an 11–4 record. The Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos 42–10 to win Super Bowl XXII. It was the Redskins' second Super Bowl win in six seasons, and coincidentally, their second Super Bowl win in a strike-season.^[1]

Redskins quarterback Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl and was the only one to have emerged victorious until Russell Wilson won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks.^[2]

By virtue of the Redskins' 17–10 victory over Minnesota in the NFC title game, head coach Joe Gibbs earned his 10th playoff victory. He surpassed the legendary Vince Lombardi, who had retired after his 9th playoff victory and (coincidentally) later coached the Redskins for one season. Also ironic was the rumor that, following a disastrous 5-9-1 season, Green Bay would hire Gibbs to replace the dismissed Forrest Gregg. However, after the game, Gibbs would deny that he was interested.^[3]

While the replacement Skins all received large playoff shares for their part in the 1987 season, the only replacement player to receive a Super Bowl ring was wide receiver Anthony Allen, because he was on the active roster during the postseason (and made one reception in the NFC title game vs. Minnesota). On March 8, 2018, the Redskins announced that they would honor the replacement players from the 1987 team with Super Bowl XXII rings.^[4]