Monday marked the 19th anniversary of when this franchise, now known as the Washington Commanders, won an NFL playoff game.
That’s right, it was January 7, 2006, the first round of the 2005 season NFC playoffs. They were the “Redskins” then, and traveling to Tampa, Florida, they defeated the Bucs 17-10 to advance to a second-round matchup in Seattle, where their season ended in a 20-10 loss.
Here are highlights from this last playoff win
With Joe Gibbs (2.0) in his second season, the team had not been in the playoffs since 1999; no fan would ever imagine (not even Gibbs himself) that the team would go 19 years without winning another playoff game.
The Redskins were 5-6 heading into December, where coach Joe pulled off his magic like he so often had been prone to accomplish. The man could organize and lead like few others (who else do you know that has led an NFL team to championships and a NASCAR team to championships?).
Washington won their last five games of the season, defeating the Rams (24-9), the Cardinals (17-13), the Cowboys (35-7), the Giants on Christmas Eve (35-20), and the Eagles on New Year’s Day (31-20).
Mark Brunell was an aging 35-year-old veteran, and Patrick Ramsey was his backup. Three times that season, Brunell led the Redskins back on game-winning drives late to pull out close wins.
Clinton Portis rushed for 1,516 yards for the second-highest rushing season in franchise history! He ran for 11 rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.3 a carry and 94.8 a game.
Santana Moss collected nine touchdown receptions and 1,483 receiving yards on 84 receptions, averaging an impressive 17.7 yards per reception. Tight end Chris Cooley had a huge season with 71 receptions, averaging 10.9 reception and 7 receiving touchdowns.
Ladell Betts and Antonio Brown (not THAT Antonio Brown) both returned a kickoff that season for a touchdown. Kicker John Hall made every point after touchdown and missed only two field goal attempts.
Defensive end Phillip Daniels led the team with 8.0 quarterback sacks, with LB Marcus Washington also contributing 7.5. Linebacker Lamar Marshall led the team with 101 tackles, and Washington was second with 94. Marshall also led the Redskins with four interceptions, including the only “pick six,” and Ryan Clark added three. Sean Taylor led the team with 12 passes defended.
Gregg Williams and Don Breaux were the defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. Joe Bugel (OL coach) and Greg Blache (DL coach) were on the coaching staff, and the Executive VP of Player Personnel was Vinny Cerrato.
Nineteen years was indeed a long time ago.