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 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. 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. 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. On March 8, 2018, the Redskins announced that they would honor the replacement players from the 1987 team with Super Bowl XXII rings. Personnel. NFL replacement players. After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled: Regular season. In 1987, Redskins starting QB Jay  Schroeder got injured early in the opening game against the Eagles and was replaced by Williams, who led the team to victory. In his NFL debut, replacement player Ed Rubbert passed for 334 yards. Rubbert also threw three touchdown passes to Anthony Allen. Allen would have 255 receiving yards. Playoffs. Notes: