Bonez3 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 In light of the RG3 thank you thread being closed (which I was enjoying outside of the side bars), I want to open general conversation about other fans favorite non- Super Bowl seasons. For a while I had the 90 season (I think) where we beat Philly at the Vet. Also, 86 was great until NFC Championship game. But, 2012 is the next closest thing to a Super Bowl for me- and it's not even close anymore. This is why I was enjoying the proper respect RG3 deserved in that thread. '05, '07, 15 all fun. 99 was always kinda blah. Anyhow, I didn't experience pre 80's, so maybe others want to weigh in on that. Thanks again Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I like these types of questions! I will list the 3 that come to mind (I'll also leave out 2015 since there really isn't any context around it yet): 1986 - Outside of being the second-best team in the league, this was the first season that I followed religiously (9 years old). I watched the Redskins starting in 1983 because my mom had them on, but didn't necessarily plan my Sundays around them until the end of the 1985 season. I was so fired up during 1986 and was actually CERTAIN that we would beat the Giants in the NFC Championship Game to get to the Super Bowl. Whoops. Such a great year with Schroeder throwing the ball all over the field and the Posse starting to develop into what would become a dominant receiving group. 1990 - We had missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after our second Super Bowl, so we were in a bit of a lull under Gibbs prior to this season. Things felt a little stagnant but Rypien took some big strides and we got Body Bag revenge at the Vet in the wild card round. We also were closer to knocking of the 49ers than the score indicated in the divisional round (Rypien threw a couple interceptions as we were driving toward points). 2005 - This was a tough choice because I really loved 1999 as well. In some ways I enjoyed 1999 more than 2005 because it felt more sustainable over the next several years. But, it's hard to top the magic that we felt early and late in 2005. We jumped out to a quick 3-0/5-3 start to the year. That was fun and we seemed to have an offense that could at least hold its own for our pretty strong defense. Then, the final 5 games were so fun, culminating in the 3 straight divisional wins to close out the year over the holidays. Gibbs + meaningful football + Christmas time = pure magic to me! Honorable Mention...1996 - I really loved this season. At the time, the 3 consecutive losing seasons (1993-1995) felt like an eternity so having a taste of a competent and competitive team was very cool. We crashed down the stretch (went from 7-1 to 9-7) but had some very close calls (lost a couple games on missed FGs and blew a late lead against the 49ers), so it felt like maybe we were just a young team learning how to win. I thought for sure that we'd take one more step in 1997 and win the division. I believe Sport Illustrated bought into the incremental rebuild we had gone through too. If I'm not mistaken, Peter King picked us to play in (and lose) the Super Bowl that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 The (non-SB) years I enjoy the most are the years when I am enjoying the QB play the most. So... 2005 2012 2015 Strangely enough, I don't remember much of Brad Johnson's QB play in 1999, so I'm gonna assume that while he had good stats I wasn't finding myself truly enjoying his play. I remember Stephen Davis' play that season far, far more...I do seem to remember Johnson hit a lull in the middle of the season where he was more mediocre than exciting and then playing well again in the last few weeks, so that might be why. As for the years during Gibbs v1, we were succeeding so well and so consistently that it's hard for me to have "enjoyed" a season where we got bounced from the playoffs lol...the bar was incredibly high during his first run, so winning seasons with a loss in the divisional round (if that even happened) wasn't too memorable in terms of enjoyment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superozman Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 For me I have two that are close, but 2012 is atop. 2012 - They offseason hype actually panned out to a division win. the streak after thinking playoffs weren't a shot. The demolishing of Dallas on Thanksgiving. The comeback win vs. the Ravens with a backup. Cousins winning his first start in CLE and RG3 winning his first in NO. Just a memorable year overall. I still swear we beat Seattle if RG3 stays healthy that game. 2005 - Santana Moss in Dallas. Lucking out with TO Suspended in Philly. Santana/Clinton were monsters. Beating Tampa after Alstott didnt cross the goal line in the the regular season loss. 5 game winning streak at end of season, 3 game win streak to start the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Strangely enough, I don't remember much of Brad Johnson's QB play in 1999, so I'm gonna assume that while he had good stats I wasn't finding myself truly enjoying his play. I remember Stephen Davis' play that season far, far more...I do seem to remember Johnson hit a lull in the middle of the season where he was more mediocre than exciting and then playing well again in the last few weeks, so that might be why. As for the years during Gibbs v1, we were succeeding so well and so consistently that it's hard for me to have "enjoyed" a season where we got bounced from the playoffs lol...the bar was incredibly high during his first run, so winning seasons with a loss in the divisional round (if that even happened) wasn't too memorable in terms of enjoyment. To be honest, I don't think I had ever seen a Redskin play as well as Brad Johnson did for the first couple games of that season. He also had a few other incredible games in September and October to pretty much make our offense unstoppable. Johnson did hit a lull (more accurately, he fell off a cliff) sometime in November. Luckily for us, our defense tightened up right around the time that our offense cooled off. You make a good point about Gibbs - it was ridiculous (but reasonable) how high our expectations were. "We LOST to the Bears/49ers/Giants in a tight game in the post-season????? Gibbs is way too conservative with his run-run-pass offense!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Johnson did hit a lull (more accurately, he fell off a cliff) LOL!!...Ok, so my memory served me well lol. I do remember thinking Johnson was gonna be incredible early in the season, so maybe his falling off a cliff kept that season from being more enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy99 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Favorite is the wrong word, but as if Gibbs isn't revered by everyone anyway (myself included), as painful as it was, Joe Gibbs' herculean coaching and people-person heroics in rallying the team after Sean Taylor's tragic death. To hold the entire organisation together (in my opinion, that is precisely what he did), and come back from a loss (Buffalo I think) to get us into the playoffs by sheer will - I will never forget and feel proud to be a Redskin for those 6 weeks. Thank you Mr Gibbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 2012 - The comeback win vs. the Ravens with a backup. That win is up there with the 24-pt comeback win against the Bucs, and maybe even more exciting. In the middle of a legitimate race for the division title, Griffin (a rookie) has been on a tear and gets injured, goes back in with the game on the line and starts throwing darts up and down the field while literally hopping around on one leg... Why the hell he wasn't immediately taken out at that point, I have no ****ing clue. Cousins (also a rookie) coming in and, with a ridiculous calm about him, throwing a last-second TD AND converting the 2-pt attempt by running it in... Crawford (yet another rookie) having that gargantuan punt return in OT to set up the winning FG... And Forbath (his first year playing in the NFL) kicking the game winner. After that game, I thought the Redskins were finally over the hump, not just for 2012 but for the foreseeable future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Cali - what a fantastic job painting the picture! That might be my favorite game from 2012 just due to the story lines, the drama, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsailand Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Cousins converting the 2-pt attempt by running it in... Great gif, deserves to be quoted but the board rules won't let me.... So is that QB draw going to be open his entire career? You would think teams would learn by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Great gif, deserves to be quoted but the board rules won't let me.... So is that QB draw going to be open his entire career? You would think teams would learn by now. It's not that easy...you really can't plan for it without leaving a throwing lane pretty open. Cousins doesn't really deserve a spy either (though he's relatively athletic). It's one reason why he should eventually be looking to pick up yards with his legs more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZRagone Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 1999 2005 2012 1999 was a perfect storm. I was hitting an age as a high schooler were my fandom was becoming a bit more involved in actually knowing the team and the game. Up to that point I was more of a basketball fan than a Football fan, growing up on Michael Jordan. So as my attention began to shift for the first time primarily to Football, the Skins were rocking. Brad Johnson was a top QB that year, and on top of that grew up as a Redskins fan, which made it that much cooler. Michael Westbrook, for all his stupidity in the past, looked like he was coming into his own as a legit #1. And Stephen Davis was looking like an absolute stud. 2005 was immense in terms of memories. It's one that will always stick with me due to HOW I watched the games. I was renting a house with friends while in College, and every game we'd have various people over to watch the game at our place, which made it that much more fun. In the preseason, I told one of my good friends that I KNEW this was going to be a top 10 defense because the speed was unlike anything I had seen from a Redskins team in recent years. The Monday Night Miracle will forever live in my memory. We had a ton of people over, and one over confident Cowboy fan actually left about 10 minutes before it, saying he had homework to do and the game was in hand (Oh the joy of seeing him the next day). Add in one of the few true blowouts I had seen as a fan with the Niners game, and an amazing end to the season, and this one ranks high up there. 2012 was probably the most enjoyable year. The first 9 weeks had some rough moments, but the feeling that we had found "our guy" finally made even the down moments (like the Steelers game) very easy to ignore. It was euphoric watching us suddenly getting national attention, suddenly seeming like we had a true chance at a franchise, and seeming like we may return to relevance. Like the Monday Night Miracle, I'll never forget that Thanksgiving Day game, watching with all my family back at the house I grew up in. All the great stories about our players, from the seemingly responsible and smart Griffin living off endorsements and putting all of his salary into savings or the amazingly humble and down to earth Morris with his "Bently", just had me in love with the team. Alfred's first time hitting the homerun, the amazing Minnesota run, Garcon's catch and run against the cowboys, the BEAUTIFUL dime Griffin tossed to Moss at the side of the end zone, and Alfred's fitting bow after the Cowboys game. A Cowboys game that was the last game of the regular season, on national television, where the entire production crew was silent for a good moment as the camera circled FedEx as you heard the sweet words of Hail to the Redskins raining down. Just an amazing, amazing feeling season. After that game, I thought the Redskins were finally over the hump, not just for 2012 but for the foreseeable future. That was the only game I got to see in person that year. Was absolutely crazy game. The swing in emotion in that stadium from the collective inhale when Ngata hit the knee, to the elation at games end, was crazy. I was estatic at the Cousins 2 point conversion, in part because I had told my friend I was there with that they should totally run that play since the Ravens wouldn't expect it with RG3 out. That final drive by the both of them followed by the return by Dick Crawford, capped by Kobra's kick? Just an outstanding experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 2005 for me. I was 25 years old and went over to my friend's house for every game of that the late season run. There would be about 10-15 of us and my one friend would cook up BBQ (he's really good. Owns his own restaurant now). We'd just get obliterated and stuff our faces, watch the Skins win, and then stay up partying til the wee hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo Montoya Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 2005 I loved Gibbs 2, everything about seeing him on the sidelines again was awesome. I even loved 2004, having my favorite football person of all time back was just unreal! I went to the Skins Rams game here in St. Louis which started the 5-0 or we don't go. It was my 2nd NFL game in person and my wife and I went with my boss and her husband, they were so pissed they left early and we had a blast! Culminating with 3 divisional wins and a playoff victory over the team we had actually beaten earlier but got screwed. Sean Taylor was amazing that year, 2 fumble recoveries for TDs to seal victories???!!!! I had tube TV my wife bought for our humble apartment and it seemed like I was a kid again. 2007 Was a weird year, Todd Collins, Jason Candle... and of course the death of ST. That Buffalo loss was a low point of low points, I was actually mad at Gibbs for the first time ever. 2 timeouts???!!! Ugh. Anyway, I got to experience my first Skins/Cowboys game with my best friend (a cowboys fan) in the freezing rain at the top of Fed Ex... my 21 towel was bleeding from the rain and I couldn't have been more Euphoric. We should have had the hawks that year, was that the dropped pick 6 year from stone hands? 2012 beating NO, a victory on Thanksgiving that was never in question while RG threw darts everywhere, the MNF fumble for a TD... just seemed like it might have been our time. then it wasn't. 2013/14 were the worst, I seriously started to wonder why I watch and why I plan my days around this team. Then this year happened. I'm excited about next year, but waiting for the other shoe to drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petedaddy Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I absolutely loved the 2007 team We had Area 51 back there for a little while, and then obviously the Sean Taylor death happens which devastated everything, then to make matters worse we had the bills debacle right after that the team seemed D-E-A-D dead, it was 4 straight losses that made us 5-7 on the season after the bills game then jason campbell got hurt and todd collins came out in the bears game and led the team to victory, and todd collins started looking like an absolute monster finally, someone who knew past page 33 of al saunder's 700 page playbook, we are going places!!! we beat the vikings - we beat the cowboys - PLAYOFF TIME BABY - SEAN TAYLOR LEAD US FROM THE BEYOND - BRING ON THE SEAHAWKS and game over but i loved that team, portis, moss, cooley, laron landry when he was LARON ****ING LANDRY and not just laron landry - we just never could get over the hump, never seemed to get that #2 receiver to go with santana (i think we had brandon lloyd's corpse that year until he got hurt) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZRagone Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 but i loved that team, portis, moss, cooley, laron landry when he was LARON ****ING LANDRY and not just laron landry - we just never could get over the hump, never seemed to get that #2 receiver to go with santana (i think we had brandon lloyd's corpse that year until he got hurt) As much of a buffoon as he was afterwards, Landry played his guts out that rookie year. If memory serves, he was a large reason we were even still in that Seahawks game. I believe he had a pair of interceptions that game. Did about everything he could to win it. Afterwards, someone photoshopped the below picture with an image of ST looking down on him...but unfortunately I can't find the photoshop, only the original: (god damnit...I went to the reddit thread I found that in and started reading...ots of Taylor talk ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 As much of a buffoon as he was afterwards, Landry played his guts out that rookie year. If memory serves, he was a large reason we were even still in that Seahawks game. I believe he had a pair of interceptions that game. Did about everything he could to win it. Afterwards, someone photoshopped the below picture with an image of ST looking down on him...but unfortunately I can't find the photoshop, only the original: <LL bench picture> (god damnit...I went to the reddit thread I found that in and started reading...ots of Taylor talk ) That's a great picture. I also loved this one - it was so touching. I believe this was the TD that briefly put us up 14-13 over Seattle in that playoff game: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 This thread is too good. My faves were 2005, 1999, and 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBass1724 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 My favorite non super bowl year has to be 1942. We upset the Bears in the NFL Championship 14-6. Check out the play that starts at the 1:00 mark...Slingin' Sammy dropping it in the bucket! Whomever had the Skins +21 that day went home a happy camper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwU7iY1hVWw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 It may seem strange, but this is my favorite in as long as I can remember. Years like 12 kind of felt like riding a wave. Some years felt like it was do or die. This year was the first time, that it's ended and I sat back and smiled. The Packer game was the most satisfying loss that I may have ever enjoyed. It seems different. It feels like we're actually back. We're not in a constant rebuilding mode, we're actually building. Not retooling, not trying to buy anything. We are building a champion. That Bucs game, that turn around and seeing a light go off on this team and how they battled, was just amazing. The Redskins are getting poised to be the team at the top again. It's been a long, long time, since I've had this feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I like these types of questions! I will list the 3 that come to mind (I'll also leave out 2015 since there really isn't any context around it yet): 1986 - Outside of being the second-best team in the league, this was the first season that I followed religiously (9 years old). I watched the Redskins starting in 1983 because my mom had them on, but didn't necessarily plan my Sundays around them until the end of the 1985 season. I was so fired up during 1986 and was actually CERTAIN that we would beat the Giants in the NFC Championship Game to get to the Super Bowl. Whoops. Such a great year with Schroeder throwing the ball all over the field and the Posse starting to develop into what would become a dominant receiving group. 1990 - We had missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after our second Super Bowl, so we were in a bit of a lull under Gibbs prior to this season. Things felt a little stagnant but Rypien took some big strides and we got Body Bag revenge at the Vet in the wild card round. We also were closer to knocking of the 49ers than the score indicated in the divisional round (Rypien threw a couple interceptions as we were driving toward points). 2005 - This was a tough choice because I really loved 1999 as well. In some ways I enjoyed 1999 more than 2005 because it felt more sustainable over the next several years. But, it's hard to top the magic that we felt early and late in 2005. We jumped out to a quick 3-0/5-3 start to the year. That was fun and we seemed to have an offense that could at least hold its own for our pretty strong defense. Then, the final 5 games were so fun, culminating in the 3 straight divisional wins to close out the year over the holidays. Gibbs + meaningful football + Christmas time = pure magic to me! Honorable Mention...1996 - I really loved this season. At the time, the 3 consecutive losing seasons (1993-1995) felt like an eternity so having a taste of a competent and competitive team was very cool. We crashed down the stretch (went from 7-1 to 9-7) but had some very close calls (lost a couple games on missed FGs and blew a late lead against the 49ers), so it felt like maybe we were just a young team learning how to win. I thought for sure that we'd take one more step in 1997 and win the division. I believe Sport Illustrated bought into the incremental rebuild we had gone through too. If I'm not mistaken, Peter King picked us to play in (and lose) the Super Bowl that year. Fantastic post and really stole my thunder because it echoes much of what I feel.... I'm not real high on 1999 either...that was much a lucky team as it was a good one, and Brad Johnson really cooled after a great start and was, IMO, actually the reason we lost to the Bucs in the playoffs-- so I find him, and that team in general, overrated around these parts. Great thoughts on 1996.... that Niners loss STILL stings. We took a 16-9 lead late and kicked off with a little over 2:00 to go. The Niners fumbled the kickoff and there was a pile-- it looked like we had it. But they came out with it, Steve Young drove them to tie it and then again he drove them for the win in OT. It remains one of the toughest regular season losses I've ever had. I was in my dorm room freshmen year of college and remember it vividly. Loved the 1986 team as well, but my final vote goes to the 1992 team--- possibly my favorite all time season even INCLUDING the Super Bowls believe it or not. It was a 9-7 struggle, but that team gutted it out desperately trying to repeat. I enjoyed them clawing back that season despite the mounting injuries, age, and rise of the Cowboys. All I wanted that year was one last shot at Dallas as I pretty much knew they were on their way and we were on our way out. The regular season win in December at RFK is my all time favorite Redskins victory--regular season at least. The win in Minnesota in the WC round was sweet because we rolled them and it sort of validated the season and kept hope alive. Then the game at SF was just a heartbreaker for me. Similarly to 1996...it was fumble, except this time WE fumbled and they recovered. After barely staying in the game most of the day, we found ourselves down 17-13 in the 4th and our offense finally started clicking. Ryp had a really good drive going and BMitch was hurting them. We had it down right around the 20 and those two mishandled the exchange. The Niners made it 20-13 and we did get one more chance, but by then, it was over. I really believe we win that game if it wasn't for that fumble. We would have gone to Dallas....we almost certainly would have lost-- but it would have been fun to try one last time. And honestly, in many ways, our 25 years of relative misery started with that fumble. But I loved the 1992 team and remember those games fondly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 It was hard picking between 90 and 92. I went with 90 because we were on the cusp of something rather than exiting (as you mention). That's a great summary of that season though. What a gutsy effort that aging team put forth. I agree with you that I think we'd have won that playoff game if not for the fumble. It would have sucked to lose to Dallas and ruin our perfect playoff record against them, but imagine if we had somehow won that game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Even though it turned out to be a mirage, 2012 was the best. So much hope and so much excellence. We were trouncing people and so many games were like celebrations. It was all finally clicking. I had so much fun that year despite Mara's effort to "cap"size us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC9 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I know a lot of the old hats trot 1986 out a lot. I was too young for that one. My earliest memory is actually Super Bowl 22. For me, 2005 was a blast but that ending was gut wrenching. 2012... hard to be that one. That was a ridiculous run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 05 because it was a legitimately really good team that was probably a dropped interception away from a Super Bowl appearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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