If You Could Change One Play in Redskin History, What Would It Be?

[C.Taylor]

What about Clint Longley's TD in 1974? We might have won the NFC; we would have won the NFC-E that year. I believe that performance helped Dallas get into position to draft Tony Dorsett.

How? Dorsett wasn't drafted until 1977.

[Ant15fromNJ]

I would go with the carlos int play.. he would of took that game if Im not mistaken it would of put us up 14-0 or 10? Not positive about that.

[sideshow24]

I think that Tre's rejection actually fired the team and fans up. And we won that game!

Hadn't thought about that play in forever. I don't remember...was he rejected for the following game as well, or was it just the remainder of the Lions game?

Just for the rest of the game. He was swinging at Robert Porcher for taking a cheap shot at Brad Johnson. He missed and knocked the refs hat off. somehow in the scuffle his mic got cut on and everyone in the stadium could hear him call Tre a "clown" while he conferred with the other zebras.

[Darth Tater]

Way overrated IMHO. This just occurred in front of a large TV audience.

I'll agree that Clint was way overrated but not the play. It was the difference from being the number 1 seed in the NFC and just a WC. Of course, we'd have just been first in line to get wacked by the Steelers.

[panel]

---Dan Turk makes a clean snap in Tampa and Conway boots the 'Skins to a 16-14 victory in the 1999 playoffs.

This one is mine.

[Darth Tater]

How? Dorsett wasn't drafted until 1977.

They were able to trade up in '77 in part because of Longley (I believe Golden Richards was involved here as well). Longley was on the Cowboys through 1975 but sucked. IIRC, they moved him after the season for a couple of draft choices that they then used to pick guys who were involved in the trade for the draft choice that was Dorsett.

[jrockster21]

REALLY surprised no one has mentioned the Mitchell fumble in the 1992 playoff game at SF.

Yeah, that's a real good one.

:laugh: That's in the first post, and in SHF's list. :laugh:

My vote is Sonny never getting injured in the 72 season. If we had Jurgenson against the Phins, we'd have slaughtered them.

[PorkSkins]

Signing Deon Sanders.

[chaught76]

Why? That was a regular season game and we got into the playoffs anyway. It would have won us the NFC East if we had won but some of these other plays would have won us the Super Bowl (possibly). Hopefully you're being sarcastic.

I never implied this moment stood out more than others. It is just one that no one else had mentioned and I remembered that would have put us in better standings within the division.

[C.Taylor]

They were able to trade up in '77 in part because of Longley (I believe Golden Richards was involved here as well). Longley was on the Cowboys through 1975 but sucked. IIRC, they moved him after the season for a couple of draft choices that they then used to pick guys who were involved in the trade for the draft choice that was Dorsett.

I remember hearing Longley punched Staubach in a clubhouse row in '75. He didn't last long after that.

[Joe Gibbs II]

Carlos hanging on to that INT in Seattle is my choice.

Yes, for recent history thats my #1

Skins vs Titans the INT right before halftime

the Turk debacle

[Skinsfor4]

I cant remember the year,It was a Norv though.Season opener against Dallas,we had kicked their butts for 3 & a half quarters,then they came back to tie on an onside kick forcing OT.From there,Aikman hit a bomb off a play pass I think to the Rocket and game over.I got so pissed I didnt watch anymore that day.Worst hangover ever on Monday,similar to alot of Mondays under Norv Turner.

[JimboDaMan]

REALLY surprised no one has mentioned the Mitchell fumble in the 1992 playoff game at SF.

It was late and our offense was ROLLING. It looked like we were going to take a 3 point lead, and then Mitchell/Rypien muffed the hand-off.

You could essentially say that that play was the beginning of the end for that era of Redskins football.

I was the only Skins fan at Hooters in B'more that game, the locals being without a team of their own so they despised the one to the south even more. I think that play had a lot to do with JG's retirement from coaching. But still, if I had to pick I'd go with...

I have one more for you.......also against SF.

1996 at RFK. For three and a half quarters, I think it may have been the best football that any of Norv's teams ever played-- including 1999.

We had just taken a 7 point lead late in the 4th. We kicked off. The 49ers fumbled upon impact. The ball was loose and I really thought we had recovered it. Had we recovered, it was game over.

Instead, the Niners kept the ball, drove the field, tied the game, and then won in OT.

The wheels fell off from there in 1996....

That was a team on the cusp of finding its identity and its confidence. That damned play, that terrible call - hell, the officials ruled Redskin ball as the players went into the pile, then reversed the call when SF came out with it. How can you change the call, you saw the Skins with posession, play's over! Norv's team, and Norv himself, never regained their balance, never reached that level of belief in themselves after that crushing loss.

7) Aikman to Rocket Ismail, opening day 1999. If we somehow win in OT we go 11-5 thusly giving us a 1st round bye and 2nd round home game

Right game, wrong play. At the end of regulation we lined up to kick a very makable game-winning FG, and the holder (forget who) fumbled away the snap. Kick that one and the 4th qtr collapse is forgotten, the OT bomb to Ismael never happens and I don't have to listen to Poke fans cackling like old ladies all the way out of the stadium.

[JimboDaMan]

Skins vs Titans the INT right before halftime

Oh yes, forgot about the Samari Rolle INT and casual lope thru the entire Redskin team on his way to the endzone. Our boys walked right past him thinking the half was over. Simply maddening - Norv infecting an entire team of professionals.

[celts32]

Easy...the Int TD at the end of the 1st half of SB XVIII. gibbs was the master of half time adjustments...at 14-3 he could have figured something out. At 21-3 your done...

You also could argue it was the blocked punt early in the game that got the ball rolling against us.

However you slice it that was the worst loss in Redskins history...

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I honestly don't see how any one play in the Raiders' Super Bowl would have changed anything. The Skins simply got beat like a red-headed step-child in that game. I think without the intereception, we simply lose 31-9. Those games happen.

I like my call on the Williams' fumble return because it seemed to be the turning point in an entire season. Like I said, without it, the team follows it up with a huge win against St. Louis and is suddenly a very serious playoff contender.

Keep in mind that 2000 was an extremely weak season in the NFC. A deeply-flawed Giants team that we beat once and should have beaten twice went to the Super Bowl.

[RVaSkinsFan70]

For me, it's Riggo and the o-line not converting 3rd and 1 in the 4th Quarter of the Cowboy game in '79. When they went up 14, you just had to be thinking they had it won. Staubach was just so hard to beat. I know this game was long ago, and therefore easier to forget than Carlos' drop or Dan's crappy snap, but there was such a negative swing to losing that game! Instead of division champs, we were home for the holidays. Even though I was a kid and lacked perspective...I knew I'd just gotten my first NFL kick in the teeth.

[OVCChairman]

Darrell Green's last game, He had a punt return i would have loved to see him take it to the house

[pjfootballer]

Has to be for the older fans, the Squirek interception in SB 18. If it stays 14-3, we came out and scored a TD. The XP probably doesn't get blocked and it's 14-10 depite them dominating us. They had a blocked punt, INT for TD's and only 1 offensive TD. It's a different ballgame at 14-10 and I feel the Raidahs would be thinking of the 37-35 comeback win earlier in the season.

[Conquistador]

I like the Monk SB 26 choice, but I have another one.

A little b4 my time (by about 40-50 years), but the sammy baugh pass that bounced off the goalpost to cost us the winning TD in the 1945 NFL Championship game.

Kilmer wasn't the 1st, but to have that one back would be nice too.:2cents:

[pjfootballer]

I like the Monk SB 26 choice, but I have another one.

A little b4 my time (by about 40-50 years), but the sammy baugh pass that bounced off the goalpost to cost us the winning TD in the 1945 NFL Championship game.

Kilmer wasn't the 1st, but to have that one back would be nice too.:2cents:

Back in the 40's and 50's if you hit the crossbar with a pass, it was 2 points for the defense. We lost to the Rams 15-14 because of that.

Monk's TD catch in SB26 not being reversed.

Might be a sentimental pick, but it had no bearing on the game thank goodness. We still won despite that, but replays showed his toe was on the line. It was the correct call.

I'll go with Billy Kilmer's pass not hitting the crossbar in Super Bowl VII and hitting Jerry Smith wide open in the endzone instead, as it would have had it not hit the crossbar.

I believe to this day if Jurgenson was in, we would've beat Miami.

Without a doubt in my mind, this was the play. That play was more significant than the Marcus Allen run, because, by the time of the run, the Skins were already deflated and beaten.

The Skins were clearly getting outplayed by the Raiders in the first half, but ultimately, the defense had allowed only one offensive TD by that point. It was a ball game. Going into halftime at 14-3 would have allowed the Skins to make adjustments and stick to their original game plan. Going in at 21-3 meant they were in desperate catch-up mode from the opening kickoff of the second half, and the Raiders just teed off on the passing game.

The INT was simply deflating to the Skins and made the Raiders into ravenous animals.

While the Raiders and their fans might disagree because they thought the Raiders were the better team anyway, that play changed history. Instead of that Raiders team being the 20th ranked Super Bowl winning team according to the producers of America's game, the Skins would probably have garnered a Top 10 ranking. That team had only two 1-point losses that season, won 11 straight games, still own the highest turnover ratio in history (+43, no one else has come close), and fielded one of the most powerful offensive juggernauts, running AND passing, of all time. That was Joe Gibbs' best team, one of the best of all time, yet they will forever be remembered for the embarrassing loss to the Raiders and for Marcus Allen's run.

I agree with this whole paragraph. :applause:

And one more.......

Everyone talks about the Turk Brothers messing up the FG in the 1999 playoff game at Tampa. Well, first of all, I had little confidence that Conway would have made the kick even with a clean snap/hold.

Conway had hit a couple of long one's at the end of the season and was hot at that time. I believe he would've nailed it. He was on.

[WinSkins]

Nice sentiment.

Guess I'd go with Rocket Screen (Jack ****ing Squirek) in SBXVIII, which opened the floodgates to the darkest day in my Redskins life.

This play still haunts me too!

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I have no problem now with the botched snap by the Turk brothers in the playoff game against Tampa, if only because had they made it, Norv would have had more clout and would have probably hung around a few years longer lol :laugh:...

I think I'll go along with the Bucs' phantom 2-point conversion NOT succeeding in 2005, mainly because if it did not, the Skins end up 11-5 instead of 10-6...they also end up division winners, which would have meant a home game and a week off for the bye--which definitely would have helped the team out considering they ended up playing 5 road games in seven weeks instead...which would have meant just one playoff win and the Skins are in the NFC Championship game. I like the chances with that scenario much better than the one having Rogers make the INT and get a TD. The Seahawks still could have come back and won, especially considering they did end up scoring 20 anyway.

[C.Taylor]

I believe to this day if Jurgenson was in, we would've beat Miami.

You and me both. Just like he did in '74 at RFK. What a two-minute drill, ending when he hit Larry Smith (who was playing with two broken bones in his ankle) for the winning TD.

I'll be sporting my Jurgensen burgundy '74 throwback for the home opener.

[Chachie]

I'll rank them

1) Theisman's Superbowl 18 INT

2) The blocked PAT on the TD in the 3rd quarter of Superbowl 18

That makes it a 14-10 game early in the 3rd despite playing a horrible first half

3) Kilmer hitting the crossbar on a wide open TD pass

4) Conway getting a shot to kick the FG against Tampa

5) Romeo Bandison accidently grabbing the facemask of a Cardinals QB late in the 1996 season which allowed the Cardinals to keep driving the ball and getting the go ahead score thusly ending the Redskins season and cementing the collapse

6) Alstott's "2 point conversion" The Redskins win that game they are 11-5 and division champions, thus giving us a 1st round home game and possibly saving some fuel for the playoffs in 2005

7) Aikman to Rocket Ismail, opening day 1999. If we somehow win in OT we go 11-5 thusly giving us a 1st round bye and 2nd round home game

8) Westbrook slamming his helmet down against the Giants for a 15 yard penalty. If the Redskins are able to win that game, we get a playoff win (the same game as Gus' headbutt)

9) Mitchell fumbling against the 49ers on a potential game winning drive in SF in the January 1993 playoff game. I have no clue if we beat the Cowboys in the NFC championship game, but considering we are 2-0 against them in NFC title games, I would have liked our chances

10) Aikman's hailmary at the end of the 1st half in 1991 at RFK. That team was a hail mary from undefeated

Wow. I can't argue with this list. Some of the worst days of my sporting life.

I'd like to add Stephen Davis' fumble on MNF in Dallas when we were ahead in the late 4th quarter. I believe this would have ended The dreaded Dallas winning streak at 5-6 games, instead it continued for another 7-8 excruciating contests.

Also- Testeverde to Crayton. Gut-wrenching.