TD_washingtonredskins Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I figured since we are still a couple weeks away from real football news breaking AND entering the dog days of summer, I'd start a thread about a historical team. The 1999 Redskins were easily the most fun Redskin team since the end of the Gibbs I era. I didn't have high expectations for them despite being relatively excited about the Brad Johnson acquisition. I seem to remember a relatively mediocre pre-season and a lot of talk about how we'd have to win with defense as we weren't sure what we had in terms of a running or passing game. If you recall, Skip Hicks was supposed to be the featured RB and neither Westbrook or Connell had done much of anything to distinguish themselves as reliable WRs. So, as the season began and we fell behind Dallas 14-3 on opening day, it seemed that this season would follow the script of most of the decade. Then, Stephen Davis (who had won the job with very little fanfare) started gaining big chunks of yardage. Johnson was finding both WRs open all over the field. Before we knew it, the Skins were running circles around the Cowboys and led 35-14 heading into the 4th quarter. Even though Dallas stormed back and broke our hearts, the offensive output from that game was a sign of good things to come. In fact, the Redskins could have won the game before OT but a bad snap short-circuited the FG attempt (stay tuned for that theme). The Skins then slaughtered the Giants in NY and returned to the Meadowlands the following week to beat the Jets in a tight game. Then it was back home for a match up with Carolina. Despite having no answer for Tim Biakabatuka and trailing 21-0 in the first quarter, the Redskins offense came to life (and George Seifert stuck with a RBBC) to pull out a ridiculous 38-36 win. Champ Bailey's coming out party in Arizona the next week put the Skins at 4-1 heading to Dallas. The Cowboys once again beat up the Skins (this time it wasn't close) before the Redskins pasted the Bears in DC (I was there to watch Big Daddy run for 85 yards in 33 seconds). Then the team his a cold spell and sputtered a bit. They lost to a unspectacular Buffalo team and then lost an embarrassing game to the horrible Eagles. At 5-4 and heading into a huge game with the Giants (who wanted revenge for the 50 we dropped on them in NY), we were facing the type of game that we ALWAYS lost under Norv Turner...especially against the Giants. Not this time! The D stiffened and even pitched in with a huge score to clinch the win and the Redskins had sole possession of first place at the 10-game mark. I remember reading the Washington Post the next Monday and bristling at Jason Sehorn's quote that the Giants would have a chance to take over the division because "after all, it's the Redskins." The season went up and down after that game...a tight win vs. Philly (Conway missed a chippy to win the game in regulation but made won in OT), a dominating loss in Detroit, a big win vs. the Cardinals, and an encouraging but disappointing loss in Indy. That set up a division-clinching match up in SF on a Sunday night. The Skins got some breaks and sent the game to OT before Brad Johnson capped off his huge night by swinging the ball to Larry Centers who jogged in from 30 or 40 yards for a TD. Despite no one being close to him...it seemed to me like it took 4 minutes for him to score. A meaningless win over Miami behind Rodney Peete gave the Redskins double-digit wins in the regular season for the first time since 1991! Then, the only home playoff game at FedEx Field to date was a fun one. We dominated Gus and Lions from start to finish. Despite nursing an injury, Davis shredded Detroit and we led 27-0 at halftime. Late in the game, the Lions made a couple plays, but the game was never in doubt. The Redskins were headed to Tampa Bay for a second round showdown! This game was exactly what you'd expect given the defense's improvement in the second half of the season. A couple FGs by Conway gave the Skins a 6-0 lead at halftime. It seemed like every possession was so fragile and no one wanted to make a mistake. Then, the second half KO was taken to the house by Brian Mitchell and the Redskins were in full control (so I thought). A 13-0 lead seemed insurmountable within the context of this game. Then, as so often happened with Norv, weird things started happening. Brad Johnson forces a deep pass to the sideline and it's picked off. Alstott bounces off of about 18 Redskins and eventually scores a TD. Shaun King is strip-sacked on third down in Redskins territory...only to see the ball bounce to Warrick Dunn who scampers forward for the first down...leading to a one-yard TD pass. Then, despite virtually no offense for the entire second half...the Redskins made a couple first downs and got into FG range. They had a shot to win it! Once again though, the snap rolled back, Johnson couldn't handle it, and we had no chance to do anything on the play. I could point to two games (Cowboys and Eagles) during the season that we should have won. Also, we outplayed TB and really could have been playing in St. Louis for a shot to go to the Super Bowl. Odds are the Rams would have advanced anyway...but you never know! I'm not sure what prompted this thread...but 1999 was probably my most enjoyable season since being an adult Redskin fan (I was 15 when the Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI). So, does anyone want to chime in, add memories, debate my facts (:ols), etc.? I figured this could be a fun way to pass the time...we'll see though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scruffylookin Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Great write up and recap of that season. I was there too for Big Daddy's romp. That was the slowest, yet funniest 88yard return I've seen. I was cheering and laughing at the same time. "Go Big Daddy Go!!!!" That was a fun season. Brad Johnson started that season as the best QB I had ever seen play for the Redskins. He was topping Ryp in 91 and Joey T in 83. He came down to earth the second half of the season but it was fun for a while. Also excellent mention of Skip Hicks being the guy most thought was going to be the primary back (I know I did) after the 1998 season. It was almost viewed as a disappointment that Stephen Davis, who was moved to fullback in 1998 and didn't look all that good in his shot to replace Terry Allen in 1997 after Allen got hurt, won the job. Fun season. It's likely a battle between 1999 and 2005 as to which is the most fun season since 1991. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botched Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 That was a great recap of a fun, but still painful season. To this day, every time we set up for a field goal, I see that botched snap in the TB game in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 That was a great recap of a fun, but still painful season. To this day, every time we set up for a field goal, I see that botched snap in the TB game in my head. Yep...the botched snap for the XP in last year's TB game didn't help!! They must think that we never practice that aspect of special teams. Scruffy, what I remember most about Big Daddy's return is how quickly Darrell Green caught up to him and "escorted" him down the sideline. It amazed me that he caught up (easily) at midfield and the Bears still weren't able to stop that return. Also, you're right about Johnson, he looked unstoppable for the first 6-7 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC9 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I did want to add some thanks for the memories. I was 15 during the 1999 season, and I think other than 2005, was the most fun for me. I remember getting stuck in a traffic jam and listening to the Bucs playoff game on the radio. I was so upset after the botched snap. And then all of the fans started calling in and mentioning the pass interference on the "fire, fire, fire" play when the field goal attempt busted. When I got home I watched it, and I couldn't agree more. Of course, those were the days when we could blame losses on bad calls by the refs...lol. Remember that? Too bad that this team was dismantled, it only took six years to build it. Remember that fellas! As we PATIENTLY go through this rebuild. HAIL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I think if we had just stayed the course instead of going bananas in the 2000 offseason, we could have had a legit SB contender. But we all know what happened.... Still that was definitely a fun team to watch. I can only hope our offense can ever return to that level of dominance. Had it not been for the Rams setting records we would have had the best offense in the league that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 I agree Warhead...just as with McNabb last April, my initial reaction when I saw that we had signed Bruce Smith was not positive. I didn't want to mess with what was a fun and young team. I will concede though, that the defensive acquisitions seemed to help us in 2000. Our defense finished 4th after finishing 30th in 1999. Obviously you can't figure out how much of that improvement was due to Carrier, Sanders, and Smith and how much would have occurred anyway...but they all played relatively well. Our issue in 2000 was offense. Johnson wasn't the same, Westbrook got hurt which started parade of old WRs through DC, and our OL sustained some injuries that year. Couple the slightly less dynamic offense with a horrible kicking game...and a potentially 10- or 11-win team was 8-8 and blown up the following year. Still, back to your point, I'd have preferred to see what our home-grown team from 1999 could have accomplished over the next 2-3 years before dipping into FA like we did. I also wonder how good we'd have been if we kept all 3 draft picks and picked Samuels and two other guys instead of Arrington. Granted, at the time, Arrington was a slam-dunk pick and I loved it. But that could have been 3 more young starters to couple with the relatively young team from 1999. I think we could have challenged the Eagles for a couple years in the early 2000s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Nice trip down memory lane :yes: :thumbsup:... I gotta disagree with this, though: The 1999 Redskins were easily the most fun Redskin team since the end of the Gibbs I era. I think the 2005 Redskins were a more "fun" Redskins team than the 1999 team was. We had Gibbs back...Portis and his costumes...sticking a daggar into the heart of Dallas fans on MNF with the Monday Night Miracle game...then demolishing them later in the season with the playoffs on the line and after hearing we were "lucky" in the first game all season...having the media declare the Skins the 'worst 3-0 team in the history of the NFL' and all those stupid articles showing how teams like the Skins who start 3-0 don't make the playoffs a lot of the time, only for the Skins to shove all that stuff right back down the media's throats...Sean Taylor's swan dive into the end zone against the Eagles...seeing Joe Bugel on the sidelines smiling and laughing when Marcus Washington intercepted the Bucs and sealed our playoff victory...Actually watching the whole "5 in a row or we don't go" play out to perfection... Plus, I loved Cooley, Moss, Taylor, Sellers, and Portis more than pretty much any players on the 1999 team save for Stephen Davis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossomo Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 IIRC - that's the season Matt Turk held out of training camp until we signed his brother Dan (who played as a center the year before) as our long snapper. And surprise, his brother continued to shank his holds all year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Both 1999 and 2005 were fun. Both seasons had good starts and both teams had adversity midway through season. However, although the '99 team looked fragile at 5-4 after losing to the Eagles in McNabb's coming-out party (35-28, a similar high score like the '05 team's ninth game against Tampa), the team bounced back with the two divisional home wins and appeared to have things in control. That team was always above .500 save for the first game of the season against Dallas. The '05 team of course fell to 5-6 and had to claw their way to the playoffs. Both teams had big "must-win" games late against inferior opponents that we barely eked out......'05 against Philly, and '99 vs the Niners (I don't know if that game was a must-win for the playoffs, but I do know that we clinched the division with a win, but felt pretty bad watching that game as we were pretty sluggish). From the perspective of a fan going to the games, I probably enjoyed the '99 season more. I moved down to the DC area in the late 80s and only made it to 1-2 games per year before FedEx opened, and then started to go to a lot more games. In '99, FedEx was still relatively new, and the games still had a bit of charm to them. It was relatively inexpensive to park, the old PA announcer from RFK was still there, the band participated in the games more, and the Funky Four were intro'd late that season and were still a novelty. Plus having the playoff game there was big. The crowd was certainly great in '05 for the two wins against Dallas and NY, but the '99 game took it to another level that hasn't been seen since. Damn, we need another one of those, and soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s0crates Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I was a huge Stephen Davis fan. He was very good, set the franchise record for a single season rushing. I still rooted for him when he was in Carolina. Brad Johnson was really good that year too. 4,000 yards and a Pro Bowl. I am still not over the Jeff George fiasco the following season. I was happy for Opie when he won the Super Bowl, just wish it would have been here. The one memory that really sticks out to me is Brad Johnson body-slamming a Lions defender in the playoffs. That team had moxie. I think they could have made another run, if not for Dan Snyder's meddling ways. ---------- Post added June-24th-2011 at 08:48 PM ---------- I think the 2005 Redskins were a more "fun" Redskins team than the 1999 team was. Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Only 6 during this season but I vividly remember it Best skins offense I had ever seen ( please don't laugh) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Cali man, I think TD_w was alluding to the fact that upto that point in time it was the most fun team we'd seen since Gibbs 1. Nice piece TD_w man. Brought back the memory's. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Raise of hands: Who here thought in January 2000, following the 1999 season, that with 3 first round picks in the following draft and a shot at Lavar Arrington, we were on the verge of a decade long dynasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Raise of hands: Who here thought in January 2000, following the 1999 season, that with 3 first round picks in the following draft and a shot at Lavar Arrington, we were on the verge of a decade long dynasty *raises hand* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 1999 was the season that made me realize that the phrase "more than a couple of guys away" is BS (though I already suspected this) while 2000 made me realize that saying "just a player or two away" is also BS. BTW, SHF, yes, in January I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightbird Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 My hand is up. Nice write-up, those are some vivid memories. The only play I think about when it comes to that year is the strip-sack of Shaun King that Dunn somehow turned into a huge first down. We had TB against the ropes, and, in a way only Norval could, we lost. I remember our Defense being awful that year, despite plenty of talent. Was that a Ron Lynn production or Mike Nolan? Awful. But that was the last year I really felt like we had a huge future in front of us -- good mix of vets and young emerging stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Just did some research and found this interesting: Both the 1999 team and the 2005 team scored 35 or more points four times in their respective seasons. In the 10 other seasons in the Snyder era, the Redskins have scored 35 or more points a total of five times combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I remember I was supposed to go to the bears game that year but i got sick still... sitting there watching big daddy going 80+ yards made me jump around my living room despite an asthma flare up Got to see them play the Bears in '01 and yeah...that was the game with the fake FG and the no call hold in the endzone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Here's more: In the first eight post-Gibbs I seasons (1993-2000, including the horrinle Petitbon year), the Skins scored 20+ points 71 times, 25+ points 40 times, 30+ points 27 times, and 35+ points 14 times. In the past 10 seasons, the Skins have scored 20+ points 70 times, 25+ points 36 times, 30+ points 19 times, and 35+ points 7 times. I know the old adage "defense wins championships," but the Skins have largely been boring as hell the past decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 My thoughts on 1999 are quite different...IMO, the most overrated Redskin team of my lifetime. I believe that both the 2005 and 2007 teams were better (especially 2005). Quite simply, the 1999 team was lucky. Including the playoffs, how many teams above .500 did they beat that year? ZERO. Our divison was simply awful in 1999, but the NFC as a whole may have been worse with TWO 8-8 teams making the playoffs. Every time we had a chance in 1999 to really make a move, we lost to a good team. The loss at Indy was especially crushing because that could have made a big difference in seeding for us. And of course, we did get swept by Dallas that year. For five games, Brad Johsnon and the offense went nuts. I will readily admit that during that early stretch it may have been the best Redskin offense we've seen at any point since 1991. They were fantastic. But it crashed hard and Johnson came back down to earth quickly. Then, in Tampa in the playoffs, are offense was just embarrasingly bad. Putrid really. Yes, TB had a great D, but our output that day was abysmal. Even as bad as it was, had BJ just "managed the game" as he was thought to be so good at doing, we probably win. Everyone remembers the botched snap at the end on the FG, but by far the biggest killer that day was BJ's INT to John Lynch. We were in total control, up 10-0 and BJ threw a horrible pass on first down that Lynch picked off and it completely swung the momentum. When Warrick Dunn scooped up Shaun King's fumble, you knew we were toast. I did have fun in 1999, no doubt. Going 10-6 and winning the division under ANY circumstances is better than what we've seen in the other 17 years or so since Gibbs I. But deep down I knew that team wasn't special at all...it was more of just the law of averages...it was Norv's sixth season as our HC and he was bound to run into a decent season eventually. Teams around us were bad, we got hot early, the schedule was favorable, and got to play an 8-8 team at home in the playoffs. I was in college, was dating my future wife, and 1999 was my first year with Sunday Ticket, so I do have fond memories of the season overall, but as for that team specifically....eh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Cali man, I think TD_w was alluding to the fact that upto that point in time it was the most fun team we'd seen since Gibbs 1. Ah, true...that could be. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scruffylookin Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Raise of hands: Who here thought in January 2000, following the 1999 season, that with 3 first round picks in the following draft and a shot at Lavar Arrington, we were on the verge of a decade long dynasty Hand raised. Seriously let's all remember how great that moment in time was. The Skins won the division. They won their playoff game and had 3 first round picks (including 2 overall) in their back pocket. I have the radio broadcast of the playoff game against Detroit and it was wonderful having, in the midst of the Redskins crushing Detroit, Sonny and Sam talking about who the Redskins were taking at two (Sonny correctly said it was going to be LaVar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman21ST Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hand raised. Seriously let's all remember how great that moment in time was. The Skins won the division. They won their playoff game and had 3 first round picks (including 2 overall) in their back pocket. I have the radio broadcast of the playoff game against Detroit and it was wonderful having, in the midst of the Redskins crushing Detroit, Sonny and Sam talking about who the Redskins were taking at two (Sonny correctly said it was going to be LaVar). *sigh* those were the days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gart Monk Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 In 1999 the Redskins were ranked 2nd in offense behind the Rams. It would have been a bad match up for STL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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