Washington Final Score History (20-17)

[kleese]

I was afraid this might happen... as the game wore on, I started thinking it could land 20-17, knowing full well that is the most common final score in NFL history. So, here goes: 

 

This was the 286th time in NFL history a game finished 20-17; easily the most common final score. Of those 286 games, 9 came in the post-season with one Super Bowl (2001: Patriots 20, Rams 17). 

 

Washington has fared well in the 31 different 20-17 games they've played going 20-11. 

 

1951: Win at Chicago Cardinals 

1956: Win at Cleveland Browns 

1974: Win vs Miami Dolphins

1975: Loss at St. Louis Cardinals 

1976: Win at Philadelphia Eagles 

1977: Loss at New York Giants 

1978: Loss at Atlanta Falcons 

1980: Loss at Denver Broncos 

1986: Win at St. Louis Cardinals

1988: Win at Green Bay Packers 

1988: Loss at Cincinnati Bengals 

1992: Win vs Dallas Cowboys 

1995: Win vs Carolina Panthers

1997: Loss vs Baltimore Ravens 

1999: Win vs Philadelphia Eagles 

2000: Win vs Carolina Panthers 

2000: Win vs Tampa Bay Bucs

2001: Win vs Arizona Cardinals 

2002: Win vs St. Louis Rams 

2003: Win vs New England Patriots 

2003: Loss vs Carolina Panthers 

2005: Win vs Seattle Seahawks 

2006: Loss at Tampa Bay Bucs

2008: Win at Seattle Seahawks 

2009: Loss at Carolina Panthers

2010: Win at Jacksonville Jaguars

2014: Win at Dallas Cowboys

2016: Loss at Detroit Lions

2018: Win vs Dallas Cowboys

2022: Loss vs Minnesota Vikings 

2023: Win at New England Patriots 

 

Overall: 20-11

11-3 Home; 9-8 Road 

 

Some odd trends:

 

--Seems strange that between 1937-1991, they only played one home game that ended 20-17 

--Then, no road games ended 20-17 between 1989-2005 

--They've played more 20-17 games v Panthers than any other opponent (only once vs Giants) 

 

Some game notes: 

 

--1974 game Miami led at half 10-0 and was just 10-3 going into the 4th. Wild fourth quarter ensued with Redskins pulling it out late. Two of the better teams of the early to mid 70's and a rematch of the SB from two years prior. 

 

--1975 loss at Cardinals... I THINK this was the "Mel Gray TD catch" game. 

 

--1976 win at Vet in Philly was in OT on MNF 

 

--1977 win vs Giants was the first game played after the birth of yours truly five days prior 

 

--1980 loss at Denver was MNF... Art Monk caught a TD in that game... his rookie year... not sure if that may have been his first 

 

--1988 at Packers was not at Lambeau; back then the Packers played a couple of games per year in Milwaukee... an ugly win 

 

--I remember the loss at Cincy in 1988 very clearly. Last game of season on a Saturday afternoon. We stumbled down the stretch in 1988 and had been eliminated from playoffs, but at that age every game still really mattered to me. We lost in OT and it left us 7-9 that year-- the only losing season in the first Gibbs run as coach. Also hard to believe the season ended BEFORE Christmas. 

 

--The 1992 win at RFK vs Dallas is still easily in my top 5 wins/memories of all time. Such an incredible game with a wild ending. It was one of those memories where the details of the game and the day itself have remained very sharp for me-- I remember the weather where I was and what we had for dinner. Just a fun, exhilarating, satisfying win. It kept the dreams of a repeat SB run alive. 

 

--"The Bam Morris" game in 1997 still bugs me  

 

--The two wins in 2000 both came early in the year. In both games, the offense struggled and the defense carried us. This would of course become a theme for the entire 2000 season. 

 

--The wins in 2002 (Rams) and 2003 (Patriots) were probably the two best/most exciting wins of the Spurrier era. Heck in 2003, that got us to 3-1 and I thought we might be off a running. It would also be the Pats last loss before their historic winning streak. 

 

--The 2005 win vs Seattle was fun. Our last 3-0 start to a season. We had it, blew it, and then got lucky that Josh Brown missed a FG at the end of regulation. 

 

--I was in attendance for the win at Dallas in 2014 on MNF... got field passes prior to game and met Joey T. Always good to get a win at Dallas and was a fun night; didn't feel great going to OT, but they got it done. 

 

--The 2016 loss at Detroit hurt. We were on a 4 game win streak and the game that day was right there to be had. This would become one of many losses in 2016 that kept us from big things. 2016 and 1997 were similar seasons... both 8-7-1, both could have gone MUCH differently had the team just won a couple of games that were there for the taking. 

 

--The 2018 win vs Dallas is probably one of the better FedEx wins of the past decade. 

 

--The loss last year to Minny probably bugged me more than any other last year. That iffy PI on BSJ was frustrating. It's game over if that Pick 6 stands. We beat the hell out of Kirk that day; credit to him for hanging in and making plays. 

 

 

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I'll file this under Useless Information That I Now Know  

[Voice_of_Reason]

I had never considered this.  It makes sense though:

 

both teams score 2 TDs. 1 scores 1 FG, the other scores 2. 

 

It's easy math.  3 scores vs. 4 scores.  Very typical for an NFL game.

 

I wonder if that trend is going to continue, or if it's going to tick up a bit.  Maybe 23-20 becomes more common as scoring becomes easier in today's NFL....

[hail2skins]

Pretty big sign that I've been on ES since forever when my first thought after the interception sealed the game last Sunday was "Ed's going to have his work cut out for him this week!"

 

2 hours ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

I wonder if that trend is going to continue, or if it's going to tick up a bit.  Maybe 23-20 becomes more common as scoring becomes easier in today's NFL....

I found this site below last night and thought it was interesting looking at this season. So far this season, it seems like they're only hitting the projected over less than 40 percent of the time:

 

https://www.sportsoddshistory.com/nfl-game-odds/

[The Rook]

Really good work @kleese 

 

Thanks for putting it together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rook

[MarkB452]

1975 WAS the Mel Gray game...............check out Gray's reaction when he drops it.   One day, I swear I am going to make a video called "What is a catch in the NFL?".

This one will be at the top of the list along with the Megatron no-catch.

 

BTW, Jim Hart was on the Redskins for his final season in 1984.