After a Super Bowl, there is always a cavalcade of statistics and oddities presented in the media. This one that I saw on ESPN this morning caught my eye: In 2009, the Saints won four games after trailing by 10 points or more, tied with 1987 Redskins for most by a Super Bowl Champ. The two teams now share the record for the biggest comeback win in a Super Bowl. As hard as it is to believe, in 44 Super Bowls the biggest deficit a team has overcome to win the game is 10 points. The Saints trailed the Colts 10-0 on Sunday just as the Redskins were behind the Broncos 10-0 before they knew what hit them in Super Bowl XXII.
I went back and looked up the Redskins four comeback wins that year (I happen to have a book that is very handy for doing such things). Two of them were in the regular season, two in the playoffs:
Redskins 23, Giants 19, 11/29/87, RFK Stadium—The Redskins trailed 16-0 at halftime and 19-9 going into the fourth quarter. But Jay Schroeder, starting in place of an injured Doug Williams, threw second-half touchdown passes to Gary Clark, Keith Griffin, and Ricky Sanders to pace the comeback. After the last one to Sanders put the Redskins up 23-19, Washington had to survive one more push as Phil Simms’ passed to Tony Galbreath with two second left and cornerback Dennis Woodberry and the rest of the defensive gang tackled the receiver at the two with the clock reading 0:00.
Redskins 27, Vikings 24 (OT), 12/26/87, Metrodome—The Redskins’ only first-half score came when Barry Wilburn picked off Wade Wilson’s pass at the goal line and took it to the house. The 100-yard interception return tied the game at 7-7. With the Washington offense continuing to struggle in the third quarter, Joe Gibbs yanked Schroeder and replaced him with Doug Williams. Although Williams provided a quick spark with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Sanders, the offense stalled again after that. Minnesota ran off 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and led 24-14. After an Ali Haji-Sheikh field goal, the Redskins tied it up with another long Williams-to-Sanders TD pass, this one from 51 yards. A 26-yard Haji-Sheikh field goal won it in overtime. The game meant nothing to the Redskins in the standings but it did cement Williams’ status as the starting QB going into the playoffs.
Redskins 21, Bears 17, NFC Divisional Playoff, 1/10/88, Soldier Field—The Bears jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter but Williams’ 18-yard touchdown pass to Clint Didier had this one tied at halftime. In the third quarter, Darrell Green fielded a punt at his own 47, hurdled a hapless would-be tackler named Cap Boso and rolled the rest of the way to the end zone to make it 21-14. The Redskins defense took over from there and sealed the win.
Redskins 42, Broncos 10, Super Bowl XXII, 1/31/88, Jack Murphy Stadium—Just like Peyton Manning was supposed to single-handedly beat the Saints on Sunday, it was predicted that John Elway would single-handedly conquer the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII. As the Indianapolis Mannings and Denver Elways jumped to 10-0 first quarter leads it looked like the pundits were right. While New Orleans broke it open with 14 fourth-quarter points, the Redskins took care of business much sooner, scoring an postseason-record 35 points in the second quarter. The Redskins possessed the ball for just 5:47 in The Quarter and in that time they racked up 357 yards.
For full details on every game of the Redskins’ 1987 season plus all of the details of the Williams-Schroeder quarterback controversy, check out The Redskins Chronicle.
