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| Redskins quarterback Jay Schroeder led Washington to the last 18 points of their 44-38 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings. |
But neither of these quarterbacks broke the franchise record for most passing yards in a season, a record that was held until 2015 when it was broken by Kirk Cousins.
That man was Jay Schroeder, who threw for 4,109 yards during the 1986 season, including 378 in a memorable quarterback duel with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer in November of 1986.
The Redskins entered the game with a 6-2 record in a tie for 1st place in the NFC East but having just lost to the Giants six days earlier on a Monday night in the Meadowlands.
Schroeder, who had become the Redskins’ starting quarterback the year before after Joe Theismann had suffered his career-ending leg injury at the hands of Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, where the third year-quarterback had been sacked four times, three of them by Taylor.
The Vikings came into the game with the Redskins with a 5-3 record as they led by first-year head coach Jerry Burns and veteran quarterback Tommy Kramer, who had been amicable in replacing legendary quarterback Fran Tarkenton ever since his retirement in 1979.
Kramer was known as a gunslinger as he thrown for a six-touchdown game earlier in the season in a 42-7 win against the Green Bay Packers.
The right arms of Kramer and Schroeder would dominate this game as the two combined for 878 passing yards and six touchdown passes in a game that was more like a track meet at RFK Stadium.
After forcing the Vikings to punt on their opening possession, the Redskins drove 60 yards in eight plays, culminating with a two-yard touchdown run by George Rogers, the 12th consecutive game in which he ran for a touchdown, to give Washington a 7-0 lead with 9:12 left in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for the Redskins to get another scoring opportunity as defensive end Charles Mann sacked Kramer, causing a fumble that was recovered by middle linebacker Neil Olkewicz at the Minnesota 34-yard-line, which led to a 25-yard field goal by Max Zendejas to increase the Washington lead to 10-0.
The Vikings got on the board on their next drive as a 48-yard pass from Kramer to tight end Steve Jordan help set up a one-yard touchdown run by Ted Brown to cut the Redskins’ lead to 10-7.
Then after Zendejas missed a 51-yard field goal, it took the Vikings just one play to get back into the end zone as Kramer connected with Leo Lewis for a 67-yard touchdown that put Minnesota ahead 14-10 late in the first quarter.
The Vikings took that 14-10 lead into the second quarter when center Dennis Swilley’s shotgun snap went over the head of Kramer and was picked up by Washington defensive end Dexter Manley, who took the fumble in for a 26-yard touchdown to put the Redskins back in the lead 16-14 as Zendejas’ extra point was blocked.
For Zendejas and the Redskins, the blocked extra point would not be the end of their kicking troubles.
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| Leo Lewis(87) outruns Redskins cornerback Darell Green for one of his two touchdown receptions. |
The last score of the first half belong to the Vikings as Chuck Nelson kicked a 39-yard field goal at the end of a 12-play, 64-yard drive with 1:07 before halftime to give Minnesota a 17-16 as the first 30 minutes came to a close.
Early in the third quarter, the Redskins were on the verge of forcing a Minnesota punt as Kramer and the Vikings faced a 3rd-and-8 at the Minnesota 21-yard-line when Kramer hit running back Alfred Anderson for a 11-yard gain and a 1st down.
On the very next play, Kramer connected with Jordan for a 68-yard touchdown to push the Minnesota lead to 24-16, five minutes into the third quarter.
The Redskins responded with a seven-play, 50-yard drive, with the big play being a 39-yard pass from Schroeder to Art Monk to help set up a 42-yard field goal by Zendejas which cut the Vikings’ lead to 24-19 near the midway point of the third quarter.
Then after forcing a Vikings punt, the Redskins got the ball and drove from their 28-yard-line to the Minnesota 40-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-2.
Gibbs decided to gamble and go for the 1st down, but got more than the 1st down as Rogers took the handoff from Schroeder and ran for his second touchdown of the day, to put Washington back in the lead at 26-24 with 1:44 left in the third quarter.
However, the lead lasted for only 98 seconds as Kramer connected with Lewis on their second long touchdown of the game, this one for 76 yards that put the Vikings back on top 31-26 with six seconds left in the third quarter.
The Vikings then pushed the lead into double digits when Kramer threw his 4th touchdown pass of the game, a one-yarder to running back Darrin Nelson, two plays after a pass interference penalty in the end zone on Redskins cornerback Barry Wilburn, giving Minnesota a 38-26 lead with 7:53 to go in the fourth quarter.
After the touchdown, the Redskins took over at their own 35-yard-line, but were in back in Minnesota territory in just two plays after a one-yard run and a 30-yard pass to tight end Clint Didier put Washington at the Vikings’ 34-yard-line.
On the very next play, Schroeder went for the end zone and found Monk, who made a diving catch for the 34-yard touchdown to cut the Minnesota lead in half to 38-32.
However, Zendejas pulled the extra point to the right, keeping the game at 38-32 with 5:14 to go.
Then after forcing a Minnesota punt, the Redskins got the ball back at their 46-yard-line with 3:31 left in the game.
That is when disaster nearly struck for Washington as on 1st down, Schroeder threw a pass toward the right sideline, intended for Monk.
But the pass was low and appeared to be picked off by Vikings cornerback Carl Lee, but the Redskins called timeout to allow instant replay(this was the first year it was used) to see if Lee had trapped the ball.
He did and the call was overturned, but the Redskins could not take advantage of the reprieve as Schroeder threw two more incomplete passes, forcing Washington to punt the ball back to the Vikings with 3:04 to go.
However, the Redskins held up and did not permit a 1st down, forcing the Vikings to punt the ball back to Washington, who took over at the Minnesota 46-yard-line with 1:21 to play.
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That is when Schroeder rolled to his right and fired a pass downfield for Didier, who made a diving catch at the two-yard-line, though the Vikings claimed that Didier trapped the ball, just like Lee did way on his interception that was reversed a few minutes earlier.
But the instant replay proved to be inconclusive and the call stood as 44-yard reception.
Then on the very next play, Schroeder handed it off to Rogers, who ran it in for his third touchdown of the game, tying the game at 38 with 1:03 to go.
But after having missed the last extra point and having another blocked earlier, Zendejas’ extra point was no guarantee.
Sure enough, Zendejas’ extra point was blocked, the third failed extra point attempt of the game for Washington, keeping the game tied at 38.
The Vikings got the ball, hoping to drive for a chance to kick the game-winning field goal, only to have Kramer be picked off by Redskins safety(and future NFL head coach)Todd Bowles at the Minnesota 44-yard-line with 36 seconds left, giving Washington a chance for Zendejas to redeem himself with a game-winning field goal.
But Schroeder would be intercepted by Minnesota safety Rufus Bess at the Vikings’ 27-yard-line with two seconds left, seemingly sending the game into overtime.
However, Kramer lofted a deep pass as time expired that was caught by Hassan Jones, who was stopped at the Redskins’ 28-yard-line, ending a chaotic last minute and finally sending the game into overtime.
The Redskins won the overtime coin toss and elected to receive as they took possession at their own 37-yard-line after a 17-yard return by Clarence Verdin and a 15-yard facemask penalty on Minnesota’s Isaac Holt.
On 1st down, Schroeder connected with Didier for six yards, which was followed up by a 13-yard completion to Monk to give the Redskins a 1st down at the Minnesota 44-yard-line.
Then after Kelvin Bryant ran for six yards to the 38-yard-line, Schroeder fired a pass to the left sideline, that was caught by Gary Clark at the 33, who had missed most of the second half because of a strained left hamstring, who was able to spin out of a tackle by Carl Lee 15 yards downfield, and then ran in untouched for the game-winning touchdown to give Washington a 44-38 victory.
The loss proved to be costly for the Vikings as they finished the season with a 9-7 record, one game back of the Los Angeles Rams for the final Wild Card spot in the NFC.
Ironically, the Rams would go on to play the Redskins in the Wild Card Game, which Washington won 19-7 before going on to the Divisional Playoffs where they knocked off the defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears 27-13 to advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they faced their division rival, the New York Giants, who handed the Redskins the third of their five losses in the 1986 season as they shutout Washington 17-0 to advance to Super Bowl XXI.
The following season, the Vikings and the Redskins would meet in the NFC Championship Game, with different starting quarterbacks for both teams as Wade Wilson had replaced Kramer for the Vikings while Schroeder had been benched in favor of Doug Williams for the Redskins.
The championship game was not like the 1986 shootout for only 539 yards of total offense compared to the 1,013 yards in the ‘86 game as the Redskins won 17-10 as cornerback Darrell Green forced running back Darrin Nelson to drop a potential touchdown on 4th & goal from the six-yard-line with less than a minute to go, as Washington went on to Super Bowl XXII where they defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 for the second of their three Super Bowl titles during the Joe Gibbs era.
Kramer would remain with the Vikings through the 1989 season in a backup role, until he signed with the New Orleans Saints for the 1990 season where he attempted only three passes before ultimately retiring.
As for Schroeder, he was traded from Washington to the Los Angeles Raiders after the Redskins’ Super Bowl XXII championship, but could never really capture the magic he had in the 1986 season in his five years with the Raiders, as his best season came in 1990 where he threw for only 2,849 yards, the most in his time in Los Angeles.
Schroeder was waived before the 1993 season and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals where he only started three games, then played one more season in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals in 1994 where he actually started eight games and finished with a winning record at 5-3 in his eight starts.
He retired in the offseason after 11 NFL seasons, finishing his career with 20, 063 yards and 114 touchdown passes.
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| Gary Clark is held up on the shoulders on his teammates after scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime. |
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