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| Redskins kicker Mark Moseley kicks the game-winning field goal in Washington's 1982 game with the New York Giants. |
In fact, some folks do not even regard kickers as players.
Perhaps this perception is why only two true placekicker, Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen, and one
punter, Ray Guy, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So many NFL fans under the age of 30 might be surprised to hear that a kicker has won the NFL MVP award.That happened in 1982 and the kicker who received was Redskins place kicker Mark Moseley broke the record for most made consecutive field goals.
Moseley had been the Redskins’ kicker since 1974 but in the 1982 preseason he was in danger of being
cut as second-year head coach Joe Gibbs had picked kicker Dan Miller in the 11th round of the NFL draft.
But after Miller missed two field goals in the Redskins’ final preseason game, Moseley was still the
Redskins kicker.
Moseley rewarded Gibbs by kicking the game-tying field goal and then the game-winning field goal in the
team’s season opener for a 37-34 overtime win over the Philadelphia Eagles, then kicked three more field
goals the following week as the Redskins defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-13.
Then, the NFL Players Union went on strike for 57 days, wiping out two months of the season and
reducing the amount of games in the season from 16 to 9.
When the Redskins came back after the strike, their offense, which featured quarterback Joe Theismann and
running back John Riggins, sputtered as they only scored five touchdowns over the next four games.
But Moseley was able to bail out the Redskins as he made nine field goals, including four in a 12-7 win over
the St. Louis Cardinals.
As the 5-1 Redskins prepared to host the New York Giants, Moseley had kicked 18 consecutive field goals
dating back to the 1981 season and was three field goals away from breaking Garo Yepremian’s record of
20 straight field goals he made during the 1977-78 seasons.
The Giants came in with a 3-3 record under fourth-year head coach Ray Perkins but without Phil Simms
who was lost for the season after tearing a ligament in his knee during the preseason.
He was replaced by Scott Brunner, but days before their game with the Redskins, the Giants learned they
would have to replace their head coach as Perkins announced he would leave the team after the season to
replace Paul “Bear” Bryant as head coach at the University of Alabama and that defensive coordinator Bill
Parcells would become the Giants’ head coach in 1983.
The Giants hoped Perkins would not lose the locker room as the team needed a win against Washington to
keep their playoff hopes alive as the postseason would be expanded to 16 teams, eight per conference
because of the shortened season.
Washington could actually secure a spot in the playoffs if they defeated the Giants as the two division rivals
prepared to play on a cold, snowy afternoon in the nation’s capital.
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| Giants quarterback Scott Brunner(12) only completed 10 of 26 passes for 128 yards but threw one touchdown. |
The Redskins got the ball to start the game but turned it over when Theismann was intercepted by linebacker
Brian Kelley, giving the ball to the Giants at their own 46-yard-line.
On the first play of the drive, Brunner hit wide receiver Johnny Perkins for 11 yards, then found fullback
Rob Carpenter for 11 more yards on a 3rd-and-6, then wrapped up the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass
to Perkins that gave the Giants a 7-0 lead with 6:33 left in the first quarter.
The Redskins responded to the touchdown by driving into Giants territory and were poised to score a
touchdown when Theismann found Art Monk for a 29-yard pass play, only to have Giants cornerback
Terry Jackson knock the ball loose and free safety Beasley Reece recover the fumble at the New York’
three-yard-line.
Washington forced the Giants to punt and the Redskins got the ball back at the Giants’ 47-yard-line.
The Redskins seemed on the verge of scoring a touchdown when Monk atoned for his fumble and made a
26-yard reception to the eight-yard-line setting up a 1st-and-goal.
But the Giants defense held Washington to five yards on the next three plays and forced a 20-yard field goal
by Moseley.
Moseley made the chip shot for his 19th consecutive straight field goal to cut the New York lead to 7-3,
49 seconds into the second quarter.
The rest of the second quarter would be a nightmare for Theismann as he would throw three more
interceptions to bring his total to four in the first half, tying a career high for most interceptions in a single
game.
But only the second of three interceptions in the second quarter, one by Terry Jackson off a tipped pass by
linebacker Harry Carson, and subsequent 14-yard return to the Washington 25, help led to Giant points as
Butch Woolfolk punched it from the one-yard-line to extend the Giants lead to 14-3 as the first half came to
a close.
Theismann tried to atone for his mistakes on the Redskins’ opening possession of the second half as he threw
pair of 17-yard completions, one to tight end Don Warren and the other to wide receiver Charlie Brown,
to drive Washington to the Giants’ 22 in nine plays.
On the next play, Theismann handed the ball to running back Joe Washington, who rolled to the right side,
and was poised to throw a halfback option pass, but his primary target, Monk, was covered.
So, Washington decided to cut back to the left and try to pick as much yardage as he could by running the
ball to salvage the play.
He did more than salvage the play as he scored a 22-yard touchdown run, thanks in large part to a block
from Theismann on Terry Jackson to make a 14-9 game.
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| Joe Theismann handed the ball off to John Riggins 31 times as "The Diesel" ran for 87 yards. |
Even they had finally got into the end zone, the Redskins could not cut the lead any further as Moseley
missed the extra point, the third missed extra point of the season and first since he missed two extra points
since the Redskins’ second game of the season.
The score was still 14-9 at the start of the 4th quarter when the Redskins began a drive at their own
35-yard-line.
That is when they called on Riggins, who carried the ball eight times for 42 yards, but his last carry being a
two-yard loss, that led a 4th-and-5 at the Giants’ 14-yard-line.
Gibbs decided to go for the field goal since they were nearly 8 ½ minutes left in the game and give Moseley
chance to tie the record.
Moseley came on and for the 20th straight time made a field goal as his 31-yard field goal cut the
New York lead to 14-12 with 8:23 left in the game.
The Redskins defense would force the Giants to go three-and-out on their next possession, giving their
offense the ball back at their own 31-yard-line.
Three plays gained nine yards setting up a 4th-and-1 at the Washington 40-yard-line.
Needing six inches, Gibbs decided to go for it and give it to Riggins.
But unlike his famous touchdown run in Super Bowl XVII seven weeks later, Riggins was stopped for a by
Kelley and cornerback Mark Haynes, giving New York the ball at the Redskins’ 39-yard-line with 5:25 to
play in the game and clinging to a two-point lead.
Now the Giants offense had to do something they had been unable to do in the second half; move the ball
and get some 1st downs as they had been held to 56 yards of total offense up to this point.
They gained four yards on 1st down, but on 2nd-and-6 Brunner was sacked by linebacker Mel Kaufman for
a seven-yard loss and then was sacked by again by the combination of Mark Murphy, Neal Olkewicz, and
Larry Kubin for a 11-yard-loss, forcing the Giants to punt the ball back to the Redskins who took over at
their own 29 with 3:28 left.
On 2nd-and-8 at the 31, Theismann found tight end Rick Walker for 20 yards that along with a five-yard
facemask penalty on Reese gave the Redskins a 1st down at the Giants’ 44-yard-line.
Then after being pushed back five yards and facing 2nd-and-15, Theismann connected with Brown on
two straight completions, the first for seven yards, and then again for 14 yards to give the Redskins another
1st down at the New York 25.
Gibbs felt that they were in Moseley’s range so he decided to go back to Riggins who gained six yards on
1st down, then six more on 2nd down.
But on the 2nd down run, Walker was called for holding pushing the Redskins back to the New York 29
with nearly a minute left.
Gibbs decided to stick with Riggins who gained five yards on the next play, but then lost a yard on the next
run, which had the Redskins back at the 25-yard-line facing 4th-and-10.
Gibbs let the clock run down to nine seconds, then called timeout and called on Moseley to come on and
attempt a game-winning 42-yard field goal.
Moseley had made four kicks earlier in the season longer than this one but with the game on the line and
the snow falling, this kick was not a lock.
Plus, there was added pressure of breaking Yepremian’s record with this field goal.
With Jeff Bostic snapping and Theismann holding, everything was in place for Moseley to try and make
history.
The snap was perfect, the hold was perfect, but the kick was not perfect as linebacker Byron Hunt leaped in
and got a fingertip on the ball, making the kick wobbly and uncertain where it would land.
But fortunately for Moseley and the Redskins, the kick went through the uprights with a few yards to spare
to give Moseley his record-setting 21st field goal in a row, a 15-14 win over the Giants, and clinch the
Redskins their first playoff berth since 1976.
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| Mark Moseley celebrates with Joe Theismann after his 42-yard field goal set the NFL record for most consecutive field goals made and sent the Redskins into the 1982 playoffs. |
Perkins would not win another game as the Giants’ head coach as New York lost their last two games of the
season to finish with a 3-6 record and out of the playoffs.
Perkins would go 32-15-1 in four seasons at Alabama before returning to the NFL in 1987 as the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers’ head coach where he went 20-41 until he was fired with three games left in the 1990 season
while Parcells would direct the Giants to two Super Bowl titles in that same eight-year span.
As for Moseley, he would extend his streak of consecutive field goals made to 23 until he missed a 40-yarder
in the Redskins’ regular season finale against the Cardinals.
That miss actually started a slump for Moseley as he only made two out of six field goal attempts in the
Redskins’ three playoff victories over the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings, and Dallas Cowboys
until he made both of his field goal attempts in the Redskins’ 27-17 win in Super Bowl XVII over the
Miami Dolphins.
The following season, Moseley would led the league in points as he accounted for 161 of the team’s
then-record 541 points.
Moseley would remain with the Redskins until the middle of the 1986 season when he was released,
but signed on with the Cleveland Browns later that same year and kicked the game-tying and game-winning
field goals in the Browns’ 23-20 double overtime win over the New York Jets.
After the ‘86 season, Moseley retired with 300 field goals and 1,382 points.
As for the record, Moseley held the mark for seven years until Bears kicker Kevin Butler broke the record
with 24 straight field goals.
The current record for most field goals made in a row is 42, held by Mike Vanderjagt since 2004.
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