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| Redskins wide receiver Charlie Brown caught five passes for 97 yards and scored two touchdowns in Washington's 1982 Opening Day win. |
That was because the NFL Players Association or the just the players were threatening to go on strike following the second week of games if the players' demand of receiving 55 percent of all revenue was not met.
Even though a strike was looming, the season did get underway on September 12, 1982 with one of the 14 games being an old NFC East grudge match between the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles on a hot afternoon at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
The Eagles entered the 1982 season hoping to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season and perhaps returning to the Super Bowl after losing to the Oakland Raiders 27-10 in Super Bowl XV just two years prior.
Philadelphia was coached by Dick Vermeil, who was in his seventh season as head coach of the Eagles and directed an offense which featured quarterback Ron Jaworski, running back Wilbert Montgomery(who had ran for over 1,000 yards in three of the previous four seasons) and wide receiver Harold Carmichael.
The Eagles also had most of their starters back from a defense that ranked #1 in 1981, so Philly fans had high expectations for the Eagles.
While the Eagles were hoping to continue their string of making the playoffs, the Redskins were hoping to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1977 as they entered the 1982 season.
The Redskins were hoping to build off a 8-8 season in 1981 in which they won eight of their final 11 games after starting out the season 0-5.
Joe Gibbs was more comfortable entering his second season as head coach of the Redskins with an offense which featured veteran quarterback Joe Theismann and veteran running back John Riggins.
But the biggest question mark entering the season for the Redskins was who would be the kicker as veteran Mark Moseley had been in a tight battle with rookie Dan Miller.
Miller had been given the placekicking duties for the final two preseason games, allowing for Moseley to keep his job as the Redskins traveled to Philadelphia, where Moseley make his presence felt in the final minutes of the game.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard as Montgomery scored on a four-yard touchdown run to culminate a 10-play, 67-yard drive which saw Jaworski complete five of six passes for 48 yards on the drive, giving Philadelphia a 7-0 lead with 9:20 to go in the opening quarter.
Then on the first play following a Redskins punt, Jaworski hit Montgomery on a 34-yard pass to put the Eagles at the Washington 29-yard-line.
However, the Redskins defense allowed only two more yards on the next three plays, forcing the Eagles to settle for a 44-yard field goal by Tony Franklin which increased their lead to 10-0 with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
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| Eagles running back Wilbert Montgomery carried the ball 15 times for 63 yards and caught four passes for 99 yards while scoring three touchdowns(2 rushing, 1 receiving). |
Things were not going well for the Redskins and it looked like they were in deep trouble after the ensuing kickoff when Mike Nelms fumbled the kickoff which was recovered by Eagles linebacker Reggie Wilkes at the Washington 18-yard-line.
But on the second play following the fumble, the Eagles gave the ball right back to the Redskins as Montgomery was stripped of the football by Washington linebacker Neal Olkewicz,which was recovered by cornerback Joe Lavender at the Philadelphia 15-yard-line.
The fumble recovery seem to spark the Redskins offense as Theismann would direct Washington to the Eagles' 29-yard-line until he was sacked and stripped of the ball by Eagles defensive lineman Greg Brown, leading to a recovery by defensive end Dennis Harrison.
The score was still 10-0 in favor of the Eagles midway through the second quarter when the Redskins put together a 11-play, 87-yard drive where Theismann completed four of five passes for 66 yards, with the big play being a 43-yard pass to Art Monk to set up 1st & goal at the Eagles' seven-yard-line.
Theismann and Monk would connect again, this time on a five-yard touchdown to cut the Eagles' lead to 10-7 with just 2:19 left in the first half.
Then after forcing the Eagles to punt, the Redskins got the ball at the Philadelphia 46-yard-line where it took Washington five plays to get back into the end zone as Theismann hit Charlie Brown for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Redskins a 14-10 lead with 35 seconds left before halftime.
The Eagles got the ball back at their 20-yard-line and seemed to poise to run out the clock as they ran the ball for three yards only to have the Redskins call timeout in hopes of forcing an Eagles punt to give Washington a chance to increase their lead.
The Eagles decided to put the ball in Jaworski's hands and see what he could do with it as he completed three straight passes for 50 yards, including a 32-yarder to Ron Smith with one second left, to set up another 44-yard field goal by Franklin as time expired in the first half to make it a one-point game, 14-13 in favor of the Redskins.
Philadelphia would get the ball to start the second half and would drive 86 yards in eight plays as Jaworski completed all four of his passes on the drive for 75 yards with the biggest pass being a 46-yard completion to Carmichael on 3rd & 8 at the Redskins 48-yard-line, which set up a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line.
From there, Montgomery punched into the end zone on a toss sweep to the right side to put the Eagles back on top, 20-14 with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles defense would force another Redskins punt to get the ball back at their 40-yard-line where Montgomery carried ball twice for 18 yards, then caught a screen pass from Jaworski and took it all way to the house for his third touchdown of the game, a 42-yard reception to push the Philadelphia lead back to 13 points at 27-14 with 6:34 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles had taken control of the game again as they would carry their nearly two-touchdown lead into the fourth quarter as Philadelphia had the ball at the Redskins' 39-yard-line when Smith made a catch for an apparent 1st down.
But the referees threw a flag calling Smith for offsides, pushing the Eagles back five yards to the 44-yard-line when Jaworski was sacked by Olkewicz, pushing the Eagles back into Redskins territory and eventually leading to a Philadelphia punt.
Taking over at his 22-yard-line, Theismann decided to go deep on the first play from scrimmage and hit Brown in a stride on a deep fly pattern along the left sideline for a 78-yard touchdown to cut the Eagles' lead to 27-21 exactly 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
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| Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann completed 28 of 39 passes for 382 yards and threw three touchdown passes. |
After an Eagles punt and a 28-yard return by Nelms, the Redskins would begin their next drive in Eagles territory at the Philadelphia 48-yard-line with 8:45 to play.
It would take them five plays to get back into the end zone as Riggins would punch it from two yards out to give the Redskins the lead once again, 28-27 with 6:17 left in the game.
On their ensuing possession, the Eagles picked up nine yards on three plays, forcing a punting situation from their 23-yard-line.
That is when the Eagles attempted a fake punt as the snap went to upback Frank LeMaster, only to have LeMaster bobble the snap and be drop for an one-yard loss, giving the ball to the Redskins at the Philadelphia 22-yard-line with 5:10 left and a chance to put the game away with a touchdown(There was no two-point conversion back in 1982).
However, the Redskins gained nine yards on the next three plays, forcing their own 4th & 1 situation at the Eagles' 13-yard-line.
Unlike Vermeil, Gibbs decided to play it safe and called on Moseley to kick a 30-yard field goal which increased the Redskins' lead to 31-27 with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Taking over at his 10-yard-line, Jaworski was able to get the Eagles into Redskins territory right before the two-minute warning, but was almost driven out of Washington territory when "Jaws" was sacked by Redskins defensive end Dexter Manley dropping him for a 11-yard-loss back to the Washington 48-yard-line as the two-minute hit.
On the very next play, Jaworski would hit tight end John Spagnola for 17 yards, followed by a seven-yard pass to Billy Campfield to give the Eagles a 1st down at the Redskins' 24-yard-line with 1:44 left.
Following an incomplete pass, Jaworski would hit Campfield again, this time for 20 yards to set up 1st & goal from the four-yard-line.
From there, Jaworski would loft a pass for Carmichael in the left corner of the end zone, who tipped the ball and then made the catch lying on his back for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Eagles a 34-31 lead with just 64 seconds to go in regulation.
Needing at least a field goal to force overtime, the Redskins got good field position when Nelms returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Washington 37-yard-line.
That is when Theismann completed three straight passes for 23 yards to put the Redskins at the Eagles' 40-yard-line, needing one more 1st down to get in range for Moseley to attempt a field goal.
An offsides penalty and a four-yard run by Theismann put the Redskins at the Eagles' 31-yard-line with six seconds left when Gibbs called on Moseley to try and tie the game with a 48-yard field goal.
Moseley calmly made the 48-yard field goal as time expired, tying the game at 34 and sending the game into overtime.
The Redskins won the coin toss and elected to receiver, taking over at their 29-yard-line to begin the overtime period.
Washington picked up five yards on the first two plays of the drive forcing a 3rd & 5 when Theismann handed the ball off to Clarence Harmon who ran for six yards and a 1st down at the Philadelphia 40-yard-line.
After an holding penalty pushed back them 10 yards to the 30-yard-line for a 1st & 20, Theismann connected with Monk for a 28-yard completion to put the Redskins in Eagles territory with a 1st down at the Philadelphia 42-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 4 at the Eagles' 36-yard-line, Theismann rolled to his left and fired a pass toward Monk, which just missed the fingers of Eagles cornerback and future NFL head coach Herman Edwards, to find Monk who made the catch at the 24-yard-line, then ran 15 yards to the Eagles' nine-yard-line, for a 27-yard completion to set up 1st & goal.
Gibbs wasted no time as he called for Moseley and the field goal unit on 1st down for a game-winning field goal which Moseley made from 26 yards out to give the Redskins a 37-34 overtime win.
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| Mark Moseley kicked the game-tying field goal as time expired in regulation and the game-winning field goal almost four minutes into the overtime period. |
For NFL fans who wanted more of the excitement they saw in the Redskins-Eagles opener, they would have to wait as the players went through on their threat to go on strike, which lasted almost two months until a revolt by some of the players forced an end to the strike.
After the strike ended, the Eagles would lose their next four games and ended finishing the season with a 3-6 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1977.
In the offseason, Vermeil resigned as Eagles head coach, saying he was "burned out" by the experiences of coaching in the NFL.
The Eagles would not return to the playoffs until 1988 and Vermeil would not return to coaching until 1997 when he took became the head coach of the then St. Louis Rams and leading them to a Super Bowl following the 1999 season, leading to a second retirement which lasting only one season, as he returned to the sidelines as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs where he coached for five years before retiring for good following the 2005 season.
As for the Redskins, they would go on to finish with the NFL's best record at 8-1 and win four games in the NFL's 16-team postseason tournament to win their first Super Bowl and first NFL championship since 1937.
The man responsible most for the Redskins' run to the Super Bowl was Moseley as he finished the regular season making 20 of 21 field goals and 16 of 19 extra points for 76 points in helping Washington earn the #1 seed in the NFC which they used to their advantage as they got to play three games at home, which they all won, before defeating the Miami Dolphins 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII as Moseley kicked two field goals in that game.
For his regular season, Moseley would be win the NFL MVP for that season, the first and only time a kicker as won the MVP award.
Not bad for a man who was almost cut in the preseason.
To know more about Mark Moseley's 1982 season, check out my article on the Redskins' win against the New York Giants by clicking on the highlighted link: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-moseley.html
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