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The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Commanders were founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, named after the local baseball franchise.[1] The franchise changed its name the following year to the Redskins and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937.[1] In 2020, the team retired the Redskins name after longstanding controversies surrounding it and briefly played as the Washington Football Team before rebranding as the Commanders in 2022.[1]

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RFK Stadium was the home of the team from 1961 to 1996.

Over 93 seasons, the Commanders have a regular season record of 633–645–29 (.495) and a playoff record of 23–30 (.535).[2] They have won three Super Bowls (XVII, XXII, and XXVI), two NFC championships, and 15 NFC East divisional titles.[2][3] Before the AFL and NFL merged in 1970,[4] Washington won two NFL Championships (1937 and 1942). They also played in and lost the 1936, 1940, 1943, and 1945 Championship games. Only five teams have appeared in more Super Bowls than Washington: the New England Patriots (11), Dallas Cowboys (eight), Pittsburgh Steelers (eight), Denver Broncos (eight), and San Francisco 49ers (seven); Washington's five appearances are tied with the Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, and New York Giants.[5]

All of the franchise's championships were attained during two 10-year spans. The first period of success was from 1936 to 1945, when they went to the NFL Championship six times, winning two of them. The second period of success was from 1982 and 1991, when they appeared in the postseason seven times, captured four Conference titles, and won three Super Bowls. This period included the 1983 and 1991 seasons, when the team won 14 games, the most the team have won in a single season.[6] Washington has also experienced periods of extended failure in its history. The most notable period of continued failure was from 1946 to 1970, when they posted only four winning seasons and did not have a single postseason appearance.[6] During this period, they went without a single winning season between 1956 to 1968 and posted their worst regular-season record in franchise history, going 1–12–1 in 1961.[6] Since their last Super Bowl win in 1991, Washington has only four playoff wins with only three seasons of 10 wins or better.[6]

Seasons

Key
NFL champions (1920–1969) § Super Bowl champions (1970–present) * Conference champions # Division champions † Wild card berth ^
More information Year, Season ...
Washington Commanders seasonal records
Year Season League Conference Division Regular season Playoff results Head coach Awards Refs.
Finish W L T
1932 1932 NFL — — 4th 4 4 2 — Lud Wray — [7]
1933 1933 NFL — East 3rd 5 5 2 — Lone Star Dietz — [8]
1934 1934 NFL — East 2nd 6 6 0 — — [9]
1935[lower-alpha 1] 1935 NFL — East 4th 2 8 1 — Eddie Casey — [11]
1936 1936 NFL — East† 1st† 7 5 0 Lost NFL Championship (Packers) 21–6 Ray Flaherty — [12]
1937[lower-alpha 2] 1937 NFL§ — East† 1st† 8 3 0 Won NFL Championship (1) (at Bears) 28–21 — [13]
1938 1938 NFL — East 2nd 6 3 2 — — [14]
1939 1939 NFL — East 2nd 8 2 1 — — [15]
1940 1940 NFL — East† 1st† 9 2 0 Lost NFL Championship (Bears) 73–0 — [16]
1941 1941 NFL — East 3rd 6 5 0 — — [17]
1942 1942 NFL§ — East† 1st† 10 1 0 Won NFL Championship (2) (Bears) 14–6 — [18]
1943[lower-alpha 3] 1943 NFL — East† 1st† 6 3 1 Won Divisional playoff (at Giants) 28–0
Lost NFL Championship (at Bears) 41–21		 Dutch Bergman — [19]
1944 1944 NFL — East 3rd 6 3 1 — Dudley DeGroot — [20]
1945 1945 NFL — East† 1st† 8 2 0 Lost NFL Championship (at Rams) 15–14 — [21]
1946[lower-alpha 4] 1946 NFL — East T-3rd 5 5 1 — Turk Edwards — [22]
1947[lower-alpha 5] 1947 NFL — East 4th 4 8 0 — — [23]
1948 1948 NFL — East 2nd 7 5 0 — — [24]
1949 1949 NFL — East 4th 4 7 1 — John Whelchel (3–3–1)
Herman Ball (1–4)		 — [25]
1950 1950 NFL American — 6th 3 9 0 — Herman Ball — [26]
1951 1951 NFL American — 3rd 5 7 0 — Herman Ball (0–3)
Dick Todd (5–4)		 — [27]
1952 1952 NFL American — T-5th 4 8 0 — Curly Lambeau — [28]
1953 1953 NFL Eastern — 3rd 6 5 1 — — [29]
1954 1954 NFL Eastern — 5th 3 9 0 — Joe Kuharich — [30]
1955 1955 NFL Eastern — 2nd 8 4 0 — Joe Kuharich (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[31][32] [33]
1956 1956 NFL Eastern — 3rd 6 6 0 — — [34]
1957 1957 NFL Eastern — 4th 5 6 1 — — [35]
1958 1958 NFL Eastern — 4th 4 7 1 — — [36]
1959 1959 NFL Eastern — 5th 3 9 0 — Mike Nixon — [37]
1960 1960[lower-alpha 6] NFL Eastern — 6th 1 9 2 — — [38]
1961[lower-alpha 7] 1961[lower-alpha 8] NFL Eastern — 7th 1 12 1 — Bill McPeak — [40]
1962 1962 NFL Eastern — 4th 5 7 2 — — [41]
1963 1963 NFL Eastern — 6th 3 11 0 — — [42]
1964 1964 NFL Eastern — T-3rd 6 8 0 — Charley Taylor (ROY)[43][44] [45]
1965 1965 NFL Eastern — 4th 6 8 0 — — [46]
1966 1966 NFL Eastern — 5th 7 7 0 — Otto Graham — [47]
1967[lower-alpha 9] 1967 NFL Eastern Capitol 3rd 5 6 3 — — [48]
1968 1968 NFL Eastern Capitol 3rd 5 9 0 — — [49]
1969 1969 NFL Eastern Capitol 2nd 7 5 2 — Vince Lombardi — [50]
1970 1970 NFL NFC East[lower-alpha 10] 4th 6 8 0 — Bill Austin — [51]
1971 1971 NFL NFC East 2nd^ 9 4 1 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 24–20 George Allen George Allen (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[52][32] [53]
1972 1972 NFL NFC# East† 1st† 11 3 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Packers) 16–3
Won NFC Championship (Cowboys) 26–3
Lost Super Bowl VII (vs. Dolphins) 14–7		 Larry Brown (MVPTooltip National Football League Most Valuable Player Award & OPOYTooltip National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award)[54][55] [56]
1973 1973 NFL NFC East 2nd^[lower-alpha 11] 10 4 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Vikings) 27–20 — [58]
1974 1974 NFL NFC East 2nd^ 10 4 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 19–10 — [59]
1975 1975 NFL NFC East 3rd 8 6 0 — Mike Thomas (OROYTooltip National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award)[60] [61]
1976 1976 NFL NFC East 2nd^[lower-alpha 12] 10 4 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Vikings) 35–20 — [63]
1977 1977 NFL NFC East 2nd[lower-alpha 13] 9 5 0 — — [64]
1978[lower-alpha 14] 1978 NFL NFC East 3rd 8 8 0 — Jack Pardee John Riggins (CBPOYTooltip National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award)[65] [66]
1979 1979 NFL NFC East 3rd[lower-alpha 15] 10 6 0 — Jack Pardee (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[67] [68]
1980 1980 NFL NFC East 3rd 6 10 0 — — [69]
1981 1981 NFL NFC East 4th 8 8 0 — Joe Gibbs Ken Houston (Byron "Whizzer" White Award)[70] [71]
1982[lower-alpha 16] 1982 NFL* NFC# 1st# 8 1 0 Won First Round Playoffs (Lions) 31–7
Won Second Round Playoffs (Vikings) 21–7
Won NFC Championship (Cowboys) 31–17
Won Super Bowl XVII (3) (vs. Dolphins) 27–17		 Joe Gibbs (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[32]
Mark Moseley (MVPTooltip National Football League Most Valuable Player Award)[54]
John Riggins (SBMVPTooltip Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award)[74]
Joe Theismann (WPMOYTooltip Walter Payton Man of the Year Award)[75]
Bobby Beathard (EOYTooltip Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year Award)[76]		 [77]
1983 1983 NFL NFC# East† 1st† 14 2 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Rams) 51–7
Won NFC Championship (49ers) 24–21
Lost Super Bowl XVIII (vs. Raiders) 38–9		 Joe Gibbs (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[32]
Joe Theismann (MVPTooltip National Football League Most Valuable Player Award & OPOYTooltip National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award)[54][55]
Bobby Beathard (EOYTooltip Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year Award)[76]		 [78]
1984 1984 NFL NFC East† 1st† 11 5 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Bears) 23–19 — [79]
1985 1985 NFL NFC East 3rd[lower-alpha 17] 10 6 0 — — [81]
1986 1986 NFL NFC East 2nd^ 12 4 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (Rams) 19–7
Won Divisional Playoffs (at Bears) 27–13
Lost NFC Championship (at Giants) 17–0		 — [82]
1987[lower-alpha 18] 1987 NFL* NFC# East† 1st† 11 4 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (at Bears) 21–17
Won NFC Championship (Vikings) 17–10
Won Super Bowl XXII (4) (vs. Broncos) 42–10		 Doug Williams (SBMVPTooltip Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award)[74] [84]
1988 1988 NFL NFC East 3rd 7 9 0 — — [85]
1989 1989 NFL NFC East 3rd 10 6 0 — — [86]
1990 1990 NFL NFC East 3rd^ 10 6 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Eagles) 20–6
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 28–10		 — [87]
1991 1991 NFL* NFC# East† 1st† 14 2 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Falcons) 24–7
Won NFC Championship (Lions) 41–10
Won Super Bowl XXVI (5) (vs. Bills) 37–24		 Joe Gibbs (COYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award)[32]
Mark Rypien (SBMVPTooltip Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award & OPOYTooltip National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award)[74] [88]		 [89]
1992 1992 NFL NFC East 3rd^[lower-alpha 19] 9 7 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Vikings) 24–7
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 20–13		 — [91]
1993 1993 NFL NFC East 5th 4 12 0 — Richie Petitbon — [92]
1994 1994 NFL NFC East 5th 3 13 0 — Norv Turner — [93]
1995 1995 NFL NFC East 3rd 6 10 0 — — [94]
1996 1996[lower-alpha 20] NFL NFC East 3rd[lower-alpha 21] 9 7 0 — Darrell Green (WPMOYTooltip Walter Payton Man of the Year Award & Bart Starr Award)[75][97] [98]
1997 1997[lower-alpha 22] NFL NFC East 2nd 8 7 1 — — [99]
1998 1998 NFL NFC East 4th 6 10 0 — — [100]
1999 1999 NFL NFC East† 1st† 10 6 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (Lions) 27–13
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Buccaneers) 14–13		 — [101]
2000 2000 NFL NFC East 3rd 8 8 0 — Norv Turner (7–6)
Terry Robiskie (1–2)		 — [102]
2001 2001 NFL NFC East 2nd 8 8 0 — Marty Schottenheimer — [103]
2002 2002 NFL NFC East 3rd 7 9 0 — Steve Spurrier — [104]
2003 2003 NFL NFC East 3rd 5 11 0 — — [105]
2004 2004 NFL NFC East 4th 6 10 0 — Joe Gibbs — [106]
2005 2005 NFL NFC East 2nd^ 10 6 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Buccaneers) 17–10
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Seahawks) 20–10		 — [107]
2006 2006 NFL NFC East 4th 5 11 0 — — [108]
2007 2007 NFL NFC East 3rd^ 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Seahawks) 35–14 — [109]
2008 2008 NFL NFC East 4th 8 8 0 — Jim Zorn — [110]
2009 2009 NFL NFC East 4th 4 12 0 — — [111]
2010 2010 NFL NFC East 4th 6 10 0 — Mike Shanahan — [112]
2011 2011 NFL NFC East 4th 5 11 0 — London Fletcher (Bart Starr Award)[113] [114]
2012 2012 NFL NFC East† 1st† 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Seahawks) 24–14 Robert Griffin III (OROYTooltip National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award)[60] [115]
2013 2013 NFL NFC East 4th 3 13 0 — — [116]
2014 2014 NFL NFC East 4th 4 12 0 — Jay Gruden — [117]
2015 2015 NFL NFC East† 1st† 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Packers) 25–18 — [118]
2016 2016 NFL NFC East 3rd 8 7 1 — — [119]
2017 2017 NFL NFC East 3rd 7 9 0 — — [120]
2018 2018 NFL NFC East 3rd 7 9 0 — — [121]
2019 2019 NFL NFC East 4th 3 13 0 — Jay Gruden (0–5)
Bill Callahan (3–8)		 — [122]
2020 2020 NFL NFC East† 1st† 7 9 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Buccaneers) 31–23 Ron Rivera Chase Young (DROYTooltip National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award)[123]
Alex Smith (CBPOYTooltip National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award)[65]		 [124]
2021[lower-alpha 23] 2021 NFL NFC East 3rd 7 10 0 — Ron Rivera (George Halas Award)[125] [126]
2022 2022 NFL NFC East 4th 8 8 1 — — [127]
2023 2023 NFL NFC East 4th 4 13 0 — — [128]
2024 2024 NFL NFC East 1st 4 2 0 — Dan Quinn — [129]
Totals 633 645 29 All-time regular season record
23 20 — All-time playoff record
656 665 29 Combined record
Close

See also

Footnotes

  1. In 1935, the NFL set the number of regular season games to 12. Prior to that, the NFL did not have a set number of games for teams to play.[10] The Redskins only played 11 games, however, as a road game against the Philadelphia Eagles was canceled due to snow and rain.
  2. In 1937, the NFL lowered the number of regular season games, which had been 12 games since 1935, to 11.[10]
  3. In 1943, the NFL lowered the number of regular season games, which had been 11 games since 1937, to 10.[10]
  4. In 1946, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 10 games since 1943, to 11 games.[10]
  5. In 1947, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 11 games since 1946, to 12 games.[10]
  6. The last year the Redskins played at Griffith Stadium.
  7. In 1961, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 12 games since 1947, to 14 games.[10]
  8. The franchise plays their first game at D.C. Stadium (RFK). The Redskins lost to the Giants 24-21 in front of 37,767 fans.[39]
  9. The 1967 NFL season marks the first season in the league's history where the league was divided into two conferences which were subdivided into two divisions. Up to 1967, the league was either divided into two divisions, two conferences, or neither.
  10. The NFL underwent a realignment of teams in the 1970 season, with the Redskins moving to the NFC East division.
  11. At the end of the 1973 season, the Redskins and the Cowboys finished the season with identical 10–4 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on better point differential in head-to-head games.[57]
  12. At the end of the 1976 season, the Redskins and the St. Louis Cardinals ended the season with identical 10–4 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Washington finished ahead of St. Louis based on head-to-head sweep.[62]
  13. At the end of the 1977 season, the Redskins and the Bears finished the season with identical 9–5 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Chicago finished ahead of Washington based on better net points in conference games.[62]
  14. In 1978, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 14 games since 1961, to 16 games.[10]
  15. At the end of the 1979 season, the Redskins and the Bears finished the season with identical 10–6 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Chicago finished ahead of Washington based on better net points in all games.[62]
  16. The 1982 NFL season was shortened from 16 games per team to 9 games because of a players' strike. The NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament; eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8, and division standings were ignored.[72][73]
  17. At the end of the 1985 season, the Redskins, Cowboys, and the Giants finished the season with identical 10–6 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Dallas finished ahead of New York and Washington in the NFC East division race based on a better head-to-head record. New York then finished ahead of Washington and San Francisco in the NFC Wild-Card race based on a better conference record.[80]
  18. The 1987 NFL season was shortened from 16 games per team to 15 games because of a players' strike. Games scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, and games of weeks four through six were played with replacement players. Striking players returned for the seventh week of the season.[83]
  19. At the end of the 1992 season, the Redskins and the Packers finished the season with identical 9–7 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Washington finished ahead of Green Bay based on a better conference record.[90]
  20. The franchise plays their final game at RFK Stadium. The Redskins beat the Cowboys 37-10 on December 16, 1996. They finished 173-102-3 at RFK, including 11-1 in the playoffs.[95]
  21. At the end of the 1996 season, the Redskins and the Vikings finished the season with identical 9–7 records. Using the NFL's tie-breaking procedures, Minnesota finished ahead of Washington based on a better conference record.[96]
  22. The franchise plays their first game at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (FedExField). The Redskins beat the Cardinals in overtime, 19-13.[95]
  23. In 2021, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 16 games since 1978, to 17 games.[10]

References

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