NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XXII played on January 31, 1988, was won by the Champions of the NFC the Washington Redskins who defeated the AFC Champions the Denver Broncos at the Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California.

The Washington Redskins had finished 1st in the 1987 NFC East Division coached by Joe Gibbs with a regular season record of 11-4-0. The Redskins point scoring average had been 25.3 points per game which made their offense 4th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 6th in the league.

NB You may have noticed that the Redskins record of 11-4-0 is for a 15 game season. The reason for this was that because of a 24-day long players strike the normal 16-game season was reduced to 15 games when those games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled.

The Redskins postseason games began with the NFC Divisional Playoffs and their opponents were the Chicago Bears who had finished 1st in the 1987 NFC Central Division coached by Mike Ditka with a regular season record of 11-4-0. The Bears point scoring average had been 23.7 points per game which made their offense 9th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.8 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 4th in the league.

In regular season the Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears had not played against each other but taking into consideration that both their records were 11-4-0, that both were Division winners and also going by their averages for points scored and conceded there was not going to be a great deal between them.

The Redskins and the Bears Divisional Playoff tie proved to be as close as it looked on paper with the Redskins seeing slightly more of the ball to win by 21 points to 17.

The Washington Redskins next playoff game was in the NFC Championship Game in which their opponents were the Minnesota Vikings who had finished 2nd in the NFC Central Division coached by Jerry Burns with a regular season record of 8-7-0. The Vikings point scoring average had been 22.4 points per game which made their offense 13th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 22.3 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 16th in the league.

The Vikings were not a highly ranked side after regular season and had only got through to the playoffs as a Wild Card team but make no mistake as to the real chance the Minnesota Vikings had in the 1987 NFC Championship Game as they had shown an amazing change of form in their two prior playoff games.

In their NFC Wild Card Game the Vikings had beaten the New Orleans Saints very easily 44 - 10. The Saints had finished regular season in 2nd place in the NFC West Division coached by Jim Mora with a regular season record of 12-3-0 and their point scoring average had been 28.1 points per game which made their offense 2nd best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.9 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 5th in the league.

The Vikings had shown even further improvement in the NFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents had been the San Francisco 49ers who had finished regular season in 1st place in the NFC West Division coached by Bill Walsh with a regular season record of 13-2-0 and their point scoring average had been 30.6 points per game which made their offense 1st best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 16.9 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 3rd in the league.

The Vikings beat the 49ers 36 - 24 to win their NFC Divisional Playoff.

Going back to the NFC Championship Game, if leaving regular season averages out of the equation and just taking the Minnesota Vikings playoff form as a guideline the Vikings were definitely not to be underestimated. Fair enough, the Vikings had only just done enough in regular season to make the playoffs but when they got through their season had really taken off.

In the course of regular season the Redskins had beaten the Vikings narrowly in a game that did not necessarily prove a lot as one could not definitely say "the Redskins are the better team". The Conference Championship looked to be a tough game for both sides.

In a very tight low scoring contest the Washington Redskins beat the Minnesota Vikings by 17 points to 10 to win the 1987 National Football Conference Championship Game.

The opponents of the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII were the Denver Broncos who had finished 1st in the AFC West Division coached by Dan Reeves with a regular season record of 10-4-1. The Broncos point scoring average had been 25.3 points per game which made their offense 4th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19.2 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 7th in the league.

The Denver Broncos playoff games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the Houston Oilers who had finished 2nd in the AFC Central Division coached by Jerry Glanville with a regular season record of 9-6-0. The Oilers point scoring average had been 23 points per game which made their offense 10th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 23.3 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 19th in the league. The Oilers had got through to the playoffs as a Wild Card team and had beaten the Seattle Seahawks 23 - 20 in the AFC Wild Card Game prior to the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The Denver Broncos and the Houston Oilers had played against each other once in regular season when the Oilers had won very easily by 40 points to 10. This particular piece of form looks to be somewhat suspect as the Broncos had the better overall record from regular season, they could normally score points better and conceded on average less.

In a complete turnaround from regular season the Denver Broncos this time easily beat the Houston Oilers 34 - 10.

The Denver Broncos next game was in the NFC Championship where their opponents were the Cleveland Browns who had won the 1987 AFC Central Division coached by Marty Schottenheimer with a regular season record of 10-5-0. The Browns point scoring average had been 26 points per game which made their offense 3rd best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 15.9 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 2nd in the league.

The Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns had not played each other in regular season. The game looked to be quite a tough one to call as both teams were perfectly beatable as 10-5-0 and 10-4-1 would suggest although the Browns did finish regular season with the better averages and would have been marginally preferred.

The 1987 Conference Championship between the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns turned out to be as close as it had looked beforehand but it was the Denver Broncos who won by 38 points to 33.

Super Bowl XXII looked to have two teams who were quite well matched. The Washington Redskins and the Denver Broncos had both been division winners with more or less identical averages for points scored and conceded although during regular season the two teams had not played each other and not a direct line of form could be drawn apart from the fact that the Redskins had beaten the Buffalo Bills comfortably by 27 points to 7 while the Denver Broncos had lost to the Bills 21 - 14. Did that fact put the Redskins ahead?

In Super Bowl XXII it was the Denver Broncos who started the quickest and by the end of the 1st quarter they were 10 - 0 up.

However, in the 2nd quarter the Redskins sprung to life and scored a massive 35 points with no reply from the Broncos and effectively killed off the game as a contest. Those 35 points were as a result of touchdowns from Ricky Sanders (2), Gary Clark, Timmy Smith, Clint Didier and five kicks at goal by Ali Haji-Sheikh.

The Redskins only had to cruise home to win Super Bowl XXII but after a dead third quarter with no points scored by either team the Redskins were off again in the 4th and just to rub salt into the Broncos wounds scored another touchdown by Timmy Smith with the kick at goal converted by Ali Haji-Sheikh.

The Washington Redskins won Super Bowl XXII by 42 points to 10.

Doug Williams the Washington Redskins Quarterback was voted Super Bowl XXII MVP after he completed 18 of 29 passes for 340 yards, of those passes four were for touchdown.

Note
The Washington Redskins playoff averages were 26.7 points scored per game (25.3 regular season) and an average of 12.3 points conceded per game (19 regular season).

The Denver Broncos playoff averages were 27.3 points scored per game (25.3 regular season) and an average of 28.3 points conceded per game (19.2 regular season).

In Conclusion
The Washington Redskins had a very good defense but their playoff averages for point scoring were made to look good as a result of being allowed to run riot in Super Bowl XXII when scoring more points in one game than they had managed to put together in the NFC Divisional Playoff and NFC Championship Game put together.

The Denver Broncos had looked good in the AFC Divisional Playoffs and their Conference Championship Game but defensive frailties had started to show in the second of those games when they had to score a lot of points to beat the Cleveland Browns. When they couldn′t repeat that high scoring trick in Super Bowl XXII they were found out.

Washington Redskins Won - Denver Redfaces Lost!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Washington Redskins (NFC)	0	35	0	7	-	42
Denver Broncos (AFC)	10	0	0	0	-	10