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    The 1991 Redskins Were Basically The Best Team Ever, Says Math

    By Jamie Mottram | July 23, 2012

    I’m a longtime fan of the Football Outsiders gang and am just ripping through their 2012 Almanac, so it’s with great joy that I present to you their latest finding:

    With the official unveiling of the 1991 DVOA [Defense-adjusted Value Over Average] ratings, the Redskins pass the 2007 Patriots as the highest-rated team in DVOA history.

    Washington may have been the most well-rounded team in NFL history. We now have DVOA ratings for 645 teams, and in that whole group, the 1991 Redskins rank 17th in offense, 16th in defense, and 13th in special teams. They rank fifth all-time in pass offense and 11th in pass defense. They aren’t ranked as highly on run offense and run defense, but were still among the top ten teams of 1991 in both ratings. The Redskins were the best defense and the third-best offense in the second half with the score within a touchdown, which helps make them the first team to ever hit 16.0 Estimated Wins.

    Click through for a table of the top 10 teams ranked by DVOA from ‘91 to 2011 as well as all kinds of good stuff about the league that year. But first, a couple more nuggets about those ‘91 Skins:

    A lot of the best teams in NFL history got a little extra boost by picking on an easy schedule, but not Washington. They had an average schedule, and a harder-than-average schedule of opposing defenses.

    [...]

    The Redskins might actually be even higher in DVOA if they had not rested their starters for most of their Week 17 game against Philadelphia. Backup quarterback Jeff Rutledge was 6-for-16 in that game, and the Eagles scored 17 points in the final quarter to beat the Redskins 24-22.

    Nostalgia plus nerditry is pretty much the best. Fun stuff. Thanks, FO.

    Topics: Redskins, Stats Are Cool | 2 Comments »

    2 Responses to “The 1991 Redskins Were Basically The Best Team Ever, Says Math”

    1. ThisGuy Says:
      July 23rd, 2012 at 12:20 PM

      Cool.

      “The Redskins were the best defense and the third-best offense in the second half with the score within a touchdown”

      Halftime adjustments used to be Gibbs’ calling card. That was missing during Gibbs II, which was a huge disappointment.

    2. Art Brooks Says:
      August 7th, 2012 at 2:02 AM

      How about that “National Defense”? :o)

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