Watched Joe Gibbs first victory today,some observations

[htownskinfan]

The December 16, 1979 season finale between the arch-rival Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins at Texas Stadium had postseason ramifications for both teams. Both had 10-5 records, but due to the convoluted nature of the NFL’s tiebreaker system, the Cowboys were assured a playoff spot whatever the result, while Washington would clinch the NFC East title with a win but could conceivably be denied a playoff spot with a defeat.The win gave Dallas the division title with an 11-5 record (the Cowboys went on to lose to the Rams in the Divisional playoff round). Philadelphia, also 11-5, placed second and grabbed the first wild card spot due to having a lesser record in conference games than Dallas. Washington was third at 10-6, but lost out on being the second wild card team because the Chicago Bears, also 10-6, had beaten the Cardinals 42-6, thus beating out the Redskins on the point differential tiebreaker.

“It's a shame someone had to lose, because the Redskins played their guts out, but so did we,” said Staubach. “The Redskins played well enough to be in the playoffs. They deserved a better fate.” Staubach also called the game “the most exciting I’ve ever played in” which, in his case, was certainly high praise.

“There we were, divisional champions with 40 seconds to play, then nothing. I'm just heartbroken. Not just for myself but for the players,” said Jack Pardee afterward.

While no one knew at the time, it was the last regular season game for Roger Staubach, who retired during the offseason. In his final year, he led the NFL in passing (92.3 rating) while throwing for 3586 yards and 27 touchdowns (one behind the league co-leaders). His next stop would be the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This game and season still haunts my memories till this day,so Im sure it bothers a lot of the skins players.The thing that really pissed me off was how the cardinals laid down for the bears which caused us to lose the tiebreaker,I mean they absolutely put the hammer to us.They sit Jim hart and started this fking rookie who sucked and was never heard from again,he finshed 5-28 for 65 yards and 2 ints and bears scored 42 points to barely edge us out in the tiebreaker