Tag: Mark Moseley

The best kicker in Washington’s NFL history

Who is the best kicker in Washington’s franchise history since Mark Moseley?

Who is the best kicker in Washington’s NFL football history?

A similar question was raised on Twitter Sunday in the following fashion:

The question resulted in many responses, and the overwhelming response was Chip Lohmiller.

Lohmiller indeed saw success while kicking for the Burgundy and Gold (1988-94). It is not altogether surprising that most respondents chose Lohmiller. From 1988-92 Washington won 7, 10, 10, 14,  and 9 games. Thus with Washington winning many more games than they were losing, fans easily associate their kicker of those years as the best kicker.

Lohmiller was a good athlete. In fact he loved running down on kickoff coverage and getting in the action from time to time. Lohmiller also experienced some very good games, demonstrating his kicking skill, such as a 1991 Monday Night Football Washington win at Dallas 33-31. In that great MNF win, Lohmiller was phenomenal, connecting on kicks from 53, 52, 45 and 46 yards.

Yet, the actual success rate of Lohmiller’s kicking in his years with Washington is obviously something of which the Washington fans responding on Twitter were not aware. They will be surprised to learn that Lohmiller connected on only 175 of 245 attempts. Consequently, Lohmiller only made 71.4% of his field goal attempts with Washington.

Why did the vast majority of fans responding overwhelmingly feel Lohmiller was the best Washington kicker since Mark Moseley? Well, in theory it just might be because those teams were often much better, winning games and therefore, his misses were not as acute, not as harmful to the team’s success.

Kai Forbath meanwhile connected on 60 of his 69 attempts (87.0%). Why is his terrific kicking too often overlooked by Washington fans? Because after coming to Washington during the 2012 season, his next two seasons were his last two full seasons in Washington. Frankly, the Redskins of 2013 and 2014 were one of the absolute worst teams in the entire NFL. His success meant little to fans, because the team was still getting beaten soundly many games.

For what it is worth, five kickers in Washington NFL history have attempted at least 100 field goals. Here are the results:

  • Dustin Hopkins   163-194   84.0%
  • Shaun Suisham    81-101   80.2%
  • Chip Lohmiller    175-245  71.4%
  • Mark Moseley     263-397  66.2%
  • Curt Knight         101-175  57.7%

40 Years ago the NFL MVP resided in Washington

Mark Moseley is the only kicker in NFL history win MVP.

Washington Redskins 1982 History for $300 please.

Answer, “He played 13 seasons for Washington, was a two-time Pro Bowler, once an All-Pro and the 1982 NFL MVP.”

Contestant #1: “Who is Joe Theismann?”

Jeopardy Host: “No”

Contestant #2: “Who is John Riggins?”

Jeopardy Host: “No”

Question: “Who is Art Monk?”

Jeopardy Host: “No, I’m sorry contestants, those are all good responses, but they are not the correct response.”

Theismann was also a two-time Pro Bowler and once All-Pro. He also finished fourth in the Associated Press MVP balloting in this 1982 season. Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts was second, Raiders running back Marcus Allen third and Cowboys quarterback Danny White was fifth.

Riggins was an All-Pro once and Pro Bowler once (hard to believe only once with several very good seasons). He was also the Super Bowl XVII MVP and the following season set a then NFL record rushing for 24 touchdowns.

Monk was a three-time Super Bowl champ and three-time Pro-Bowler. He set an NFL single-season record of 106 receptions in 1984 and led the NFL in 1985 with 81.7 receiving yards per game. He retired the all-time receptions leader in NFL history.

The correct response we are looking for is kicker Mark Moseley. Yes, a kicker was voted NFL MVP.

How is that AP writers voted the Washington kicker the NFL MVP for the 1982 season?

For starters, Washington was the No. 1 seed in the NFC finishing 8-1 in the regular season shortened by strike. In addition, it was also the manner in which they won games.

In the opener at Philadelphia, Moseley connected from 48 yards, sending the game into overtime and then his field goal won the game.

In the December cold at St Louis, Washington couldn’t get the ball in the end zone, but Moseley came through on all four field goal attempts for a 12-7 victory over the Cardinals.

The following week at RFK Moseley was accurate on all three field goal attempts in a 15-14 win over the Giants. His last field goal came with only four seconds remaining as snow was falling on the muddy grass field. It also broke the then NFL record of 20 consecutive field goals made, giving Moseley 21 for the new record.

Moseley would make his next two attempts in New Orleans the following week, extending his consecutive streak to 23 (dating back to the end of the ’81 season) before missing in the season home finale against the Cardinals. Moseley would finish the ’82 season making 20 of 21 field goals for a 95.2% conversion rate.

40 years ago the 1982 Washington Redskins provided us the launching of the “Hogs,” Riggins SB XVII MVP, Washington finishing 12-1 in the strike-shortened season, Washington Super Bowl XVII champs, defeating Miami 27-17 and yes, their kicker, Mark Moseley was voted NFL MVP.

Commanders honor all-time Greats, but…

Former NFL MVP Mark Moseley was one of the many former Washington greats on hand for alumni weekend. Washington misspelled his name.

I am so glad the Washington Commanders organization is aware of the importance to recognize and honor those who have come before you, succeeded, built a brand, and brought your team great wins, great memories, and even championships and Hall of Fame players.

On Sunday, the Commanders honored many former Washington Redskins, in particular, the newest 10 added to their “90 greatest” list. Many former greats were on hand, and it was great to see fans and current members of the organization appreciative of those who had achieved so much.

Yet, I learned tonight that 1982 NFL MVP, kicker Mark Moseley, was presented his name tag with his name spelled incorrectly.

I don’t want to be a merciless fault-finder. After all, each and every one of us makes mistakes that are embarrassing. I know; I have certainly embarrassed myself too often.

Didn’t Mark Moseley play enough years (1974-1986) in the burgundy and gold that we couldn’t take 30 seconds to show him enough respect to spell his name correctly?

If it were only an occasional error, I understand, because we are all finite, limited creatures. But isn’t this entirely too often to not raise attention to the business side of the organization?

How about a simple check of each other’s work?

Who are the career scoring leaders for each of the 32 NFL franchises?

Who are the career scoring leaders for each of the 32 NFL franchises?

 

 

Who are the career leading scorers for each of the 32 NFL teams?

Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith lead their teams in career scoring. The other teams are led, of course, by kickers.

Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith lead the 49ers and Cowboys, respectively, in career scoring. Other teams’ career leaders are kickers.

Arizona Cardinals: Jim Bakken

Herb Weitman-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Bakken kicked for the St. Lous Cardinals from 1962-78. He scored 1,380 points with 534 coming on PATs and the rest on 282 field goals.

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Throwback Thursday: Redskins nip Giants on Mark Moseley’s record FG in 1982

In the latest Giants Wire Throwback Thursday, we look back at a Washington Redskins victory over the New York Giants in 1982.

The 1982 NFL season was not a normal one. A 57-day players’ strike in September shortened the season from 16 to nine games. That forced the league to restructure how it would determine who would play in the postseason and the Super Bowl.

The solution was an easy one. The league abandoned the divisions and made each conference one division. Eight teams would qualify in each conference, and they would play three elimination rounds to decide who would represent each conference in the Super Bowl.

That year, the New York Giants, hoping to build on their first playoff game in 18 seasons, opened with two straight losses before the strike and then lost their first game upon the resumption of the schedule in November.

In Week 7, they headed to Washington after winning three straight to even their record on the season and were very much in the hunt for one of the eight playoff berths in the NFC.

On Dec. 19, they faced the 5-1 Redskins at a muddy, cold, snowy RFK Stadium. The Redskins had not qualified for the postseason since 1976 and would do so with a victory.

The game was a typical NFC East smash-mouth affair that saw the Giants leading, 14-12, late in the fourth quarter. But the Redskins, who had five turnovers in the game, including four interceptions by Joe Theismann, drove the football in the last two minutes on the back of future Hall of Famer John Riggins and with nine seconds remaining, would rely on kicker Mark Moseley to attempt the game-winning 42-yard field goal.

Moseley was one of the last straight-on kickers in NFL history, and that day he was poised to make more history with his 21st consecutive field goal.

The kick was tipped by Giants linebacker Byron Hunt but managed to get through the upright for a Redskins win. The Giants dropped to 3-4, split their final two games and missed the Super Bowl tournament, getting eliminated on tiebreakers.

The Redskins went on to win the NFC title and then defeat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17, in Super Bowl XVII in January.

Moseley was named the NFL MVP that season, the first and only pure kicker to ever win the award.

Here’s some footage from the game. It was a heartbreaker for the Giants, who were just not ready to take the next step in the standings.

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