Who is the best kicker in Washington’s NFL football history?
A similar question was raised on Twitter Sunday in the following fashion:
Mark Moseley left the Redskins in 1986, who has been the greatest kicker for the franchise since?
— Disco (@discoque5) March 19, 2023
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%
