1961 Washington Redskins season

1961 Washington Redskins season
Owner	George Preston Marshall
General manager	Dick McCann
Head coach	Bill McPeak
Home field	D.C. Stadium
Results
Record	1–12–1
Division place	7th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1961 Washington Redskins season was the team's 30th in the National Football League. The team tried to improve on their 1–9–2 record from 1960. However, under their first-year coach Bill McPeak, their 1-12-1 performance during the season placed the Redskins in last-place in the NFL Eastern Conference. Their lone victory of the season came in the final game of the season at home against the Dallas Cowboys, 34–24. The 1961 campaign remains the worst season record in Redskins history.

This season was also the first one in their new stadium, D.C. Stadium, later renamed RFK Stadium.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1961 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 17	at San Francisco 49ers	L 3–35	0–1	Kezar Stadium	43,142	Recap
2	September 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–14	0–2	Franklin Field	50,108	Recap
3	October 1	New York Giants	L 21–24	0–3	D.C. Stadium	36,767	Recap
4	October 8	at Cleveland Browns	L 7–31	0–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	46,186	Recap
5	October 15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 0–20	0–5	Forbes Field	15,072	Recap
6	October 22	St. Louis Cardinals	L 0–24	0–6	D.C. Stadium	28,037	Recap
7	October 29	Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–27	0–7	D.C. Stadium	31,066	Recap
8	November 5	at New York Giants	L 0–53	0–8	Yankee Stadium	56,077	Recap
9	November 12	Cleveland Browns	L 6–17	0–9	D.C. Stadium	28,975	Recap
10	November 19	at Dallas Cowboys	T 28–28	0–9–1	Cotton Bowl	17,500	Recap
11	November 26	Baltimore Colts	L 6–27	0–10–1	D.C. Stadium	41,062	Recap
12	December 3	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 24–38	0–11–1	Busch Stadium	16,204	Recap
13	December 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–30	0–12–1	D.C. Stadium	21,134	Recap
14	December 17	Dallas Cowboys	W 34–24	1–12–1	D.C. Stadium	21,451	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	3	1	.769	9–2–1	368	220	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	10	4	0	.714	8–4	361	297	W1
Cleveland Browns	8	5	1	.615	8–3–1	319	270	T1
St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	0	.500	7–5	279	267	W3
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	5–7	295	287	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	9	1	.308	2–9–1	236	380	L4
Washington Redskins	1	12	1	.077	1–10–1	174	392	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.