Wild Card Round: Detroit Lions at Washington Redskins (Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sat January 8, 1983 at 12:30pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Detroit Lions at Washington Redskins at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Detroit Lions versus Washington Redskins in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Detroit Lions-Washington Redskins cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-2 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4-5 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 1-8 | L7 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 7-2 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 6-3 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 5-4 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4-5 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0-8-1 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Raiders | 8-1 | W5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6-3 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-5 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3-6 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 2-7 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-4 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4-5 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3-6 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2-7 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 5-3-1 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5-4 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-4 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 4-5 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 8-1 | W4 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-3 | L2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-4 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 4-5 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Redskins | Jeris White 77 yard interception return (Mark Moseley kick) | 0-7 |
| Redskins | Mark Moseley 26 yard field goal | 0-10 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Redskins | Alvin Garrett 21 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) | 0-17 |
| Redskins | Alvin Garrett 21 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) | 0-24 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Redskins | Alvin Garrett 27 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) | 0-31 |
| Lions | David Hill 15 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick) | 7-31 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
Washington Redskins defeated Detroit Lions 31-7 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Lions: David Hill 15 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick). The 24-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: Eric Hipple: 298 pass yards on 22-of-38, 1 TD, 2 INT. Washington Redskins advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Washington Redskins walked out of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium as the team that survived a Wild Card Round Detroit Lions will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 31-7. This was a 24-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from Lions: David Hill 15 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Washington Redskins advance to the divisional round.
Washington Redskins 31, Detroit Lions 7.
Round: Wild Card Round.
Q1: 2 scoring plays.
Q2: 2 scoring plays.
Q3: 2 scoring plays.
Top performers:
- Eric Hipple: 298 pass yards on 22-of-38, 1 TD, 2 INT
- John Riggins: 119 rush yards on 25 carries
- Leonard Thompson: 7 catches for 150 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Final: Detroit Lions 7, Washington Redskins 31, with Washington Redskins taking the result by 24.
First quarter
- Redskins: Jeris White 77 yard interception return (Mark Moseley kick)
- Redskins: Mark Moseley 26 yard field goal
Second quarter
- Redskins: Alvin Garrett 21 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick)
- Redskins: Alvin Garrett 21 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick)
Third quarter
- Redskins: Alvin Garrett 27 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick)
- Lions: David Hill 15 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick)
Top performers
- Eric Hipple: 298 pass yards on 22-of-38, 1 TD, 2 INT
- John Riggins: 119 rush yards on 25 carries
- Leonard Thompson: 7 catches for 150 yards
The 24-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.
| Lions | Redskins | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 20 | 18 |
| Total Yards | 364 | 366 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 0 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 22/38 | 14/19 |
| Pass yards | 298 | 210 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks taken | 4 | 2 |
| Sack yards lost | 29 | 19 |
| Net pass yards | 269 | 191 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 21 | 38 |
| Rush yards | 95 | 175 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 3 | 0 |
| Fumbles lost | 3 | 0 |
| Penalties | 5 | 4 |
| Penalty yards | 29 | 20 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | |||||
| Eric Hipple | 22/38 | 298 | 1 | 2 | 69.8 |
| WAS | |||||
| Joe Theismann | 14/19 | 210 | 3 | 0 | 149.1 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | ||||
| Eric Hipple | 6 | 47 | 0 | 13 |
| Billy Sims | 6 | 19 | 0 | 8 |
| Dexter Bussey | 5 | 19 | 0 | 9 |
| Horace King | 4 | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| WAS | ||||
| John Riggins | 25 | 119 | 0 | 25 |
| Wilbur Jackson | 8 | 27 | 0 | 7 |
| Rick Walker | 2 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Joe Washington | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Joe Theismann | 2 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | ||||
| Leonard Thompson | 7 | 150 | 0 | 48 |
| Billy Sims | 6 | 68 | 0 | 35 |
| Tracy Porter | 2 | 31 | 0 | 21 |
| David Hill | 3 | 29 | 1 | 15 |
| Freddie Scott | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Horace King | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Dexter Bussey | 1 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
| WAS | ||||
| Alvin Garrett | 6 | 110 | 3 | 27 |
| Charlie Brown | 3 | 69 | 0 | 45 |
| Rick Walker | 4 | 16 | 0 | 9 |
| Joe Washington | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
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