After a bleak quarter of a century under the leadership of former owner Dan Snyder, it appears that the page has officially been turned for NFL fans in the nation’s capital.
On the heels of a 12-5 season and a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2024, Washington Commanders playoff chances appear to be bright for this season. That got the team at BetVirginia.com thinking about how the team’s current 28-year stint in Landover, Maryland, compares with the six-decade run at Griffith and RFK stadiums in D.C.
Washington Commanders Stats By Stadium
RFK/Griffith Park Era: 423-365-21 record (.536) in 809 games from 1937 to 1996
- 2 NFL Championships (1937 & 1942)
- 3 Super Bowl championships (1982, 1987 & 1991)
- 11 Division Championships
- 5 NFC Championships (1972, 1982, 1983, 1987 & 1991)
- 7.05 wins per season in DC
FedEx Field Era: 194-255-3 record (.433) in 452 games from 1997 to now
- Zero championships
- 4 playoff wins (Wild Card Round wins in 1999, 2005 & 2024) and 1 NFC Divisional Round win in 2024
- 4 Division Championships (1999, 2012, 2015 and 2020)
- 0 NFC championships
- 6.93 wins per season in Landover
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In 2024-25, head coach Dan Quinn’s first season with the club, the Commanders earned the most wins in a season for the franchise since 1991, the last time Washington won a Super Bowl.
Washington’s postseason run ended with a 55-23 shellacking at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game. But that was the farthest that the DMV’s team had gotten in the playoffs since that last title-winning team 34 years ago.
It appears that the future’s bright for the Commanders, with a new home on the grounds of the venerable RFK Stadium in the planning stages. DraftKings Sportsbook Virginia offers -160 odds, as of July 7, of the team making the postseason again in 2025.
How Commanders’ Eras Compare
The short and skinny is that Washington’s current era in Maryland has fallen well short of where the team stood during its 60-year run in D.C. The franchise has fewer playoff wins (four) during its time in Landover than NFL Championships and Super Bowls (five) in The District.
The team played at Griffith Stadium from 1937, when the franchise moved from Boston, until 1960. Washington then called RFK Stadium home from 1961 to 1996 (it was District of Columbia Stadium until 1969, when it was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium).
In total, Washington’s 194 victories from 1997 through 2024-25 and .429 winning percentage during the current era – where Virginia sports betting is legal and regulated – are a far cry from the glory days of the franchise along the banks of the Anacostia River. Washington won 11 division championships and five NFC titles under legendary coaches Joe Gibbs and George Allen.
The interesting thing about Washington’s two homes is that the Commanders have averaged roughly the same number of wins per season in D.C. and Landover. But that stat belies the fact that the last three decades have been a wash by and large for the NFC East stalwarts – plus the regular season is much longer now than it was from the 1930s through the late 1970s.
Luckily for all involved, there are plans in the works to get the Commanders back to D.C., with a 65,000-seat stadium planned on the grounds of the team’s old abode. If all the approvals are in place, the project at 2400 East Capitol Street is expected to wrap up in time for the 2030 NFL season.
While football fans in D.C. wait for that stadium to go from the planning stages to reality, they can take solace in knowing that the Commanders enter the 2025 NFL season with sky-high expectations. They rank sixth on the Super Bowl futures board at BetMGM Virginia Sportsbook, at +1800 odds. Quinn and company look to bring a taste of that RFK Stadium-era success to the D.C. suburbs this fall and winter.
USA Today photo by Geoff Burke
