How Elite Were They? #56- Jay Schroeder’s 12-win 1990 Season

Photo Credit: NFL Pro Set

By Zane Miller

Where we last left off in the career of veteran NFL quarterback Jay Schroeder, he had just finished up a spectacular 1986 season which saw him lead the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) to a 12-4 record while also finishing top-five in both passing touchdowns and passing yards. He also captained a promising playoff run which saw them get oh so close to another Super Bowl appearance, but were halted in the NFC Championship Game by the eventual champion New York Giants.

Schroeder looked to build off of that success in 1987, but before he was even able to complete a pass in the season opener, he was sidelined for several weeks with a shoulder injury. In his absence, many of the league’s regular players went on strike, and the Redskins were no exception to this. Emergency quarterback signee Ed Rubbert held down the fort admirably in the strike-impacted games, as Washington joined the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers as the only teams to go undefeated in the three contests. Schroeder returned at the strike’s conclusion and played well as the Redskins made the playoffs handily. However, he reaggravated the shoulder injury near the end of the regular season, leading Washington to go with backup Doug Williams during the playoffs. Schroeder attempted just one pass during the postseason run, but the Redskins went on to win the Super Bowl anyway, in turn officially giving him a Super Bowl ring.

With the Redskins opting to go with Williams as the starter in 1988, Schroeder requested a trade, which was fulfilled by the Los Angeles (now Las Vegas) Raiders just hours before Washington’s first game of the regular season. The Raiders gave up young starting left tackle Jim Lachey in the deal, along with a fourth and fifth round pick in the 1989 draft. The trade proved to be a fruitful one for the Redskins, as Lachey became a staple of the team’s famous “Hogs” offensive line, earning three first-team All-Pro nods and likely would be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame if not for a career-ending shoulder injury in 1995. For Schroeder, though, it was far from an immediate success in LA.

With the trade happening so late in the going and obviously being unfamiliar with the Raiders’ playbook, Schroeder did not start until week four and was benched a few weeks late due to poor play. While he got his starting job back before the end of the season, the Raiders still missed the playoffs at 7-9. The team had another slow start in 1989, leading to the firing of head coach Mike Shanahan, but Schroeder’s stats only got worse in the following weeks before his year was effectively over with a torn rotator cuff in week 10. The Raiders somehow managed to avoid getting a losing record at 8-8, but their best season with Schroeder under center was was just around the corner as the calendar flipped to a new decade.

Los Angeles got off to a hot start with four straight wins to begin the 1990 season, but their bid at an undefeated campaign was ended a week later by the Buffalo Bills, who took a 38-24 win. Nonetheless, Schroeder responded with his best showing of the season to that point on October 14^th against the then-division rival Seattle Seahawks. In a game where the Raiders led 21-0 at one point before the Seahawks came storming back, Schroeder threw for three touchdowns and 235 yards, staving off the comeback to win 24-17.

Schroeder added another touchdown pass along with 176 passing yards against the Chargers in a 24-9 victory, but both he and the team would hit a rough patch in the weeks that followed. Despite starting each game, Schroeder failed to throw a single touchdown pass for the next five games, which included the entire month of November. This was also reflected in the win column as the Silver-and-Black lost three of their four November matchups, with the team squeaking by against the Miami Dolphins 13-10 on Monday Night Football. Schroeder touchdown drought continued into December, but the Raiders were able to capture the victory 23-20 on the road versus the Denver Broncos. Keen to bring all the negative talk to an end, Schroeder put up a multi-touchdown performance on December 10^th. Facing the Detroit Lions in the Pontiac Silverdome for another Monday night matchup, Schroeder rose to the occasion with three touchdowns and 195 passing yards, though this also came along with a pair of interceptions. The game quickly became a furious back-and-forth affair, with Raiders running back Bo Jackson and Lions RB Barry Sanders each rushing for over 100 yards, but Los Angeles ultimately came out on top with the 38-31 win.

The positive momentum traveled with the Raiders back to the LA Memorial Coliseum, where they hosted the Cincinnati Bengals on December 16^th. While the Bengals were the first team to get on the board, scoring a TD on their opening possession, they would be shut out the rest of the way as the Raiders kept rolling by a score of 24-7. Schroeder claimed three touchdown passes on the afternoon, two of which going to future Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown, to go along with 163 yards. However, this would pale in comparison to Schroeder’s performance the following week on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, which would turn out to be arguably the best regular season showing of his NFL career.

On the penultimate contest of the regular season on December 22^nd, Schroeder connected for four TDs and 234 yards through the air, with former Chicago Bear Willie Gault collecting 117 receiving yards. The Vikings were able to stage a late comeback attempt, but most in attendance at the Metrodome left disappointed as the Raiders claimed the 28-24 triumph. Schroeder’s four touchdowns proved to be his single-game career high, with the fact that he didn’t throw any interceptions or take a single sack adding to the impressiveness of the feat.

Schroeder and company closed out the regular season with a 17-12 win over the Chargers, allowing Los Angeles to grab a 12-4 record and hold off the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West crown by a single game. Schroeder was the starter for all 16 of the Raiders’ games, finishing 10^th in the league that season in touchdown passes with 19, with his 2,849 passing yards placing him 12^th overall. With the Raiders clinching home field advantage and a first-round bye to start the playoffs, they had ample time to prepare for their eventual divisional round opponent in the Bengals.

While the Raiders were able to take the win relatively comfortably against Cincinnati in the regular season, the postseason grudge match on January 13^th, 1991 would be a grinding defense-based struggle through the first three quarters. The Raiders were able to scratch out a 7-3 halftime lead before taking the only points of the third quarter on a 49-yard Jeff Jaeger field goal, but the Bengals evened it up at 10-10 early in the fourth as quarterback Boomer Esiason found veteran running back Stanford Jennings for an eight-yard score. The excitement for the Bengals evaporated shortly after, however, as Schroeder found tight end Ethan Horton for a 41-yard touchdown strike on the ensuing possession. The Bengals were unable to keep up, being forced to punt their next time with the ball.

Despite there being more than five minutes left in regulation, the Cincinnati defense could not stop Raiders star running back Marcus Allen, who picked up a total of 52 yards and two first downs during what would be the game-sealing drive. Los Angeles tacked on another field goal with less than 30 seconds left, as they moved on to the AFC Championship Game with a 20-10 victory. Schroeder added two touchdown passes for 172 yards and an interception, while Esiason had 104 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. The loss set into motion a 31-year playoff victory drought for the Bengals franchise, though this was snapped in the 2021 playoffs, appropriately enough against the Raiders. In the meantime, however, the Raiders were focused on taking down the AFC East-winning Bills for their first Super Bowl appearance in seven years. Almost immediately, it became clear this wouldn’t go according to plan.

While the Bills quickly jumped out to a 14-3 advantage less than halfway through the first quarter, the ultimate turning point came in the form of a 27-yard interception return touchdown by Bills linebacker Darryl Talley, ending the frame with an 18-point lead for the home team. The rout was on from there as Schroder was wildly ineffective against the dominant Buffalo defense, throwing five interceptions before being pulled in favor of veteran backup Vince Evans. The Bills amassed a 41-3 halftime lead, before completing one of the biggest blowouts in NFL postseason history by a 51-3 final. Despite the Bills barely throwing the ball after the first half, quarterback Jim Kelly still went for 300 passing yards and two touchdowns, with Schroeder being credited with no touchdowns and 150 yards along with the aforementioned five interceptions.

While the Raiders were able to make their way into the playoffs again with Schroeder at the helm in 1991, they took a noticeable step back from their outstanding 1990 campaign. Schroeder posted four less touchdowns and almost 300 fewer passing yards while his total interceptions skyrocketed from nine to 16. The team captured a 9-7 record, but would lose in the first round versus the Chiefs. An uninspiring start to the 1992 season saw Schroeder lose his starting job to 1991 first-rounder Todd Marinovich, though Schroeder reassumed the role for much of the second half of the season after Marinovich struggled in late October and early November. Despite all the turmoil, the Raiders managed a respectable 7-9 finish, but ultimately decided to move on from Schroeder at season’s end. He interestingly found himself on the Bengals in 1993 as backup to David Klingler, the first quarterback taken off the board in the 1992 draft. Schroeder saw some action midway through the season as Klingler recovered from a back injury, but took the loss in all three starts.

Schroeder received a final shot at a career revival in 1994, joining the newly-renamed Arizona Cardinals as a backup to Steve Beuerlein, who had previously served as Schroeder’s backup with the Raiders in 1988 and 1989. When Beuerlein went down with a knee injury, however, Schroeder had the reins for the final month-and-a-half of the season. While not necessarily posting eye-popping stats, Schroeder held down the fort well enough for the Cardinals to win four of their next five games after Beuerlein’s injury. The team entered the final week of the regular season in contention for a playoff spot, and Schroeder did his part by passing for 317 yards with no interceptions. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they fell to the Atlanta Falcons 10-6, officially bringing their season to an end. This would also be the end for Schroeder’s NFL career, as he went unsigned through 1995 and retired soon after with 61 career wins and a ring from Super Bowl XXII.

Despite hanging up his cleats, Schroeder remained involved in football as a coach in the high school ranks. Serving as offensive coordinator for the Christian High School Patriots in El Cajon, California, he helped lead the team to a division championship in 2002. He later made his return to Los Angeles, this time as head coach of the Village Christian Crusaders from 2011 to 2013.