It’s 3rd-and-19 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of what will be the longest span without a playoff win in NFL history. So far, it’s been 37 years.
Their best chance of snapping that drought lies right in front of them if they can just hold on today.
The date is December 16, 1984. Stakes couldn’t be any simpler for the Cardinals in their final game of the regular season. If they can win at Washington, they’ll clinch the NFC East and the 2-seed in the playoffs. If they lose, they’ll be eliminated from playoff contention entirely.
With 2:35 remaining in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals lead 29–27. Washington is driving, but a huge sack on Joe Theismann has left the home team with 3rd-and-19 on the St. Louis 47-yard line.
A stop here and the Cardinals offense, which has scored on all four second-half drives, will be in a great position to seal the game.
Once again, It’s 3rd-and-19. How hard could it be?
Originally formed as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, the Cardinals are the oldest active professional football franchise and, along with the Bears, one of only two original NFL teams still playing today.
But unlike the Bears and other teams including the Packers, Giants, and Steelers that have been around since the league’s early days, the Cardinals don’t seem like a historic franchise.
A lot of that has to do with their lack of success. Of the NFL’s oldest teams, the Cardinals have easily the worst winning percentage, while everyone else has at least twice as many titles.
The Cardinals are 30th of the 32 active NFL franchises in winning percentage and have more playoff wins (7) than only the Texans.
Even the Panthers and Jaguars, who entered the NFL 75 years after the Cardinals, have more postseason victories.
Entering the 1984 season, their last playoff win came in the 1947 NFL Championship Game against the Eagles. That was when they were the Chicago Cardinals and shared Comiskey Park with Major League Baseball’s White Sox.
Since then, the franchise had reached the postseason just four times, losing on the road in their first game of each appearance. The Cardinals moved to St. Louis in 1960, marking ’84 the team’s 25th season in the “Gateway to the West,” although the city was still yet to host a playoff game.
While certainly not favorites to change that in 1984, there was hope for the Cardinals heading into the season. After being projected as one of the NFL’s worst teams in 1983 and starting that season 1–5, St. Louis rallied to an 8–7–1 finish, coming one win short of a Wild Card berth.
Quarterbacking the ’84 Cards would be Neil Lomax, in his fourth NFL season and third as a full-time starter after being selected by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1981 NFL Draft.
Lomax, the most successful player to come out of Portland State, set 90 NCAA records during his college days. Perhaps none are more eye-catching than the seven TD passes he threw in the first quarter of a 105–0 win over Delaware State in 1980 that remains the most points ever scored in an FCS game.
1984 would prove to be a career year for Lomax, as he threw for 4,614 yards (breaking the Cardinals franchise record by over 1,300) and 28 TD. It still stands as the second-most passing yards in team history (behind only Carson Palmer’s 4,671 in 2015) and at the time was the most passing yards in a season by someone not named Dan.
Lomax’s season, like most other storylines from 1984, was overshadowed by both Dan Marino’s historic campaign and the 49ers putting together one of the most dominant overall seasons the NFL has ever seen. It’s no surprise they would ultimately meet in the Super Bowl.
The Cardinals would finish third in total offense (396.6 YPG) and fourth in scoring (26.4 PPG). Beyond Lomax, wide receiver Roy Green led the league in receiving yards (1,555) while star running back Ottis Anderson totaled over 1,700 scrimmage yards for the fifth time in six NFL seasons.
Despite all the offensive firepower, the Cardinals entered the final quarter of the season on a three-game losing streak and sitting at 6–6 overall. In a crowded NFC East, they’d need to go 4–0 down the stretch to reach the postseason.
St. Louis’ end-of-season run almost didn’t get off the ground. At home against the Eagles in Week 13, Philadelphia kicked a field goal to go up 17–16 with 1:50 left, but Lomax executed the two-minute drill to set up kicker Neil O’Donoghue with a 44-yard field goal attempt with 13 seconds remaining. O’Donoghue’s kick was true, and the Cardinals were back in the mix.
They followed up that victory with wins against the Patriots and Giants to head into Week 16 at 9–6. With the Giants having already lost on Saturday, here’s how the NFC East standings look as Washington and St. Louis take the field on Sunday.
With a win, the Cardinals will lock up the NFC East title with the best record in games within the division. However, due to tiebreakers with the Giants and Cowboys, a loss will end the Cardinals’ season.
Washington has already clinched a spot in the playoffs but is looking to avoid playing in the Wild Card Round and earn a home playoff game in the Divisional Round. Joe Gibbs will not be resting any of his starters for this one.
If St. Louis prevails, they will be the NFC’s 2-seed and face the 3-seed Bears in the Divisional Round. When those teams met earlier in Week 7, the Cardinals won 38–21 with their highest scoring output of the season.
So not only would a win give the Cardinals an NFC East title and their first home playoff game in 37 years — it would also leave them one fortuitous matchup against the Bears away from a spot in the NFC Championship Game.
Someone may have forgotten to tell the Cardinals all of this because, at halftime, they trailed 23–7.
A double-digit deficit against Washington wasn’t new for the team. In their Week 8 encounter in St. Louis, the Cardinals trailed 21–10 in the 3rd quarter before rallying to a 26–24 victory behind peak performances from Lomax (361 passing yards, 3 TD) and Green (163 receiving yards, 2 TD).
Looking to mount a similar comeback in Week 16, the Cardinals received the ball to start the second half and moved down the field quickly before getting stopped in the red zone and settling for a 30-yard field goal.
After a Washington punt, Lomax and Green connected over the middle on a 75-yard touchdown pass, and all of a sudden, it was a 23–17 ballgame not even midway through the 3rd quarter.
Both teams traded field goals on their next possessions to make the game 26–20. Washington then received the ball early in the 4th quarter and went on a lengthy drive into St. Louis territory.
A Washington field goal could have made it a two-possession game, but on 3rd-and-10 from the Cardinals’ 26, Curtis Greer came up with a big sack on Joe Theismann to take Washington back to the 34-yard line and force a punt.
The Cardinals finally had a chance to take the lead, starting from their own 6. Poor field position wasn’t an issue, as St. Louis went 94 yards in just six plays. Lomax and Green combined for their second TD of the half, this time on a corner route, and after trailing all game long, the Cardinals led 27–26 with 6:15 on the clock and all the momentum on their side.
But of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. Washington was the defending NFC Champions with the reigning league MVP in Theismann at quarterback. A division title and playoff bye were on the line.
A 3rd down scramble from Theismann got Washington moving. Then, a few plays later, a 17-yard completion to Calvin Muhammad gave Washington 1st-and-10 at the St. Louis 38.
This next set of downs would go a long way to determining the future of both teams’ seasons.
On first down, Theismann targets tight end Clint Didier, but the pass sails out of bounds. The following snap, Theismann is sacked by Elois Grooms. It’s a disaster for Washington and the Cardinals’ sixth sack of the game.
That brings us to 3rd-and-19. Washington is on the St. Louis 47-yard line, and when they snap the ball, there will be 2:35 left on the clock.
If Washington can pick up a first down, they should be able to either run the clock all the way down before a game-winning field goal attempt from Mark Moseley or at least force the Cardinals to use all of their timeouts, limiting Neil Lomax’s ability to lead a game-winning drive for St. Louis.
But, if the Cardinals’ defense can hold over the next two plays, they’ll hand the ball to their offense, which has scored on all four drives in the second half. Washington only has one timeout remaining, meaning a first down would all but put a bow on a 17-point comeback victory.
Two plays. 19 yards. If St. Louis manages a stop and 3rd down, a long field goal attempt is unlikely. Moseley is just 2–7 from 40+ yards this season and Washington decided to punt from the 34-yard line on their previous possession. Even if they did cash in from long distance, it would leave Lomax with plenty of time to respond.
If the Cardinals win this game, they’ll be clear favorites over the Bears to win their first playoff game in 37 years. The oldest player on St. Louis’ roster, running back Willard Harrell, is 32.
If they lose, the Cardinals will fall one game short of the postseason for a second-consecutive year. The franchise will have little to show for now 25 seasons in St. Louis, and rumors will begin to swirl about owner Bill Bidwill potentially relocating the team.
Theismann gets the ball from under center and takes a deep dropback before firing downfield to Art Monk, who has found a soft spot in zone coverage in between three Cardinals defenders. Monk. who broke the league’s single-season receptions record earlier in the game, has his 106th catch of the year.
It’s good for 20 yards, enough to move the chains.
We don’t have full play-by-play data back from this time, but since 1994, Stathead’s database has 1,567 occurrences of a team facing exactly 3rd-and-19. In those cases, teams picked up a first down a slim 11.4% of the time.
Following the two-minute warning, Washington gave John Riggins carries on three straight plays as the Cardinals used all of their timeouts. Then, Moseley came on and drilled a 37-yard field goal to make the score 29–27.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Cardinals offense got the ball on their own 20 with 1:27 on the clock. Lomax had already thrown for 421 yards but would need to find some more magic. He did just that by completing four straight passes to begin the drive and cross midfield before airing a ball out of bounds to stop the clock.
Following a short gain to Ottis Anderson on 2nd down, Lomax completed a pass over the middle to Danny Pittman, bringing up 4th-and-short. With 20 seconds on the clock at the end of the play, the Cardinals rushed their field goal unit onto the field, having done enough to give Neil O’Donoghue a 50-yard attempt as time expired.
However, the kick sailed left and Washington survived at home to clinch the NFC East, ending St. Louis’ season in the process.
Lomax ended with 468 passing yards, which would ultimately be his career high, including 314 yards in the second half alone.
In the history of the NFL, no other quarterback has thrown for at least 450 yards, completed 80% of his passes, and lost the game.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs, 1984 would prove to be the peak of the Lomax era. By the following season, St. Louis had transformed from one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NFL to arguably one of the least exciting teams to watch in league history.
The 1985 Cardinals opened their season with a riveting 27–24 overtime victory in Cleveland, but it would be the only game they played all season that was decided by single digits. Their 15 games decided by 10 or more points is an NFL record.
After starting 3–1, St. Louis plummeted to a 5–11 finish. A year after having the league’s #4 scoring offense, the Cardinals dropped all the way to 27th — ahead of just the Bills — and scored more than 17 points a meager five times (in each of their wins).
The 1984 Cardinals had a point differential of +78. In 1985, that figure was -136. That year-over-year decline of 214 points was easily the worst in the NFL, with Washington the only team within even 100 points.
Things got even uglier in 1986 as the 4–11–1 Cardinals finished dead last in scoring at 13.6 PPG. At the time, it was their fewest PPG in a season since 1945 and a dropoff of nearly half from two years prior.
Knowing the likely future ahead, the St. Louis Cardinals made one last push in the strike-shortened 1987 season. Neil Lomax led the NFL in passing yards and the Cardinals rebounded from a 2–5 start to enter their regular-season finale at 7–7.
It was familiar territory for the team. Just like in 1984, they would be facing a divisional opponent (this time the Cowboys) on the road. A win would send St. Louis to the playoffs as the NFC’s 5-seed. A loss and the Cardinals would be eliminated.
Once again, the Cardinals had to erase a double-digit deficit. Once again, they had a final drive with a chance to win the game. And once again, they came up short. The Cowboys won 21–16, and the Cardinals relocated to Arizona after the season.
Lomax started one final year for the Cardinals in 1988 before degenerative arthritis in his hip forced him to miss the entire 1989 season and retire before the 1990 season. He played in his final game at age 29.
1988 marked the end of a remarkable run of consistency at quarterback for the Cardinals that began when a 23-year-old Jim Hart took on starting duties in 1967.
Hart remains the Cardinals’ all-time leader in wins (88), passing yards (34,639), and pass TD (209). He led the team to back-to-back postseason appearances in 1974 and 1975 and holds the record for most regular season starts for a franchise without a playoff win (180).
After leading the Cardinals for well over a decade, Hart passed the torch to Lomax, who himself started 101 games for the team. Despite neither QB having a winning record with the Cardinals (Hart went 87–88–5 while Lomax was 47–52–2), they combined to make 281 career starts.
For comparison, Tom Brady made 283 career starts with the Patriots. That’s the type of longevity we’re talking about.
In the modern NFL, we’ve seen plenty of struggling teams rotate through new quarterbacks every season. That wasn’t the Cardinals. Even as they were mired in the longest drought without a playoff win in NFL history, they had their guys and stuck with them — they just couldn’t get over the hump.
Once they moved to Arizona, it was a different story.
In 1988, the Cardinals’ leader in passing yards was Lomax. In 1989, it was Gary Hogeboom. 1990? Timm Rosenbach. 1991 was Tom Tupa’s turn. In 1992, Chris Chandler. 1993 was Steve Beuerlein. In 1994, Beuerlein edged out Jay Schroeder. 1995 was Dave Krieg, 1996 was Boomer Esiason, and 1997 went to Jake Plummer.
Throw in Kent Graham (14 starts between 1996–97) and over the Cardinals’ first 10 seasons after leaving St. Louis, 11 different quarterbacks started at least half a season’s worth of games, with no one starting more than 21 games.
Unsurprisingly, those years weren’t pretty — the Cardinals failed to register a single winning season.
Finally, in 1998, the team’s second year since drafting Plummer, the Cardinals, who hadn’t finished above .500 since 1984 or made the playoffs since 1982’s expanded postseason, went 9–7 and won a Wild Card game.
It was the franchise’s first playoff victory since the 1947 NFL Championship Game. Back then, they were known as the Chicago Cardinals. Since, they had become the St. Louis Cardinals, Phoenix Cardinals, and finally, the Arizona Cardinals.
The final tally stood at 51 years in between playoff wins. No other streak in NFL history has lasted even 40 years.
Following that, it took the Cardinals a full decade to win again in the postseason. When they did, Kurt Warner led the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl appearance.
As we head into the future, the oldest active professional football franchise has now gone 75 straight seasons without a championship. They own the longest drought without a playoff win and the longest losing streak overall (29 straight games from 1942–45). It is no stretch to call them the NFL’s least-successful franchise.
Following the 2022 season, the Cardinals fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who had gone 28–37–1 over four seasons. Despite more than 100 years of history, the Cardinals are the sole active NFL franchise that hasn’t had a coach win 50 games with the team.
Their last playoff victory came in 2015 with Carson Palmer at QB, who, like Warner, pulled a rabbit out of a hat in the last stretch of his career.
But can the Cardinals do better than that? Can they have something sustainable? Even when they did, with Jim Hart and Neil Lomax, they failed to make even a dent in the postseason.
In more than a century of play, the Cardinals have far more “what could have been”s than anything they actually became. Maybe nothing is more symbolic of that than that one play from the end of 1984.
They had Washington on the ropes. 3rd-and-19. And they couldn’t get it done.
Research for this story was primarily conducted using Pro Football Reference and Stathead.
