The 1987 season was the Washington Redskins' strike-shortened 56th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 52nd in Washington, D.C. and their seventh under head coach Joe Gibbs. The season was a shortened due to the 1987 NFL strike. The team had finished second in the NFC East the previous season with a 12–4 record. Games to be played during the third week of the season were canceled, and replacement players were used to play games from weeks 4 through 6.