The team failed to improve on their 3–9 record from 1959 and finished last-place in the NFL Eastern Conference, with a 1–9–2 record under second-year head coach Mike Nixon.

The Redskins' only win that season was a 26–14 victory against the first-year expansionists Dallas Cowboys team on October 9 in Washington.

Following the season, the Redskins fired Mike Nixon, and replaced him with Bill McPeak.

The Redskins pursued once more their strategy of establishing themselves as the dominant NFL franchise of the Southern United States, broadcasting their games to a network of 19 television stations across Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Florida.

[2] From the 1955 season until 1962, the Redskins were the last bastion of racial segregation in the NFL, refusing to include a single black player on their roster, unlike the other 12 teams in the league.