Gibbs returned for the 1992 regular season to defend the Redskins' Super Bowl crown from the previous year. The Redskins finished with a lesser record at 9–7 and 3rd place in the NFC East. They needed a bit of help to make the playoffs and they got it after a loss by the Green Bay Packers got them in as the last Wild Card entry. In the Wild Card round, the Redskins defeated the Minnesota Vikings on the road, by the score of 24–7, however they would fall in the Divisional Round to the San Francisco 49ers in a road game by the score of 20–13, ending the Redskins' hopes of retaining their Super Bowl crown. Two months after Super Bowl XXVII, Gibbs retired on March 5, 1993, surprising many in the organization and around the league. Center Joe Bostic called it "probably the biggest shock I've gotten in my life." A notorious workaholic, he had begun to suffer health problems, and he cited a desire to spend more time with his family.