Any idea how much I relish the very IDEA of getting to write a ‘playoff picture’ for my Washington Redskins? Yet here we are – four weeks to go – and not a lot of math to be done to forge the Redskins path to the playoffs. Let’s take a look:
NFC East
Redskins (6-6)
Division Record: 3-1 in NFC East
Conference Record: 6-4 in NFC
Remaining games: Ravens, at Browns, at Eagles, Cowboys
Giants (7-5)
Division Record: 2-3 in NFC East
Conference Record: 6-3 in NFC
Remaining games: Saints, at Falcons, at Ravens, Eagles
Cowboys (6-6)
Division Record: 3-2 in NFC East
Conference Record: 5-5 in NFC
Remaining games: at Bengals, Steelers, Saints, at Redskins
If the Redskins win their remaining four games, then obviously the Cowboys would be eliminated by virtue of the fact that the two teams play each other in the final game of the regular season. The Cowboys have arguably the easiest remaining schedule of the three NFC East teams in contention, so it may just come down to that.
The Giants still need to lose a game for either Washington or Dallas to have a shot at the NFC East, but they have a very tough remaining slate of games – including against the 11-1 Falcons. The 9-3 Ravens will be a very tough match-up for BOTH the Giants and Redskins.
The ‘experts’ only seem to concentrate on the Redskins getting into the playoffs via the Wild Card spot, but they actually still have a very legitimate shot at winning the division if they can win their four remaining games.
Wild card contenders
Seahawks (7-5)
Conference Record: 5-4 in NFC
Remaining games: Cardinals, vs. Bills (in Toronto), 49ers, Rams
Vikings (6-6)
Conference Record: 4-5 in NFC
Remaining games: Bears, at Rams, at Texans, Packers
Bucs (6-6)
Conference Record: 3-5 in NFC
Remaining games: Eagles, at Saints, Rams, at Falcons
The Seahawks are the front-runners right now, what with having the best record, and having 3 of their 4 remaining games at home where they are 5-0 this year. Even their away game isn’t really an away game as they play Buffalo in Toronto. However, the Seahawks still have to play the 49ers and if they were to lose that game, then they would also slide to 5 conference losses, where the Redskins currently only have four. Since we’re assuming that the Redskins have to win outright to get this done, a 49ers win over the Seahawks would mean a Wild Card spot for the Redskins.
I won’t even discuss the Vikings and the Bucs, because again, we’re assuming that the Redskins have to win their remaining games. If all three of those teams finished at 10-6, Washington have beat both teams this year and would win the tiebreaker.
So to sum it up is pretty simple…
… if the Redskins win their remaining games, and the Seahawks lose to the 49ers, and the Giants lose to the Falcons (or anyone else) – the Redskins are in.
They may not completely control their own destiny yet, but the stars don’t exactly have to align for it to come to pass.
Keep your nose down Redskins Nation – four more games – and the next time you take a sniff, it might smell like playoffs.
Conference Standings