The Washington Football Team is likely feeling pretty good right about now.
As of November 30th, they are tied for the division lead in the NFC East, and they are 3-2 over their past five games with a significant improvement in several key offensive stats. Their defense has been dominant in the second half of games and remains ranked near the top of the league in several metrics, and a budding group of young players on the roster continues to take steps forward.
Coming up, though, the schedule gets much tougher for Washington as they look to finish strong and squeak into the playoffs. This week they will travel to face the 10-0 Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by a trip to San Francisco to take on the frisky 5-6 49ers, followed by a game at home against the dangerous 7-3 Seattle Seahawks. After that stretch, Washington has games against the middling Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles, two games that could easily swing in either direction.
When talking to the media on Monday, coach Ron Rivera stated that we are about to find out a lot about this team over the next few weeks.
Washington has a tough stretch facing the Steelers, 49ers and Seahawks. Head coach Ron Rivera said playing these teams will be "measuring sticks." Rivera went on to say that over the course of these next three weeks, they will find out the character of this team.
— Logan Campbell (@loganncampbelll) November 30, 2020
If you’re going to look at the playoff picture, it’s pretty apparent that Washington needs to win 2 games, getting to 6 total, in order to give themselves a shot at winning the division, while three wins will likely seal it. If you’re to count wins like we counted votes in the election (Shout out to Pete Hailey at NBC Sports Washington) then there are a few different routes that Washington could take to get there.
It’s unlikely they beat the Steelers or Seahawks. However, they arguably have a shot against the 49ers, though that will be extremely tough seeing as Kyle Shanahan recently got a few of his best players back from injury. In the end, it will likely come down to Washington needing to beat both the Panthers and Eagles in order to get in. A game against Rivera’s former team, followed by a heated division rivalry that could be a ‘win-and-get-in’ scenario.
It’s safe to say that things could be heating up going into this final stretch, and we’re going to learn a lot about this Washington team along the way.
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