2024 NFC Playoff Picture – Syndication Server

Commanders get an early Christmas gift

The Lions gave the Commanders an early Christmas gift.

Down to the Green Bay Packers two games in the loss column, the Commanders got a gift Thursday night when the Lions nipped the Packers 34-31 at Ford Field in Detroit.

With the score tied 31-31, the Lions started on their own 30 and began an 11-play drive, which concluded with Jake Bates’ 35-yard walk-off field goal. This goal gave the Lions the victory and clinched their playoff spot (12-1).

The Commanders are 8-5 and enjoying a much-needed bye week, while the Packers, with this walk-off loss on the road to the Lions, fall to 9-4. Thus, the Commanders are now only a single game back in the loss column to the Packers.

The Commanders are the No. 7 seed, while the Packers are the 6th seed. In this 2024 season, there is a colossal difference between being the seventh seed and the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture.

In the opening round of the playoffs, the seventh-seeded team will travel to the second-seed, who will most likely be the Lions or Eagles. The sixth-seeded team will travel to play the third-seeded team. If you’ve noticed, the Falcons and Bucs are tied at 6-6 in the NFC South, while the Seahawks (7-5) lead the NFC West. The third-seeded team will be either the NFC South or West divisional leader.

The Commanders and the Packers have now played 13 games and will have four remaining games on their respective schedules.

Oh, how the Commanders must be kicking themselves for playing so poorly at home and losing to the Cowboys two weeks ago. They all know now they should actually at least be tied with the Packers for the 6th overall seed in the NFC.

The Packers remaining schedules is as follows:

@ Seattle Seahawks
New Orleans Saints
@ Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears

The Commanders remaining schedule is as follows:

@ New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles
Atlanta Falcons
@ Dallas Cowboys

NFC playoff picture for Commanders through Week 13

An updated look at the NFC Playoff picture and where the Commanders stand.

Having gone through 13 weeks of the 2024 season, what is the NFC playoff picture look like for the Commanders?

Two clear division leaders are playing impressively and enjoying long winning streaks as the Lions (NFC North) and Eagles (NFC East) are playing the best football in the conference.
The other two divisions are literally up for grabs. The NFC West has the Seahawks ahead of the Rams and Cardinals by only one game. While the NFC South shows the Falcons and the Buccaneers both tied.
The Vikings and Packers could be clinching Wild Card spots soon, while the Commanders are two games back of the Packers in the final Wild Card position.

So, the NFC division leaders and current top-four seeds, along with Wild Card seeds, are as follows:

Detroit 11-1 (NFC North)
Philadelphia 10-2 (NFC East)
Seattle 7-5 (NFC West)
Atlanta 6-6 (NFC South)
Minnesota 10-2 (NFC North)
Green Bay 9-3 (NFC North)
Washington (8-5) (NFC East)

The Commanders, in defeating the Titans, Sunday, remained in the last qualifying spot, the No. 7 seed. This means that in the first round of the playoffs, if the regular season were to conclude with the teams in this order, Washington would travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles.

Consequently, as it stands today, the first round of the NFC playoffs would find these matchups:

(7) Washington at (2) Philadelphia

(6) Green Bay at (3) Seattle

(5) Minnesota at (4) Atlanta

(1) Detroit would have the first-round bye and play at home in the second round against the lowest-seeded team to advance to the second round.

NFC playoff picture for Commanders through Week 11

The Commanders are in an excellent position, but there is plenty of work ahead.

Having gone through 11 weeks of the 2024 season, what is the NFC playoff picture look like for the Commanders?

Two division leaders are earning the respect of the rest of the NFC as Detroit (9-1) and Philadelphia (8-2) clearly are playing the best football in the conference.
One division is literally up for grabs. The NFC West could easily be won by any of the four teams. The Cardinals (6-4) lead, but the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams are all tied only one game back at 5-5.
The NFC South is a two-team race between the Falcons (6-5) and the Bucs (4-6).

So, the NFC division leaders and top current top-four seeds along with wildcard seeds are:

Detroit 9-1 (NFC North)
Philadelphia 8-2 (NFC East)
Arizona 6-4 (NFC West)
Atlanta 6-5 (NFC South)
Minnesota 8-2 (NFC North)
Green Bay 7-3 (NFC North)
Washington (7-4) (NFC East)

With the Commanders having lost two consecutive games, they have fallen down to the last qualifying spot, the number 7 seed. What this means is that in the first round of the playoffs, if the regular season were to conclude with the teams in this order, Washington would travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles.

Consequently, as it stands today, the first round of the NFC playoffs would find these match ups:

(7) Washington at (2) Philadelphia

(6) Green Bay at (3) Arizona

(5) Minnesota at (4) Atlanta

(1) Detroit would have the first-round bye and play at home in the second round against the lowest seeded team to advance to the second round.

Dan Quinn refuses to talk to Commanders about standings & playoffs

Dan Quinn does not want his team to miss one step on this journey by talking about the future.

What has Dan Quinn told his Commanders team about the NFL standings or the playoffs?

“Zero, zero,” Quinn replied to the media on Tuesday.

The former Atlanta Falcons head coach won a division and finished second in the division three times. To conclude the 2016 season, he won the NFC title and nearly won a Super Bowl.

So he knows the ropes. He also knows the dangers of allowing players to look too far ahead. They can easily forget what is right in front of them and not being prepared, lose their opportunities.

“That’s not a coaching cop-out either. I just honestly want to stay in the pocket of where we’re at. I don’t want us to miss a step on this journey, and I don’t want to miss the next step that we have to take. And that’s this weekend and then the next one and the next one.”

When the Commanders won their Week 9 game at the NY Giants, they weren’t dominant, but they did do enough to prevent the Giants from having the ball and a chance to take the lead in the second half (27-22 final).

Quinn and Adam Peters have changed this entire culture, from 4-13 in 2023 to talking about how high a seed the Commanders can be in the NFC playoffs in 2021.

“I’m just kind of thinking about today, today’s practice and Thursday’s game, man. And like I haven’t talked to them much past that. It’s just let’s go battle for it this weekend. And I did the same thing last weekend when a lot of talk was, there’s two games in 11 days, and that I said, maybe we just got one game this week, and we got one game next week. And so, we’ll worry about next week then.”

Commanders are NFC’s No. 2 seed, but…

The Commanders may be the NFC’s No. 2 seed at the moment, but…..

Hey, Commanders fans, how closely have you looked at the NFL standings?

Yes, all of us in the DMV realize that the Commanders (6-2) have a one-half-game lead over the Eagles (5-2). In addition, we all realize this lead is only because Washington has played one more game thus far than Philadelphia.

Better, however, is looking at the NFC standings. There, you see Washington only behind the Detroit Lions (6-1). The Lions have not only been winning; they have been impressive in winning.

Seeing the top seven teams in both the AFC and NFC qualify for the playoffs, the four division winners will be seeded 1-4, with the three wild-card teams following in seeds 5-7.

Washington is currently the second-seeded NFC team. The other division leaders are the Falcons (third seed) and Cardinals (fourth seed). The three wild cards are currently the Packers (5 seed), Vikings (6 seed), and Eagles (7 seed).

Yes, that means, if the season concludes this way, the Commanders would host a playoff game at Northwest Stadium on the first weekend, and their opponent would be the Eagles.

Of course, Washington still must play five of its six divisional games. Haven’t the Eagles been really strong the last two weeks? Also, they must play the Steelers and Falcons, who are currently playoff teams.

The last two months of the season will be full of events as Washington plays nine more regular-season games. What should be the focus now?

The New York Giants.

Nothing else. The team cannot get ahead of themselves and think they will be the number two seed.

Nor can they bask in the ‘Hail Mary.’ They have had Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday to celebrate it. They must move on and be intense about their focus on each opponent, or they will find themselves losing more games than they should down the stretch.

Who knew we would be talking about such things after eight games?