Tag: 2024 NFC Playoff Picture

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?