2024 Washington Commanders – Syndication Server

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.

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.”

Chris Simms: Previewing NFC East, but down on the Commanders

It’s clear he grew up a Giants’ fan.

Chris Simms hardly said a word about the Washington Commanders.

This week on his “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” podcast, Sims gave a brief look ahead to the NFC East for this season.

In doing so, it was quite noticeable that he barely mentioned the Commanders. When co-host Ahmed Fareed mentioned the Draft Kings over/under win totals were the Giants and Commanders at 6.5 and that the Commanders were predicted ahead of the Giants (+800 to +1200), Simms replied, “I’m a little surprised by that. I mean, what do the Commanders got that they are plus 400 better than the Giants? That’s a little shocking to me.”

And that is it, Simms did not mention the Commanders again, choosing to discuss briefly, the other three division rivals.

Simms is high on the Eagles, stating they will be better than the 2023 team and “I think they are a team that has a real chip this offseason. Siriani is having minicamp for the first time ever as a head coach. That tells you where they are.”

“Work needs to be done; we got to get better. They are not going to rest on their roster being the best in football…I would put Philly in a class by itself in the NFC East.”

“A fringe playoff team is kinda how I (about the Cowboys).”

Simms, whose dad, Phil, was a longtime starting quarterback for the Giants, still loves his Giants. “The Giants are the team that I would, if you wanted a long shot bet in that division, the Giants would be the team I would take.”

Simms then stated he feels many will later see the Giants as a little scary at receiver. He named four receivers he thinks will shine for the NYG this season: Malik Nabers, Jalin Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton.

Both Simms and Fareed agreed that the Giants wide receiver group is going to be better than the Cowboys group. “Who is going to be the third receiver for the Cowboys? We don’t know that.” Simms stated he feels both offensive tackle spots for the Cowboys will be question marks this season.

The preview was brief, and what was unmistakable is that Simms sees the Eagles first and the Commanders as last. And he sees the Cowboys and Giants fighting it out for second place.

NFL reveals Commanders 2024 offseason schedule

Dan Quinn can see Washington players in the team facility next week.

The NFL revealed the Commanders will open their 2024 offseason workout program on April 2.

Most NFL teams will begin their offseason workout programs on April 15. However, several teams, because they hired a new head coach following the 2023 season, can begin as early as April 1.

The Commanders fired Ron Rivera on Jan. 8, and four days later, they hired Adam Peters to replace Rivera as the Washington general manager. On February 3, Dan Quinn was hired to replace Rivera as the Commanders’ head coach.

April 17 will be the final day the Commanders are permitted to time, test, visit, interview, or conduct a physical examination with a draft-eligible player at the Commanders team facility.

April 19 will be the last day that restricted free agents can be signed to offer sheets. Five days later (April 24), the deadline for all prior clubs to exercise the right of first refusal to restricted free agents who signed offer sheets.

The Commanders will conduct their voluntary minicamp on April 22-24.

The eve of the annual NFL draft (April 24) will also serve as the deadline for teams to time, test, visit, interview (including video and phone calls), or conduct a physical examination with a draft-eligible player at any location.

Finally, the annual NFL draft will be held April 25-27. The first round will occur Thursday night, with rounds two and three being scheduled for Friday Night. Saturday will bring the final four rounds (4-7) of the draft.

The Commanders will also conduct their Organized Team Activities (OTA) offseason workouts on May 14-15, 17, May 21-22, May 24, June 4-5, and June 7.

Finally, their annual mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June 11-13.