Playoffs? We can't even win a game(10 is in, 9 to think about getting in)

[TheSteve]

Ladies and Gentleman,

I come to you with this post because I think admist all of the turmoil and chaos of Mcnabb vs Shanny, the OL falling apart, and Galloway collecting his SS and disability income on the field that we have lost sight of the fact that we have a VERY REAL shot at the playoffs.

Yes, I have uttered the 'P' word. This is fortunate, because we need a bullseye to aim for with our fanaticism. Below are the current NFC League Standings:

1. NY Giants 6 2

2. Atlanta 6 2

3. New Orleans 6 3

4. Green Bay 6 3 0

5. Philadelphia 5 3

6. Tampa Bay 5 3

7. Chicago 5 3

8. St. Louis 4 4

9.Washington 4 4

10. Seattle 4 4

11. Minnesota 3 5

12. Arizona 3 5

Right now, it is not worth it to talk about the division, if we win out we will win the division but the Giants and Eagles both look good so that shouldn't be talked about as a possibility. But, for the wild card we have a very real shot.

Tampa Bay is the talk of the league right now but they are a young team with a difficult schedule.

We play them they are @Baltimore, host Atlanta, and @New Orleans to end the season. Also, they have a showdown with Seattle who is also in playoff contention. I dont see them finishing better than 8-8.

Philadelphia - will be very difficult to overtake them for the 5th wildcard. Vick isn't Peyton Manning but he is in a contract year and is auditioning for a very big contract. The eagles are playing well as a team and beating Indy is no joke. However, they have to play the Giants 2 times, host us once, are @Chicago and host Minnesota down the stretch. Lets say they split with NY, lose to us and split one of Minn/Chicago games. 10-6 at best. If we beat them Monday night we will hold the tiebreaker.

Chicago - we already beat them, we only need them to lose 7 games or we need to win 10. They will not finish better than 10-6. Tough games on their schedule: 3 game killer stretch coming up, Minny, Miami, Philly. to end the year: New England, @Minn, New york, @ Green bay. 7 of their remaining 8 games are against teams in playoff contention. With their shaky OL and Cutlers up and down season unless they figure out how to run the ball and rely on the run they will not make the playoffs. I can see Chicago ending up at 8-8 easily, 9-7 at best.

St. Louis - unfortunately they hold the tie breaker over us and are in a very weak divison. We need to root for them to lose every week. The toughest games remaining on their schedule are Atlanta and New Orleans, 6 of their last 8 are winnable. We need them to have some 'sucky' team moments. They arent the best team but are riding the wave of their rookie QB doing really well. Unfortunately I could see them finishing 10-6 but for the sake of this post we need them no better than 9-7.

Seattle - at 4-4 they should be worth mentioning. But I have seen a very up and down team this year I don't see them putting together a consistent run to make the playoffs with that shaky defense and erratic offensive play. The Giants spanked them on Sunday and I see them going into a rather shaky stretch. 7-9, 8-8 at best.

Minnesota - They are the wildcard. If they catch fire then they will win out and make the playoffs. they have too much talent otherwise. However, all we have to do is beat them win we play them. This will put them at 6 losses, and we will have the tie breaker. If we take care of business we shouldn't have to worry about them. 8-8, 9-7 at best. They have a difficult schedule to win out against.

Finally, our remaining schedule:

Philadelphia - this is the most important game of the year. If we don't beat vick in our house we will not need to be thinking about anything above. A sweep of Philly puts us in the drivers seat for the final 2 playoff spots. W

@Tennessee - this will be a very big game. But it is also one we can afford to lose, out of division, out of conference. If Moss and Tennessee beats us we will be 5-5, if we win 6-4. This is a toss up but Haynesworth should be motivated. L

Minnesota - knock them out of the hunt. We are going to win this game barring any health setbacks but they will be desperate. W

@NY - we never play well in the meadowlands and Eli and the Giants are going to win the NFC East - L

Tampa Bay - win. young team that is inexperienced vs a vet QB in McNabb and Shanahan. No brainer

@ Dallas - playoffs on the line, Cowboys are pretty much giving up on the season - W

@ Jacksonville - the Jaguars always put on late season runs but I dont think they have the strongest team this year and we match up pretty well. W

Vs NYG - I have us going into this game 9-6. Win and were in.

I see the Giants winning the division and Washington and Philly as wildcards against the Saints and Green Bay.

PLAYOFFS????

[Rdskn4Lyf21]

We are 1 game out of the 6th seed and we play TB. We still entirely control our destiny.

Paloffs or bust :point2sky

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Not that I think we're anything approaching a playoff side, or a solid/good one come to that; but with the NFC being as weak as this overall, we have as good a shot as anyone else.

Hail.

[Homercles82]

To even think about paloffs is fun and exciting but they need to think about each week as it comes to them. As fans we can speculate but seriously hope the team focuses on each week individually. Each week needs to be treated like a paloff game.

[Thirtyfive2seven]

ROFL. I'm sorry but in years past I would have agreed with you. Maybe I'm cynical but there is no way this team, playing as it has, with that offensive line is going to make the playoffs. Banks is out, there goes 7 pts a game. They can't score more than 14 on offense and maybe the defense is good for a TD here and there. I'm going to guess they finish the year 8-8 or 7-9

Finally, our remaining schedule:

Tampa Bay - win. young team that is inexperienced vs a vet QB in McNabb and Shanahan. No brainer

I take issue with this one. Tampa is better than us right now. I don't think it's a no brainer at all. In fact I'm positive they lose this game. I don't think they can beat Philly right now even with McNabb motivated. Vick is playing well and looked good vs. Indy. The Ny Giants will kill us in NY but they may rest their players in the last game so maybe the Skins get a gift win.

I see them losing to the Titans and the Jags too. They may not even beat the Cowgirls in Dallas.

[santana_4_prez]

If we beat philly and tampa bay we have tiebreakers over:

philly, tampa bay, chicago, and green bay

I think our best shot is to have STL win their division.

[konga2145]

If we beat philly and tampa bay we have tiebreakers over:

philly, tampa bay, chicago, and green bay

I think our best shot is to have STL win their division.

One at a time. Everyone of the remaining games is hard. All the road games are losable as well as winnable. Until we play Giants we won't know how we match up with them. I think Mcnabb has had some luck against Giants, besides I would rather win division than lose in wild card round. BEAT THE GIANTS TWICE! than we know were there.

[hail2skins]

As of now I don't see two teams from the East getting in as wildcards. I can see Tampa as the team in the South most likely to drop out, but that still leaves Atlanta and New Orleans. Therefore, we will need to overtake Philly to get the other WC spot. The bad news is that they still get to play the Cowboys twice, while we only get them once. The good news is that they have to play the Giants twice in meaningful games, where our second game with New York might not be as important for the Giants if they've clined certain things.

Either way, MNF is huge. If we lose and fall two behind Philly, that could be it.

[Chachie]

I'm not at all pessimistic about the the future of the Redskins but I just don't think we have the personnel or the continuity to get into the post season in 2010. I've been calling 7-9 all season and see no reason to back away from that. It's a good improvement over last season.

[konga2145]

As of now I don't see two teams from the East getting in as wildcards. I can see Tampa as the team in the South most likely to drop out, but that still leaves Atlanta and New Orleans. Therefore, we will need to overtake Philly to get the other WC spot. The bad news is that they still get to play the Cowboys twice, while we only get them once. The good news is that they have to play the Giants twice in meaningful games, where our second game with New York might not be as important for the Giants if they've clined certain things.

Either way, MNF is huge. If we lose and fall two behind Philly, that could be it.

I can see Cowboys winning a couple more home games, they don't give up at home

[hail2skins]

Chachie, kind of disagree. We are 4-4 right now. Even if 7-9 marks an overall improvement record-wise over 2009, I don't think you're going to find many folks on here happy with a 3-5 finish to the season.

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

8 wins would be huge given all of the issues the team currently has. 10 wins, being realistic, very doubtful. We will continue to improve and with the draft, addition of players will be more competetive in the years ahead.

[hail2skins]

I can see Cowboys winning a couple more home games, they don't give up at home

Their past two performances at home would go against this statement.

However, I see what you mean, even if it appears that Dallas has thrown in the towel. I do think the game we play them in will come down to the last 5 minutes, just like every one of our games, no matter who the opponent is, seems to.

[Homercles82]

I'm not at all pessimistic about the the future of the Redskins but I just don't think we have the personnel or the continuity to get into the post season in 2010. I've been calling 7-9 all season and see no reason to back away from that. It's a good improvement over last season.

7-9 is a major improvement for the team and I am fine with it. Playoffs would be nice despite all our issues this year though!

[konga2145]

Their past two performances at home would go against this statement.

However, I see what you mean, even if it appears that Dallas has thrown in the towel. I do think the game we play them in will come down to the last 5 minutes, just like every one of our games, no matter who the opponent is, seems to.

Sure they may have lost at home but they didn't get killed at home. That is why a very overated Eagle team could lose to them at home

[ATLredskin]

If we lose this week then you can kiss the playoffs goodbye. I said last week 9-7 with get you the 6th seed, but it will all be about tiebreakers. The will surprisingly be there, the Eagles, and the Vikings. We have to win those 3 games if we want in. And then 2 more wins (possibly against the Cowboys and Jaguars) should lock it up, but this Monday night game is the season.

[hail2skins]

Sure they may have lost at home but they didn't get killed at home. That is why a very overated Eagle team could lose to them at home

They didn't get killed at home with Romo sits to pee under center......with Kitna in, they've just got destroyed the past three games. They added late cosmetic TDs at the end against the Giants and Jags to make those games appear closer than they were.

I don't think the Eagles are spectacular, but I will give them props for their win against a Colts team that was depleted but still had Manning, Wayne, Garcon, and (for a while) Colley. Next Monday night is going to be a battle.

[Rufus T Firefly]

If we lose this week then you can kiss the playoffs goodbye. I said last week 9-7 with get you the 6th seed, but it will all be about tiebreakers. The will surprisingly be there, the Eagles, and the Vikings. We have to win those 3 games if we want in. And then 2 more wins (possibly against the Cowboys and Jaguars) should lock it up, but this Monday night game is the season.

Maybe. There are 4 teams with 6 Wins (NY, Green Bay, Atlanta and New Orleans) and I'd be shocked if any of them can't get to at least 10 on the year. That leaves one playoff spot, and Philly could still get to 10 while losing to us- their schedule includes 2 against Dallas plus Chicago and Minny, very winnable games.

[skinnyfan57]

Damn NFC West makes things tough. Somebody from that sorry division gets to lose a playoff game.

The team with the 6th best record in the NFC isn't going to make it in this year. You have to have the 4th or 5th best record to get a wildcard and the way things are shaping up, that could very well mean you NEED to be 10-6 to get in. Unfortunately, that ain't happenin' for us.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Strictly speaking mathematically, a win vs. Philly would be huge since it helps us out in terms of having the head-to-head tie-breaker over them and gives us another conference win. That would give us a 5-2 NFC record and a sweep of Philly. So, as others are saying, that's almost a must-win if we have post-season aspirations. After that, I think we'd do ourselves a favor by beating the Vikings and Bucs (though I don't think either will come easily...at least they are home games). Then, we need 2 more wins anywhere on the schedule...hopefully Dallas and maybe stealing a win vs. New York (doubtful) or beating an AFC South opponent (you'd have to guess that Jacksonville is the better shot there).

Now, realistically speaking, our level of play has gone down over the past couple weeks so I'm not holding out much hope for a 5-3 end to the season. We will have really needed to make some bye-week adjustments on offense specifically. We will need a late-season run and some McNabb magic to beat out some teams for the wild card.

So, for the 2010 season, I'm not sure we're a playoff team though I'm still really excited about our overall direction and new leadership. Even winning 6-8 games this year has to be considered a step in the right direction. Also, in terms of the long-term goals, a playoff season in 2010 led by players who might not wear burgundy and gold in 2011 and beyond is relatively meaningless. Obviously, I always root for the post-season, but I think there will be a new cast of characters over the next couple years, so it might not even be something we, as a team, can build off of. In the end though, coming off a season where we were toast in early October, it's nice to be gearing up for a mid-November MEANINGFUL game!

[SirClintonPortis]

My gut reaction last year after the by was 4-12. I almost caved with the wins against the scrub teams, but my gut was vindicated.

This year, my guy is telling me 6-10.

[Chase M]

Very good read, and also me and you think alike. I'm predicting L's at Titans and at NY but the rest are in

OUR hands. Playoffs or BUST!

[TheSteve]

One thing I did forget was the NFC West sucks so bad Seattle and St. Louis are tied for first in their division. This means we are competing with everyone to knock philly off the top spot. That doesnt' really change my prediction, it just means I have us knocking philly out the last spot since I have philly finishing 10-6/9-7 and if both of us finish 10-6 we will have the tie breaker over Philly IF we win this monday.

[Skins_Fan82]

I agree with most in here. It can be done, but it won't be easy. And here I was thinking the first half of our season was tough, the second half is no cake walk either. No wonder they say we've got the 8th toughest schedule in football LOL. Giants twice, Bucs, Titans, Eagles (with Vick, we beat a "Vickless" team the first time after knocking him out early). Hell, even the Vikings might give us some problems.

Again, if our offensive line will allow Donovan McNabb to drop back and count to 5-Mississippi during the 2nd half of the season, we have a legitimate shot. if a 9-7 team can make it in, that means we've gotta go 5-3, which is definitely doable.

[konga2145]

I agree with most in here. It can be done, but it won't be easy. And here I was thinking the first half of our season was tough, the second half is no cake walk either. No wonder they say we've got the 8th toughest schedule in football LOL. Giants twice, Bucs, Titans, Eagles (with Vick, we beat a "Vickless" team the first time after knocking him out early). Hell, even the Vikings might give us some problems.

Again, if our offensive line will allow Donovan McNabb to drop back and count to 5-Mississippi during the 2nd half of the season, we have a legitimate shot. if a 9-7 team can make it in, that means we've gotta go 5-3, which is definitely doable.

Maybe we played them without Vick but the way I saw that game was they were not beating us even when Vick was in the game, which was almost one half