The UndeadSkins
Go figure. Just when you think the Redskins are cooked and well-done, they win. With a sure loss against the Panthers staring them in the face, they put out their best defensive effort of the season, along with a Campbell to Cooley lightning strike, to give them a big W. Just like how everyone wrote them off against the Jaguars and the Cowboys. Yet, when a "sure win" is on the schedule, the Skins fall flat on their face, ie: Tennessee, Tampa Bay. In the edited words of Tony K., "What the heck is going on here??!!"
So the question I now ask myself is this: can they make the playoffs??
Go ahead, call me a blind homer. Call me crazy. Or loony. Or combine the two and call me croony (or lazy, which would fit me quite well). I would not object to any of those adjectives. But what I will object to is if you didn't at least entertain the idea of a playoff push by the Skins. If you haven't entertained this idea, you have not taken a look at the NFC standings. Let's take a look, shall we?
Ok, the Skins are 4-7, still last in the division, with no chance of winning it. But, grabbing a Wildcard spot is still very much in the picture. Right now, the two teams who have the Wildcard spots are the Giants and the Panthers. Guess what? Their records are only 6-5 with the Giants looking horrible and the Skins holding a tie-breaker over the Panthers. The other teams that are in contention with 5-6 records goes as follows:
Eagles (no McNabb, put a fork in them)
Falcons (spiraling downward with 4 straight losses)
St. Louis (lost last 5 of 6)
49ers (who are they kidding)
Vikings (the only team I'm worried about because they beat us, but they're not exactly the Colts)
Now, remember last year? The Skins ended the regular season on a 5-game win streak. If (and it's a big if) they do the same thing this year, I think they will definitely get a Wildcard spot with a record of 9-7. But I think if they win 4 of 5, they still have a good shot at getting in with an 8-8 record and it probably will come down to tie-breakers. If we take a look at the remaining schedule, we play 3 of those 5-6 teams and, if we beat them, can hold tie-breakers over the Falcons, Rams, and Eagles. We would probably have to hope the Vikings and 49ers finish at 7-9 or worse, which is like hoping the Orioles will finish the season under .500...it's a mortal lock. And this is just if the Skins finish 8-8. I think it's possible to run the table the rest of the way. Our remaining schedule has 3 out of 5 games at home and it goes like this: vs. Falcons, vs. Eagles, at Saints, at Rams, vs. Giants. We are playing awesome at home, so I am expecting to win all three against the Falcons, Eagles, and Giants. That leaves us with one semi-tough game against the Rams and one mega-tough game against the Saints. Can we do it? I don't know, but I am saying it's possible.
All of this, of course, is in the hopes that when my wife asks if I can skip the Skins game to go to a flea-market festival on some Sunday in the future, I can say "I can not skip they game, the Skins are still mathematically in it!"
So the question I now ask myself is this: can they make the playoffs??
Go ahead, call me a blind homer. Call me crazy. Or loony. Or combine the two and call me croony (or lazy, which would fit me quite well). I would not object to any of those adjectives. But what I will object to is if you didn't at least entertain the idea of a playoff push by the Skins. If you haven't entertained this idea, you have not taken a look at the NFC standings. Let's take a look, shall we?
Ok, the Skins are 4-7, still last in the division, with no chance of winning it. But, grabbing a Wildcard spot is still very much in the picture. Right now, the two teams who have the Wildcard spots are the Giants and the Panthers. Guess what? Their records are only 6-5 with the Giants looking horrible and the Skins holding a tie-breaker over the Panthers. The other teams that are in contention with 5-6 records goes as follows:
Eagles (no McNabb, put a fork in them)
Falcons (spiraling downward with 4 straight losses)
St. Louis (lost last 5 of 6)
49ers (who are they kidding)
Vikings (the only team I'm worried about because they beat us, but they're not exactly the Colts)
Now, remember last year? The Skins ended the regular season on a 5-game win streak. If (and it's a big if) they do the same thing this year, I think they will definitely get a Wildcard spot with a record of 9-7. But I think if they win 4 of 5, they still have a good shot at getting in with an 8-8 record and it probably will come down to tie-breakers. If we take a look at the remaining schedule, we play 3 of those 5-6 teams and, if we beat them, can hold tie-breakers over the Falcons, Rams, and Eagles. We would probably have to hope the Vikings and 49ers finish at 7-9 or worse, which is like hoping the Orioles will finish the season under .500...it's a mortal lock. And this is just if the Skins finish 8-8. I think it's possible to run the table the rest of the way. Our remaining schedule has 3 out of 5 games at home and it goes like this: vs. Falcons, vs. Eagles, at Saints, at Rams, vs. Giants. We are playing awesome at home, so I am expecting to win all three against the Falcons, Eagles, and Giants. That leaves us with one semi-tough game against the Rams and one mega-tough game against the Saints. Can we do it? I don't know, but I am saying it's possible.
All of this, of course, is in the hopes that when my wife asks if I can skip the Skins game to go to a flea-market festival on some Sunday in the future, I can say "I can not skip they game, the Skins are still mathematically in it!"
posted by skretch at 11:41 AM
3 comments
