Playoff Push

We barely beat a 2-8 team.
But my real point is.... it seems Pittsburgh, Dallas and Giants have shown the rest of the NFL our weakness on defense, namely our DE's are really weak against the run. Seattle who is not a good running team averaged 7 yards a carry. Luckily Seattle is stupid and only ran the ball 20 times.
But the numbers are not good, M. Morris only 14 carries for 103 yards and J. Jones 2 carries for 21 yards. Our DE's need to tighten up their chin straps because the remaining teams are going to try and exploit them.

We. Won. The. Game.

Geez, some of you guys are unbelievable. Too many soccer mom generation kids/Madden geniuses who never realized that teams sometimes don't always win and even if they do, they don't always look pretty doing it!

Do you guys get that even if we get killed by the Giants and Ravens-
IF we win 3 of our next 5 we've won 10 games, more than just about anyone realistically expected and will likely mean a playoff birth?
IF we win 2 of our next 5 games Jim Zorn will have won more games as a Redskins rookie head coach than anyone other than George Allen in 1971?
IF we win 1 of our next 5 games we would have reached .500 for back to back seasons for the first time since '00-'01 and just the second time since '92

Maybe playoffs isn't the P word we should focus on. Let's get some perspective!

This year is much different than 2005 or 2007. We're not in must win mode at this point as we were in those years. 3-2 in these last 5 games would likely get us in.

And other than the Giants and Titans, there are plenty of teams facing a playoff push right now. I don't see what the big deal is.Depends, though, on who we beat. 3-2 where we beat the Ravens, Bengals, and 49ers isn't getting us in. 3-2 where we beat the Giants, Eagles, and 49ers probably earns the 6th seed.

In most probabilities, it's going to take 11 wins this year. A 4 and 1 finish would keep us comfortably ahead of Dallas, and at least a game ahead of where the Falcons will end up.

3-2 puts is in a lot of nitty gritty tiebreakers for the 6th seed, and with the Cowboys, and Falcons planning on being right there, it doesn't seem all that likely to me that we could hold those tiebreakers.

Although, more optimistically, don't count out a total 1-4 collapse from Carolina, that would likely make our 10-6 record good enough. Tampa, Atlanta, and Dallas just aren't going away though.

We. Won. The. Game.I'm not sure this is all that relevant. Only up by three, we could have easily lost that game (especially the way the defense had been playing) in overtime without the offense ever getting another snap in. Which is scary. Because they were the Seahawks.

I'll defend Betts' propensity to suck in the clutch once a year as a crazy fluke, but with the way our offense had been dominating the second half, there's really no reason a team like the Seahawks should have needed to committ two turnovers in order to lose the game. But our special teams is awful, and our defense can't stop the run.

Those things must change. Well, the special teams at least have sucked all year, but the defense can't play poor gap discipline like they have been the last two weeks. They're not talented enough to play undisciplined like they have been. This team has two strengths: rush offense, and pass defense. That combination really allows for a lot of close scores with bad teams, because both teams find success on the ground, and no one puts it in the air. Very little margin for error, this allows.

If we had lost the game, PT, I don't think the arguments would be any different. Mine, at least, wouldn't be.

I think, though, if one thing is clear, it's that: beat the Giants, and we're pretty much in the playoffs.

We barely beat a 2-8 team.
But my real point is.... it seems Pittsburgh, Dallas and Giants have shown the rest of the NFL our weakness on defense, namely our DE's are really weak against the run. Seattle who is not a good running team averaged 7 yards a carry. Luckily Seattle is stupid and only ran the ball 20 times.
But the numbers are not good, M. Morris only 14 carries for 103 yards and J. Jones 2 carries for 21 yards. Our DE's need to tighten up their chin straps because the remaining teams are going to try and exploit them.Evans and Carter are actually the two guys in the front seven that should NOT be blamed for this defensive collapse. Golston has been non existent on the interior (and he was the single biggest key to our success before). Taylor absolutely sucks vs the run. Fletcher has really struggled these last two games. McIntosh hasn't really improved, and still overruns plays. Horton has been great, but Landry's run support has been crap. Rogers is rarely a factor, but his tackling has been less than impressive this year, which is surprising for the guy.

But yeah, there's your problems, and it has little to do with the ends.

We. Won. The. Game.

Geez, some of you guys are unbelievable. Too many soccer mom generation kids/Madden geniuses who never realized that teams sometimes don't always win and even if they do, they don't always look pretty doing it!

Do you guys get that even if we get killed by the Giants and Ravens-
IF we win 3 of our next 5 we've won 10 games, more than just about anyone realistically expected and will likely mean a playoff birth?
IF we win 2 of our next 5 games Jim Zorn will have won more games as a Redskins rookie head coach than anyone other than George Allen in 1971?
IF we win 1 of our next 5 games we would have reached .500 for back to back seasons for the first time since '00-'01 and just the second time since '92

Maybe playoffs isn't the P word we should focus on. Let's get some perspective!

Amen!
Only one team will win the SB this year leaving 31 other teams disapointed.

I'm not sure this is all that relevant. Only up by three, we could have easily lost that game (especially the way the defense had been playing) in overtime without the offense ever getting another snap in. Which is scary. Because they were the Seahawks.

I'll defend Betts' propensity to suck in the clutch once a year as a crazy fluke, but with the way our offense had been dominating the second half, there's really no reason a team like the Seahawks should have needed to committ two turnovers in order to lose the game. But our special teams is awful, and our defense can't stop the run.

Those things must change. Well, the special teams at least have sucked all year, but the defense can't play poor gap discipline like they have been the last two weeks. They're not talented enough to play undisciplined like they have been. This team has two strengths: rush offense, and pass defense. That combination really allows for a lot of close scores with bad teams, because both teams find success on the ground, and no one puts it in the air. Very little margin for error, this allows.

If we had lost the game, PT, I don't think the arguments would be any different. Mine, at least, wouldn't be.

In the grand scheme of things it's the only thing that matters.

Come on guys, we are in very good shape. Our D has held 8 of 11 teams under 20. The D plans around the other teams strength, and usually does a good to great job adjusting, the only notable exception was the Pitt game when Ben went out.
Our offense has to step up, but it is better than when we played the Giants the first time, so I think we will be good there too going down the stretch.
The only thing I absolutely agree with is that the Rams game really is going to be our Achilles heel this year, and I don't know if we can overcome it with all the other teams that are playing above par.

I REALLY wanted Carolina to win yesterday. :(


i didnt

With the defense being #3 overall and #1 in the NFC. I feel good about their chances of getting in the playoffs and making some noise. However, the offense must pick up there end.

Come on guys, we are in very good shape. Our D has held 8 of 11 teams under 20. The D plans around the other teams strength, and usually does a good to great job adjusting, the only notable exception was the Pitt game when Ben went out.
Our offense has to step up, but it is better than when we played the Giants the first time, so I think we will be good there too going down the stretch.
The only thing I absolutely agree with is that the Rams game really is going to be our Achilles heel this year, and I don't know if we can overcome it with all the other teams that are playing above par.

I REALLY wanted Carolina to win yesterday. :(

Of the 3 games win which we allowed more than 20pts we won 2 of those. Our D has done its job, we just need the O to score TDs when inside the redzone and make FGs that are normally made.