Paloffs or Nah?

[Boone]

Ron Rivera teams have shown a propensity for late season surges and are almost always in the statistically possible playoff mix until the end. Will the 2023 season hold true to form or will Rivera's swan song season end more dismally than usual?

 

[Neophyte]

I went with "In till the end but falls short".

The NFC is still the weaker sister in the NFL and with some of the injuries impacting key positions on stronger teams, I expect most of the NFC to be fighting for the 6th and 7th spots as late as Christmas. That includes Washington.

I figure there is a slight chance we sneak in as the 7th seed if we win a surprise game and the Cowboys have nothing to play for in the final game.

 

[Boone]

I don't know who alluded to it in the pod this week (CH maybe?), but I think Rivera and JDR are coaching scared and that knowing their time in Washington is drawing to a rapid close, they've lost what spark they had. I think we have a chance to win the next 3 but we may not win again after that. 6 wins is where I would land, 7 at most. But as we know - this team is hard to predict - that's the one constant.

 

[Canadian Hog]

It feels like the ceiling for this team has been the final NFC playoff spot for a very long time. 3-5 is definitely not insurmountable, but you have to steal at least two games the rest of the way to make up for the debacles against Chicago and New York, while also holding serve in the "winnable" games. I am not sure that a Rivera coached team is up to that task, especially one that seemingly has no answer on defense this season. If memory serves me correct, previous midseason surges usually were sparked by a defense that started figuring things out a bit. This defense in 2023 is out to lunch and is giving me zero reason to believe. I hate saying this, but I am firmly in the camp of "lose pretty" the rest of the way, meaning I want Sam Howell to look as awesome as possible, while also securing a very high pick. Long term, I think that is the formula towards fast-tracking overall team success.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Cue Jim Mora. This team has not shown the ability to beat the teams they should beat. Losing to Chicago and the Giants showed that. Today against the Pats may be another game we say the same, or they may win. Who knows. But you can’t expect to make the playoffs by losing the games you should win without beating some teams you shouldn’t and they haven’t shown that ability either.

 

[DieselPwr44]

When describing the Redskins of the past 20 years, Forrest said it best...

 

[SkinsOrlando]

I will never wish the team to lose, however I also cannot see this team stringing together enough wins to get into the Paloffs. If Allen's "tired of this shit" comment is the general consensus than the coaches have lost control which I already believe they have. I think we might see an uptick on defense without Young since he's been labeled a freelancer and we've seen him lose hustle on plays which can wear your team mates thin. I don't think that's enough to overcome our porous o line. I'd rather focus the remainder of the season on the players showing hustle, maybe plugging in some bench players to see if there's potential than hoping we sneak into the 7th spot and get our doors blown off in the paloffs.

 

[Bulldog]

Rivera has been aided by weak schedules with teams that had injured quarterbacks down the stretch in recent seasons.

This year the schedule is backloaded with tough games and not as many starting qbs have gone down.

No rabbit’s foot for Ron this year.

 

[Boone]

Yep - very hard to see a path. They are quite capable of knocking off a team or two they aren't favored over, but they'd really have to step up to do what they've done in previous years of the Rivera era. Those bad early losses loom large, as well as the two missed opportunities against Philly.

 

[Bulldog]

I think we are working to the best scenario for this team - finish 2023 with Sam Howell improving and showing he is a guy you can build with and on a cheap contract for the next 2 years.

At the same time Washington will be competitive and can pull the upset against Dallas or SF or Miami to ruin their seasons.

In the end the team will finish out of the playoffs and give the next GM and Head Coach a relatively high draft pick in 2024 to start off the new regime. We need it.

Meanwhile, the New York Giants are paying $40M to Daniel Jones and the Cowboys have to rework Dak Prescott's deal to avoid it ballooning to $59M for 2024.

The Eagles are a juggernaut team and seem out of reach for awhile. But this team could be competitive for second place and a playoff berth in 2024 if the new leadership team makes the right moves.

 

[Boone]

Given our penchant for playing down (or up) to the level of our competition this season, although we should win the next 2 games against Seattle and the Giants, I'll be shocked if we do. Then you have to run the juggernaut against some very tough teams. Barring an improbably major turnaround by the defense, I just don't see us having the juice to get to that last wildcard spot. We needed to make some hay early on in the schedule. Had we done what we should've done against some bad early opponents, and maybe prevailed in one or both of the Philly losses, it might be an entirely different story.

 

[Bulldog]

Exactly.

In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Washington beats Dallas or San Francisco and loses to the Giants.

That's the Ron Show.

 

[Boone]