Yes, the 4-7 Washington Football Team is still in the thick of the playoff hunt after back-to-back wins.
No, do not send Jim Mora incredulously saying, “Playoffs?!?!” This is not a normal year. The NFC East is not a normal division. This is not a normal playoff situation.
But after beating the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Washington has life at the business end of the season.
Washington now has a 26.3 percent chance to win the division, according to Football Outsiders.
Ron Rivera’s team will travel to Pittsburgh in Week 13 and will have an edge on the Steelers who have yet to play their Week 12 game against the Baltimore Ravens. If the game does happen Tuesday night as planned, Washington will have five extra days of physical and (potentially more importantly) mental rest on the Steelers.
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After that Washington will travel to play the 49ers (but may not play in San Francisco’s home stadium), host the Seahawks and Panthers, before finishing the season in Philadelphia.
The New York Giants, who have now won three-straight to get to 4-7, are the favorites to win the NFC East at 40 percent, per Football Outsiders. However, they may have lost quarterback Daniel Jones for a some time due to a hamstring injury that could be "pretty bad."
And that injury comes at a bad time for New York who will face teams with winning records for the next four games: at Seattle, home to Arizona, home to Cleveland, and at Baltimore.
Of course, these odds are before the Philadelphia Eagles host the 7-3 Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. The Eagles have a 25.6 percent chance before the kick and would drop if they fell to 3-7-1.
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The 3-8 Dallas Cowboys have seen their playoff chances drop 15.7 percent with the Thanksgiving beatdown and stand at 8.5 percent.
FiveThirtyEight also gives New York the edge for the division at 34 percent, but has the Eagles as second favorites at 32 percent, with Washington next at 26 percent, and the Cowboys bringing up the rear, but not out of it yet at 8 percent.
Of course, if the Eagles fail to win Monday night, Washington’s chances improve by three percent and Philadelphia’s chances fall by nine, per FiveThirtyEight.
The Eagles’ game against the Seahawks is the start of a tough four-game stretch for them with a trip to visit the Green Bay Packers next before they host the class of the NFC, the New Orleans Saints, and finally travel to play the Arizona Cardinals.
Based on schedule alone, Washington seems to have the easiest route to winning the division. Of course, they still need to win games to get there.
But with how bad this division has been so far, to make the playoffs, they may not have to win two of them.
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