Commanders hit with news they expected but don't want to hear ahead of kickoff against Falcons
The Washington Commanders are all but locked in when it comes to a playoff spot and there was still a chance, albeit a small one, that the team could win the NFC East at the end of the regular season.The Commanders would have to win out and the Philadelphia Eagles would have to lose out […]
The Washington Commanders are all but locked in when it comes to a playoff spot and there was still a chance, albeit a small one, that the team could win the NFC East at the end of the regular season.
The Commanders would have to win out and the Philadelphia Eagles would have to lose out for that to happen. Unfortunately for Jayden Daniels and co., the Eagles took care of business against the Dallas Cowboys by a final score of 41-7 on Sunday. They are officially NFC East champs and now the Commanders will have to settle for a Wild Card spot. As long as they beat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football, of course.
An Eagles win was pretty much expected (they were 8.5-point favorites before kickoff), but there was still a chance for a Cowboys win since Jalen Hurts was out and Dallas' scrappy play as of late. Overall, it's definitely not what the Commanders wanted to see.
A potential Wild Card spot is still a big victory for Dan Quinn and crew, though. Hardly anyone, if anyone at all, thought the Commanders would have the season they've had. Much less make the playoffs. Daniels is the clear frontrunner for Offensive Rookie of the Year and looks to be Washington's franchise QB for the next decade-plus. Quinn is one of the top candidates for Coach of the Year, as well, and he's put together a very good staff led by coordinators Joe Whitt Jr. (defense) and Kliff Kingsbury (offense). The infrastructure for sustained success is in place.
But, as mentioned earlier, the playoffs aren't an immediate lock, just yet. If the Commanders lose to the Falcons and then proceed to lose to the Cowboys in Week 18, they could miss out on the playoffs if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints in their regular season finale. The Bucs throttled the Panthers, 48-14, on Sunday.
First, the Falcons would have to win out and finish with a 10-7 record, which would start with a win against Washington on SNF. If they win out, the Bucs would be out of the NFC South title race and relegated to the Wild Card spots. Then, if the Commanders lose to the Cowboys and the Bucs beat the Saints, both teams would finish with their own 10-7 records. Therefore, the Bucs would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker in this scenario and would get the No. 7 seed over the Commanders.
None of it will matter, though, if the Commanders come out and take care of business against the Falcons. Which they should. If they don't, though, things are going to get really interesting during the last week of the 2024 season.
