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Don’t sleep on the Washington Football Team in Wild Card game

By Leigh Oleszczak

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 03: Strong safety Kamren Curl #31 of the Washington Football Team celebrates with defensive end Chase Young #99 and defensive back Jeremy Reaves #39 after an interception during the first quarter of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on January 03, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 03: Strong safety Kamren Curl #31 of the Washington Football Team celebrates with defensive end Chase Young #99 and defensive back Jeremy Reaves #39 after an interception during the first quarter of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on January 03, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Football Team might have a losing record, but they’re not as hopeless as they seem.

After finishing the season at 7-9, the Washington Football Team had done enough to win the pitiful NFC East and as a result, they’ll be hosting a playoff game this weekend. As the No. 4 seed, the Football Team will welcome in the No. 5 seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are red hot.

There are plenty of reasons to doubt Washington heading into this game with the main one being that they finished the season at 7-9 and in most instances, wouldn’t have come anywhere near the postseason. That being said, this team isn’t as pathetic as they might seem.

First and foremost, Washington has a really impressive defense, ranking second in the league in yards allowed per game and fourth in points allowed per game. The unit has been highlighted by rookie Chase Young (the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft) while also seeing the high-level play from Montez Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, and Tim Settle.

The defense has kept Washington in a lot of their games this year and played a huge role in the team upsetting Pittsburgh when the Steelers had yet to suffer a loss. The WFT defense has continued to improve and if they hit Tom Brady in this game, they have a very good chance of pulling off the upset.

Washington’s defense is definitely their bright spot, but the offense has the ability to be quite good. Before Alex Smith suffered his calf injury, he was playing really well and helped the team go from the bottom of the division to the eventual division winners. He’s still nursing an injured calf and that was evident in last Sunday’s game in Philadelphia, but Smith is smart with the football and won’t try to do too much or make dumb decisions.

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Washington is a home underdog to the Buccaneers and their losing record in the regular season is a strong reason as to why. While it might seem like a surefire win for Tampa, strange things happen in the NFL playoffs so don’t be surprised if the Washington Football Team can pull off the upset.

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