Can the Washington Football Team navigate through their next seven games?
The Washington Football Team has been disappointing so far through their first five games of the season. Sitting at 2-3, it has been the defense that has truly not lived up to its potential. The season is far from over, and with a brutal seven-game stretch upcoming, how they navigate that time will shape Washington’s season.
Heading into 2021, many expected the Washington Football Team to have the best defense in all of football. Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers showed some promise. They were absolutely abysmal on third down, unable to get off the field. However, they did manage two turnovers and held a great offense to just 20 points. A loss is a loss though, 0-1.
Not a great showing from Washington’s defense – but there were some positives. Since then, the positives have been very scarce.
Washington Football Team: Navigating next seven games is crucial
The defensive line hasn’t been bad at all, but that’s about it. So a 2-3 record, with an extremely disappointing defense and an up-and-down offense. There are 12 games left, you’re in a weak overall division, and the defense still has all the potential to turn it around (hopefully).
Washington’s last five games of the season are against NFC East opponents. They will see the Dallas Cowboys, then the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by the Cowboys again, then the Eagles again, and finally the New York Giants (who they have already beat once). Those are all winnable games and could decide a lot. But Washington needs to get to those games in a position to still win the division, or at least make the playoffs. So how do they do that?
Well, let’s look at those seven games between now and the final NFC East stretch.
It all starts this week with the Kansas City Chiefs. So you know, nothing too rough to begin with. That was sarcasm by the way. Yes, Kansas City is 2-3 but let’s not act like they aren’t still one of the best teams in the NFL and a Super Bowl contender. They can flip the switch at any moment and Patrick Mahomes is still just as dangerous as ever.
Next are the 4-1 Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Does anything else need to be said there?
Following that up are the 3-2 Denver Broncos. Not anything super special here. But they have a lot of nice moving pieces and clearly have found a way to win some games. That being said, their three wins are against teams with a combined 2-13 record. So this is a winnable (but still not an easy) game.
Next are the defending Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At 5-1 this season, they are proving to be just as good as last year. Tom Brady is somehow defying Father Time once again. Have fun with that one.
The Carolina Panthers follow that up, and they are 3-2 this year. Sam Darnold has been pretty solid and helped inject life into the team that many didn’t expect anything from. Outside of the New Orleans Saints though, their other two wins were against the New York Jets and Houston Texans. Winnable game, but nothing comes easy – especially for this Washington team.
The Seattle Seahawks are next. At 2-3, they might not seem too threatening. And the record might be even worse with Russell Wilson out for a while. He should be back before the Washington game though, and that team is always extremely dangerous with Russ at QB.
Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders end the stretch. This is the weirdest one to try and figure out. They are 3-2 and hold an impressive win over the Baltimore Ravens. However, they are on a two-game losing streak and are going through some serious issues that just saw their head coach Jon Gruden resign from his duties after some very troubling emails came to light. They could use that as motivation, or allow it to see them crumble. Winnable game.
Looking at the seven games, this is definitely a tough stretch. They don’t need to win all the games though. If the Washington Football Team can manage a few wins, they could stay in the playoff hunt. Games against the Broncos, Panthers, and Raiders are all extremely winnable. That’s three potential wins right there.
Seattle might be in a weird spot and might not be as dangerous as usual. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are the Chiefs but there is no denying they are struggling at the moment. Admittedly the Buccaneers and Packers aren’t going to be fun. Still though, if Washington can steal one of those games – they’re in good shape.
It’s asking a lot from a team that has not played up to expectations in nearly any aspect of the game this year. But if the Washington Football Team can win the “winnable” three games and steal at least one of the other four – they will walk out of this stretch 4-3 at the worst, and back to .500.
Then they’ll just have to handle business against the NFC East. This should at least give fans of the Washington Football Team something to watch at the end of the year. And isn’t that what we all want? Some meaningful games at the end of the season. I mean, the playoffs would be nice too – but that’s a story for another time.