Redskins playoff scenarios: Best way is win and in

In response to multiple requests, here are the Redskins’ playoff scenarios.

NFC East

Yes, the Cowboys lost today and the Giants, as of this writing, seemed destined to lose to the Ravens. But the Redskins do not clinch the division today. And they can’t if they lose next week to the Cowboys.  

The Redskins must beat Dallas next week to win the NFC East. Period.

If they beat Dallas they will win the division because of the best overall. If they lose to Dallas they will lose the tiebreaker to them. They will have split head to head and they both would have 4-2 division records. The next tiebreaker is best record in common games. The Cowboys have that tiebreaker.

Some believe that the tiebreaker after division record is conference record. It is not, check this link.

If the Giants do lose to the Ravens they can’t win the division. Even if they beat the Eagles next week and the Cowboys beat the Redskins, they are out of the three-way tiebreaker pool with their 3-3 division record.

Wild card

If the Redskins do lose to the Cowboys next week, they could win a wild card but they would need some help.

Assuming that the Bears keep their substantial lead over the Cardinals, they would move to 9-6 along with the Vikings. Seattle is 9-5 and they play tonight against the 49ers.

The good news for the Redskins is that they would hold tiebreakers over all of those teams if they finish at 9-7. The bad news is that they need help if those teams are going to finish with nine wins.

So one team between the Vikings, Bears, and Seahawks can get to 10 wins and the Redskins can still make the playoffs. But if two do, a 9-7 Redskins team is out.

If the Redskins are going to go in as a wild card at 9-7, the Vikings and Bears both need to lose next Sunday or if the Seahawks drop their final two, either the Vikings or Bears would need to lose next Sunday.

That’s a lot of help that would be needed. The win and in is obviously the preferred scenario. 

Comments

[D]

you're missing one scenario, unfortunately....

the tie-breaker for wildcards go head-to-head, then conference wins. the giants play the eagles next week. if the redskins lose next week and the giants win (which is likely), they'll have more conference wins and a tied record... so they'd also be a wildcard bid before the redskins.

[Rich Tandler]

Nope. Division tiebreakers go first if teams tied for WC are in same division. Check the link in the post.