‘Dragged Through Gravel’: How Coach Ron Rivera & Washington Can Make Playoffs
The Washington Football Team currently has a six percent chance of making the playoffs. Despite unfavorable odds, there is a shot for WFT to make the postseason.
Washington's No. 1 priority is to win out. That'll boost the team's playoff hopes to 21 percent. If the WFT doesn't defeat the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend and New York Giants to close out the regular season, its playoff dreams can be put to bed.
"How you respond to it, how you bounce back, how you play, that tells more about you than anything," WFT coach Ron Rivera said after last week's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Washington will need some help along the way. Here's the best-case scenario:
- Atlanta Falcons lose to the Buffalo Bills (Week 17)
- Minnesota Vikings lose to the Green Bay Packers (Week 17)
- New Orleans Saints either lose to the Carolina Panthers (Week 17) or the Falcons (Week 18)
- Philadelphia Eagles lose to Dallas (Week 18)
Should that all happen, Washington will nab the seventh and final Wild Card.
The Bills, Packers and Cowboys are fighting for a higher playoff seed, and the Saints quarterback room is dealing with COVID-19 and injuries.
If New Orleans, San Francisco and Minnesota lose out, the WFT could finish with the sixth seed.
"You're going to get dragged through the gravel once in a while if you fight, but you dust yourself off, and you get up and then you go after them. That's what our mentality has to be," Rivera said. "It's going to be a challenge to us and how we handle ourselves. And quite honestly, it'll also be a great opportunity to evaluate our mental toughness individually and collectively as a team, just to see how we respond."
