Riggo's Rag » NFL playoffs

How powerful are the Redskins?

Frederick Brown — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 03:39:50 +0000

October 21, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan reacts on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of an NFL game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE

Week after week there are weak power rankings released by several different sources. I understand that predicting the outcome for 32 teams without knowledge of injuries or whether star players will play as expected is tough, but some of the inconsistency I have seen has been unbearable. The power ranking that I have followed the most has been the Pro 32 AP rankings. I like that it operates on a consistent point system similar to that of the NCAA which flusters the rankings a bit when upsets occur and places teams with winning records near the bottom if their wins aren’t impressive enough.

The AP ranking lists the Redskins #13 out of 32 teams, #8 out of the NFC teams, #2 in the NFC East. With the Redskins sitting at 3-4 and currently at the bottom of the NFC East, people may wonder how this conclusion was drawn. I’ll break it down for you. Of the Redskins four losses, there was only one double digit loss (Vikings 38-26). So for that reason let’s say that the Redskins could very easily have been sitting at 6-1 at this point. Every single game has come down to thrilling, competitive 4th quarter play in which Washington has come up on the short end of the stick. It appears that the voters are giving respect to the fact that it is just a matter of time when Washington pulls out some of these late game battles and translate them into some wins. According to the current rankings, the Redskins are projected to finish the season 6-3, which would give them a 9-7 overall record. This is a very obtainable goal and only one game off my 10-6 prediction. The only problem is that 9-7 may not be good enough to grant Washington a playoff spot in the NFC.

As a fan and a player, anything short of a championship is a failure. I believe that even with the defensive woes, Washington has a fighting chance to seriously contend for a strong playoff run. You have to remember that just because the best teams are in the playoffs, that doesn’t mean that you have to face them. The top seeds can be eliminated before we even reach them. It happens all the time. As dedicated members of Redskins Nation:

•Do you agree with the Redskins Current place in the power rankings?

•Would a 9-7 finish with no playoffs be acceptable since its a .500+ finish?

•Do you think the Redskins can contend for a Super Bowl this year?

After you place your answers in the comments, GO VOTE your favorite Redskins into the Pro Bowl and follow me on Twitter!

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The NFC playoff picture, Redskins squarely outside the frame

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:14:33 +0000

It’s about that time of the year when the NFL playoffs really start to take shape. This year’s picture is fuzzier than in the past, but in the NFC there are 9 teams that have separated themselves from the pack and will be fighting for 6 spots down to the final week. The Redskins of course are not one of those teams remaining in the hunt, and don’t deserve to be, but there are some other teams still fighting that also may not deserve to be in the picture.

NFC West

At the bottom of the pack record-wise are the Seattle Seahawks (6-6) and St. Louis Rams (6-6) vying for the prestigious title of NFC west champion, a home playoff game, and hopefully a trouncing by a much better wild card team. Yes it is true, these two teams that had a combined record of 6-26 last year and could very well finish at or below .500 by season’s end have the chance to play a first round playoff game at home. The Seahawks still have to play games both at home against the Falcons and at the Buccaneers, whereas the Rams face tough challenges against a good Chiefs team and at the Saints. Each team also plays division foe San Francisco and they face off against each other in the final game of the season.

Prediction: Everything points to this one coming down to the last week, both teams at 7-8 or worse (with possible wins over San Francisco) and the winner heading into a home playoff game at 8-8. The Rams crushed the Seahawks in St. Louis 20-3 in week 4, look for Seattle to return the favor at home (where they are 4-2, as opposed to a 2-4 road record for the Rams) in week 17 and we can all look forward to a first round playoff game at Qwest field.

The rest of the NFC after the jump… (more…)

NFL gives Titans’ Finnegan a pass

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:05:04 +0000

Johnson vs Finnegan photo by Associated Press

The aftermath of “The Incitement at Reliant” tells us one thing. A player can avoid suspension for instigating a throw down as long as his target throws back. Both Courtland Finnegan and Andre Johnson avoided suspensions while getting hit with $25,000 fines each.

The NFL has traditionally avoided suspending two players engaged in a physical altercation. The rationale being a players helmet protects them from potential harmful blows, thus the hazard is minimized. However when the helmets came off in Houston on Sunday, the league missed wide right on creating a new precedent. Instead, they ended up reinforcing an image that they have aggressively tried to avoid in recent history.