Five ways the Washington football team can make the playoffs

Full disclosure: I do not think the Washington football team will make the playoffs.

I think the Washington football team will go 5-11, and have another early pick to help build on the additions of talent they’ve made in previous years. I think that, despite showing growth over the course of the year, they will not compete for a divisional win or a wild card spot.

But the point of this article is not to predict, and instead to speculate. Because until the season starts, all you shameless homers out there can still speculate about how the team might be able to make the playoffs — “Well, if Jason Garrett reveals himself to be the true Cowboys coach, and if 47 Eagles players opt out…” — Stuff like that.

All joking aside — and I say this reluctantly, so don’t you dare take it out of context — there are several semi-realistic scenarios that could help the Washington football team compete, if they occur in conjunction with one another. And the fun of the offseason is to speculate and think with optimism, because once the regular season rolls around, you might not get the chance.

So with that being said, let’s take ourselves to that alternate reality where the Washington Redwolves have just gone 11-5 and are on their way to playing the Buccaneers and star quarterback Brady Thomas in Round One. If the Washington football team was a playoff team in 2020, what would that look like? Let’s take a look at the five things that could lead to that.