Week 16 Reality Checks – Washington at Dallas

Two losses ago, the Washington Football Team was in sixth place in the NFC and poised to make a run into the playoffs. Then Covid-19 began to strike. Then the first half against Dallas happened. Then Covid-19 hit harder. Then a depleted team with  an emergency QB got manhandled in Philly, and Washington now finds itself with the slimmest of remaining hopes to salvage their season.

It’s never good when you’re 10.5-pt underdogs in a must-win game on the road. It’s also never good to be the team playing less than half of your original starting offensive lineup against your rivals. Likely to be missing from the “intended” starting 11 for the season offensively when they suit up in Dallas the day after Christmas? QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, WR Curtis Samuel, C Chase Roullier, RG Brandon Scherff, RB JD McKissic, RB Antonio Gibson, TE Logan Thomas. Add to that the triage unit the defense has been, and it’s not hard to figure out how this team is sitting at 6-8 with single-digit odds of rebounding back into the playoffs.

Washington Football Team Week 16 Reality Checks

There is nothing to suggest that Washington has what it takes to beat Dallas in this game. They were undermanned against Dallas when they were 100% healthy. They are nowhere near that now. If Washington manages to pull out a win in Dallas on Sunday, it will be one of the most improbable victories this rivalry has seen.

What’s it going to take? For one, it’s going to take following Jon Allen’s example and not making any excuses.

With that in mind, this week’s Reality Checks take the form of five keys to victory for the Burgundy and Gold.