Commanders Playoff Odds Watch: Rooting Guide for Week 12
By Jerry Trotta
Don’t look now, but the Washington Commanders have won five of their last six games following a 1-4 start and are pounding on the door of the NFC playoff picture.
With the New York Giants getting further depleted by injury — they lost Adoree Jackson and Wan’Dale Robinson in their Week 11 loss to Detroit — and facing a brutal schedule to close the season, it’d be a disappointment if the Commanders didn’t leapfrog their division rivals by season’s end.
Of course, all of the dominos falling in Washington’s favor mean nothing if they don’t handle their own business. The Commanders have a winnable game against the Falcons, who are 5-6 and fully entrenched in the playoff race, on Sunday. Win that game, and Washington’s playoff odds will improve dramatically.
While Ron Rivera gets his players ready for the game, fans will undoubtedly be scoreboard watching around the NFC from here on out. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what (and who) fans should be rooting for this weekend.
Commanders playoff rooting guide for Week 12
NY Giants at Dallas Cowboys (Thanksgiving)
Commanders fans will get nauseous at the thought of rooting for the Cowboys. However, Dallas is seemingly hitting its stride at the right time after steamrolling the Vikings 40-3 on the road in Week 11. While both the Cowboys and Giants sit at 7-3, the Giants are much more catchable in the playoff standings.
If Dallas holds serve at home on Thanksgiving, New York would fall to 7-4 with games against Washington, Philadelphia, Washington and Minnesota on deck. Given all of their injuries and overall lack of talent, the Giants are seemingly in danger of crashing out of the playoff picture entirely by Week 17.
With New York fresh off a humbling home loss to the Lions, the Commanders desperately need Dallas to kick the G-Men while they’re down.
#Giants CB Adoree' Jackson is out 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain, source said. Rough loss, even rougher injury day for the GMen.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 21, 2022
Las Vegas Raiders at Seattle Seahawks (4:05 pm EST)
The Seahawks currently hold the final playoff spot in the NFC, so Washington diehards will be Raiders supporters for the weekend. Seattle currently -3.5 favorites, but the Raiders (finally) have some wind in their sails after they toppled the Broncos with a walk-off touchdown in overtime in Week 11.
The Seahawks are a different team at home (3-1 for the season), but the last time we saw them in Week 10 they were outplayed by the Bucs in Germany. It’ll be interesting to see how Pete Carroll’s group responds back in front of their raucous home crowd, but Las Vegas has the necessary offensive firepower to pull off the upset.
New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers (4:25 pm EST)
This one can go either way. Fans have to ask themselves if they’d rather San Francisco put the final nail in New Orleans’ coffin, or the Saints to win to put the 49ers — the current leaders in the NFC West — back in the Wild Card mix.
Ideally, New Orleans wins so the 49ers, who seem poised for another deep playoff run with all their weapons on offense, fall back to the pack. Like Seattle, the Saints are a different team at home, and they’ll unfortunately be tasked with beating San Francisco on the road at Levi’s Stadium.
Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles (SNF)
An Eagles loss would be pretty cool, as it’d open the door in the NFC East, and humbling the ever-corny Nick Sirianni would be a welcome sight for any Washington fan. The Eagles have started leaking oil in recent weeks (Commanders got that train rolling), but another Packers loss would all but eliminate Aaron Rodgers and company from contention.
What would you rather see, Commanders fans? Another loss for the Eagles? Or another team removed from the race altogether?
I’d side with the latter, but it’s a win-win situation nonetheless.
