5 Commanders reality checks for must-win Week 16 game at San Francisco

After squandering two massive opportunities to put a stranglehold on a playoff berth, the Washington Commanders now find themselves in the unenviable position of traveling to San Fransisco, on a short week, really needing a win against an appreciable superior opponent on extra rest.

Call me crazy, but that’s not the position you want to be in after you could have essentially clinched a playoff berth by beating a reeling division opponent off your bye week.

But, in the NFL, crazy results happen every week, so the Commanders will take that flight to San Fransisco believing they have a chance…as well they should. Can they salvage their postseason hopes with an unlikely upset of the hottest team in football? Can they right the wrongs of two underwhelming performances against the aggressively mediocre New York Giants with an unexpected victory against Kyle Shanahan and his oddly efficient third-string rookie QB?

The reality is, it’s a tall order…but if they’re going to pull it off, here are five specific reality checks to consider:

5 Commanders reality checks for Week 16

5. The Reality is your 11 best defenders definitely doesn’t include Daniel Wise or Jon Bostic.

Washington’s defensive plan for the last two weeks against New York weirdly included a decent amount of snaps for both Jon Bostic and David Mayo, while being conspicuously low on the “Cinco” 5-man defensive front and the 4-safety look the team had been successfully employing ever since Cole Holcomb was injured.

Let’s be clear. Jon Bostic, Daniel Wise and David Mayo seem like good dudes…hard workers, good teammates, valuable members of the organization. Set aside the embarrassing ankle-breaking missed tackle by Bostic on Sunday (that could happen to a lot of players on any given play), they are NOT, under any circumstances, members of the best 11 players this team can suit up for any given play. Jack Del Rio must abandon the use of multiple linebacker sets, and simply rotate in the best combinations of his best 13 players as much as possible if this team is going to hang on to that No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs.

Allen, Payne, Sweat, Ridgeway, Smith-Williams, Jamin Davis, Cam Curl, Benjamin St. Juste, Kendall Fuller, Bobby McCain, Darrick Forrest. That’s your best 11. Rotate in Casey Toohill and Efe Obada on the D-Line and sprinkle in Chase Young on whatever pitch count he’s on, and that’s your defense. Any play where guys like Daniel Wise, Percy Butler, Christian Holmes, and especially Bostic and David Mayo are playing is a play where you’re asking Kyle Shanahan to exploit your obvious weakness…don’t do it, Jack.