Playoff Rooting Card: 6-0 or We Don't Go.

Ok I admit. I am crazy. I am a little high on cranberry sauce and a little low on perspective. I am a big man and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Plus the wife and I hosted both of our combined families over for the holiday, so the house is a mess and we are tired as hell. But as I settled in to watch in despair as the Cowboys crushed Tampa, I drifted back to last year’s magical 5 game run to end the season and a thought occurred to me.

We aren’t that far away from where we were last year at this time.

I ran to the computer and looked at the standings and sure enough a 9-7 team is real possibility for making the last wild card spot. A good possibility? No. But still there. And last year, with their backs against the wall losing to an underperforming Raider team the Redskins reeled off five straight to get into the playoffs. Yet this is not last year’s team. A young inexperienced QB, Portis is on IR, Moss is hurt, and the defense might as well not even take the field.

Yet when you look at the teams left vying for those two playoff spots. There is still hope. Not much hope, but hope none-the-less. Here is the breakdown by division:

NFC East: The Dallas Cowboys (7-4) are going to win the east, mark it down. Their experiment by going to Romo when they still had a chance for winning this year worked. The Giants (6-4) are slumping and we do play them one more time. They could finish 8-8 easily. The Eagles (5-5) are done without McNabb and if they are a .500 team with him, they are less without, and we play them one more time as well.

NFC North: Chicago can actually clinch the division this weekend. That is how bad the rest of the teams are. Green Bay (4-6) could go on a run if Favre plays superman, but it is doubtful. Minnesota (4-6) holds a head to head tiebreaker on us but have lost 4 straight and seam to be slumping back to where we thought they would be. Detroit (2-9) is done.

NFC South: Carolina and New Orleans (both 6-4) will battle it out for the division title. Odds are one of them will be the other Wild Card. Atlanta (5-5) could easily finish 8-8 due to Vick’s erratic nature and Mora’s inability to reign it in The good news is we play all of them and get head to head tiebreakers with any of them. Tampa (3-8) is done.

NFC West: Seattle (6-4) will likely win this as Hasslebeck and Alexander are coming back healthy. San Francisco (5-5) is troublesome because they are hot and in a weak division but they have some tough games ahead. St. Louis (4-6) have lost 5 straight and look to be a team on the ropes. Arizona (2-8) is what we always thought they were, losers.

So if the Redskins can somehow hope to actually win their final 6 games, the playoffs are not out of the question. With that in mind here is your playoff rooting card for this weekend:

Arizona (2-8) at Minnesota (4-6): An Arizona win here would make Minnesota need a miracle. Like us. Go Arizona.

Carolina (6-4) at Washington (3-7): We need a win and we need Carolina to lose. Perfect marriage in my opinion. Go Washington as always.

New Orleans (6-4) at Atlanta (5-5): Tough call here. New Orleans has the better record and the better team, Atlanta could catch fire at any moment. Since we play both of these coming up I am rooting for Atlanta to bring the whole division to 6-5. Go Atlanta.

San Francisco (5-5) at St. Louis (4-6): Ok another toughie. Either way the redskins benefit, but I think they benefit more from having both at 5-6. Go St. Louis.

NY Giants (6-4) at Tennessee (3-7): easy call. Hope that Vince Young and company can help us out and repay us for that win we gave them. Go Tennessee.

Philadelphia (5-5) at Indianapolis (9-1): The winter of the eagles Discontent starts here. Philly should unload on them. Go Indy.

Green Bay (4-6) at Seattle (6-4): Seattle should break out if it’s slump just in time to help us out. Go Seattle.

I know it would be a miracle for all of this to happen each and every week. I know it would be a miracle for our defense to just contain Steve Smith. I know it is crazy to even think about the playoffs at 3-7. And I know the redskins have shown us no signs to point to that they are even capable of doing what they need to do.

However today marks the first day of the Christmas season. And if the Redskins really want to give a gift to the fans, they can start with the gift of hope, by winning Sunday. And that would be something we would all be thankful for.