The Road Ahead

Redskins Are in Playoff Hunt With Stiff Competition on the Horizon

During the stretch drive, New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick never wants to be asked about his team's playoff possibilities -- and that goes for his players, too.

"That's not the reason we won three Super Bowls," said Redskins wide receiver David Patten, who played for Belichick on all those Patriots championship teams. "But he never talked about anything except what was happening that week. He always would say, 'If you're looking at the playoffs, you won't get to the playoffs.' He said, 'Only the present matters.' That was his whole mantra."

In Washington a year later, Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs and many of his players are taking a different tack. With a 5-3 record at the halfway point and the Redskins tied with Dallas for second place, a game behind the New York Giants in the NFC East, few of them have any qualms about talking about the excitement of still being in the hunt for the team's first playoff berth since 1999.

"It's excitement for us, for our team, for our fans," Gibbs said last week. "I know it's a lift to the coaching staff. . . . NFC battles are raging all over the place, and it'll be week to week. It's a much better position to be in, feeling like you're fighting for it rather than having to come off the floor."

Quarterback Mark Brunell said the playoffs are definitely "in the back of everyone's mind. At 5-3, at least you're in the running. It's not something you think about or predict, but it's something that needs to be on the minds of everyone. Tampa Bay is 5-3, and our mentality has to be whether we're going against a 5-3 or a 1-7 team, on any week a team can come in and hit you right in the mouth."

Added tackle Jon Jansen, "You've got to think about the playoffs, and it's not a goal we're afraid to talk about."

The Redskins at this point are very much a contender, either for the division title or a wild-card berth. They seem to have put their dismal 36-0 loss to the Giants two weeks ago behind them and also know their final three games of the regular season, all against NFC East rivals (two at home against Dallas and the Giants before the season finale at Philadelphia on Jan. 1) likely will decide their postseason fate.

The schedule is definitely in their favor. The Bucs' offense, led by inexperienced Chris Simms, has sputtered in two straight losses, and the Redskins know securing a second road victory today will be critical to their postseason hopes. They then have back-to-back home games, with four of their last seven at FedEx Field, where they're 4-0. They play St. Louis (4-4) and woeful Arizona (2-6) on the road.

But six of their last eight games also will be played against teams still very much in the playoff mix. In a conference in which a 9-7 record likely will not be enough to get a wild-card spot, another 5-3 mark in the second half seems almost mandatory.

Unless they were to win the division, the Redskins' chances are intertwined with the fortunes of others. Serious contenders in the NFC include the entire NFC East, though 4-4 Philadelphia's chances of getting back in the race without suspended wide receiver Terrell Owens seem diminished. The Eagles will know far more about their playoff possibilities in the next two weeks -- they entertain Dallas tomorrow night and travel to the Meadowlands the following week to take on the Giants. After that, four of their last six games will be at home, but it may be too late, especially with games against contending teams such as Seattle, the Giants, Rams and Redskins.

The Giants, riding a three-game winning streak, face a far more difficult second half. Their opponents in the first eight weeks were a combined 31-35. Their foes in the second half are 35-29 and four of their last six games will be on the road, with trips to Seattle and Oakland.

After Minnesota at home today, they'll also have what could be a season-defining four-game stretch against the visiting Eagles, on the road in Seattle, at home against the Cowboys and on the road at Philadelphia. If the Redskins and Giants stay close, their Christmas eve game at FedEx Field might mean in or out for either team.