The Washington Football Team are back in the playoff hunt after their third consecutive victory. Washington beat the Seattle Seahawks 17-15 in this week’s Monday Night Football game. In doing so, they moved to 5-6, and into the seventh and final NFC Wild Card Playoff position.
It took a late intercepted two-point conversion from Kendall Fuller and an overturned onside kick to finally get the win. But Washington did it mostly by keeping Russell Wilson off the field.
T.O.P
Washington had the ball for an astounding 41:40 of the game’s 60 minutes. Seattle had the ball for just 18:20. That’s a 23-minutes-plus difference in time of possession, or the equivalent of a quarter and a half.
The Football Team’s running game was largely responsible for the ball-hogging of course, with Antonio Gibson posting his best numbers of the season with 111 yards rushing on a career high 29 carries. J.D. McKissic also had 43 yards (and two touchdowns) before being carted off the field. The two accounted for more than 40 touches and almost 2/3 of the team’s offensive plays.
The other element responsible for the ball control, was a great game from the Washington defense. They held Wilson in check for almost the entire game, though he did make some plays late. A constant struggle this year for the WFT defense has been third downs, but on Monday Night, Washington held Seattle to converting just 1/3 of them. Furthermore, they forced three-and-outs from the Seahawks on five consecutive drives.
Taylor Heinicke helped things along with a steady hand. He finished 27-of-35 for 223 yards, and he continues to gain chemistry with the rest of the offense.
Playoff Hunt
Washington entered the weekend in twelfth spot in the playoff hunt. To move up into seventh required just about everything going right on the schedule for them. And it did.
Now that they are there, they can set their sights on trying to win the division. That’s not that far-fetched. If Dallas lose this week and Washington secure their fourth straight victory, they will play each other in Week 14 and the victor would be leading the NFC East.
Washington will face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13.
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