The 5 O’Clock Club: A look at Redskins 2018 opponents, past & future

The 5 o’clock club is published Wednesday to Saturday during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

Looking visually at the Redskins’ 2018 wins & losses

I look at the games that the Redskins have played this season, and here’s what I see:

What I see here is a pattern that is only broken by one team: the Falcons.

• Cardinals 2-9, 3rd place - Win
• NY Giants 3-8, 4th place - Win
• Buccaneers 4-7, 4th place - Win
• Packers 4-6-1, 3rd place - Win
• Panthers 6-5, 2nd place - Win
• Cowboys 6-5, 1st place - Win (1), Loss (1)

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• Colts 6-5, 2nd place - Loss
• Texans 8-3, 1st place - Loss
• Saints 10-1, 1st place - Loss
• Falcons 4-7, 3rd place - Loss

Three Redskins opponents sit at 6-5 currently. The Redskins have split games with those teams 2-2.

The Texans and Saints are both in 1st place, one has 8 wins, the other 10 wins. The Redskins lost to both teams.

The Redskins have played 5 teams with a sub-.500 record. All 5 teams are in 3rd or 4th place in their respective divisions. The Redskins are 4-1 against those teams.

What conclusions do I draw from this analysis?

The Redskins win when they play a sub .500 team (one exception: Atlanta).

The Redskins lose when they play a team that is 2 or more games over .500.

The Redskins split with teams that are 6-5.

What does the remaining schedule look like?

• Eagles (twice) 5-6, 3rd place
• Giants 3-8, 4th place
• Jaguars 5-6, 3rd place
• Titans 3-8, 4th place

That’s five games against 4 teams with sub .500 records, all of whom are in 3rd or 4th place in their divisions.

That’s 5 wins, according to my visual analysis.

The Falcons game says that there can be one exception, so let’s call it 4-1, for a final record of 10-6.

I’m excited!

Here’s what the NFC looks like right now:

If the season ended today, the Saints, Rams, Bears and Cowboys would go to the playoffs as division champs, while the Vikings & Redskins would go as Wildcard teams.

This week:

• The Bears are at the Giants
• The Cowboys host the Saints
• The Vikings visit the Patriots
• The Redskins go to Philly
• The Seahawks host the 49ers
• The Panthers are at the Tampa Bay