The Cult Of Colt: Going Beyond Any Reasonable Expectation

With just three weeks left scheduled in the regular season, the Washington Football Team seems on the brink of the unthinkable in 2020 — a playoff berth. On this edition of the Cult of Colt podcast, Gumbi and I keep it simple: how did we get here, and what’s still left to do?

It is nearly unfathomable to believe that as an unprecedented year heads into the home stretch, that Washington has positioned themselves in the driver's seat to play some postseason football. We discuss how everything has seemingly broken good for the burgundy and gold — playing in this current iteration of the NFC East has certainly been more than a boon — but also that we are watching a team grow, develop, progress, and come together in the way that, frankly you would hope and expect to see, all in a MUCH more condensed timeline than anyone could have anticipated. To that end, we break down what reasonable expectations were heading into the year, what we think Ron Rivera could have anticipated as a best-case scenario for this season, and whether or not he could have envisioned this team in the position they find themselves currently in.

While this has clearly been a team effort, there are some individual standouts that cannot go unmentioned. Chase Young is nothing short of the real deal. We take some time this week to talk about what we’re seeing from this young man (and how much we like about it) both on and off the field.

For the second week in a row, a member of the Washington special teams unit was recognized for their performance, as the GOAT Tress Way was named NFC Special Teams Player Of The Week, following Dustin Hopkins’ earning of that honor against the Steelers. In addition to showing love for one of the greats in today’s game, Gumbi shares his thoughts on the difficulties of punt returning, and I passed up no opportunity to talk about another ST WFT GOAT: Brian Mitchell.

With just those three contests left, we do the thing fans everywhere are doing and look at the road ahead not just for Washington, but to see what is in store for NFCE rivals. While Dallas has the most left to do and the longest odds, the Giants (who have the toughest remaining schedule in our estimation) are nipping at Washington’s heels for that divisional crown. Similarly, while the Eagles may be dead in the water by the time they face off against the WFT in the regular-season finale, there is no doubt that they will do everything in their power to prevent Washington from celebrating a playoff berth at the Linc.

We close things out with this week’s picks, chat a little bit about pumpkin beers, and briefly reflect on Brandon Banks.

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the Hogs Haven Podcast network on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify. (Also, we made a podcast Twitter! Follow us at @TheCultOfColt.)