Washington fans will be hoping the Giants lose on Sunday (without actually rooting for the Eagles to win)

Fan Confidence

In this week’s Reacts survey, confidence tailed off slightly. A week ago, it was at a year-long high of 85%; this week it dropped to 78%, which is the 4th highest confidence level of 2022.

With the team playing well and keeping itself in the midst of the NFC playoff picture in mid-December, the 15-20% of fans who continue to choose the “No” option in answer to the confidence question seem, for the most part to be focused on the team ownership situation.

Hopefully, things are proceeding smoothly with the sale of the team. I’m counting on the idea that no news is good news, and that Snyder and the NFL are simply waiting till the Commanders season is over (so, the Super Bowl) before making any announcement about details of the sale process or results.

Winning off the field

With Washington’s players and coaches enjoying a bye this week, the fans can take a breath between back-to-back games against the New York Giants, who have the daunting task of taking on the Philadelphia Eagles for the first time this season. DraftKings currently has the Eagles installed as 7-point favorites.

Of course, the Eagles were 11-point favorites when they lost to the Commanders by 11 points in mid-November — a game that Washington controlled with a total commitment to the run game, and a +2 turnover differential.

The Giants are capable of playing the same type of game. New York 149.7 rushing yards per game (6th in the NFL) and ranks 8th in turnover differential (of course, Philly ranks 1st).

In any event, Commanders fans won’t be rooting for the upset. If the Giants lose to the Eagles on Sunday, then they will fall to 7-5-1, the same as Washington, but the Commanders would take over the 7th seed in the NFC on the basis of a superior conference record (4-4-1 vs 3-5-1). Washington can actually end up in the 6th seed position if the Giants and Seahawks both lose this week.

National fan game predictions

NFL Fans nationally, who voted in the weekly email survey, are predicting the Eagles victory that Washington fans will be anticipating, if not actually rooting for (you know...rooting for the Eagles can’t be a thing), but those same fans don’t have the same confidence in the Carolina Panthers (who are 4.5-point underdogs) to hang a loss on Seattle.

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The Rams have already provided the first surprise of Week 14 on Thursday Night Football with Baker Mayfield cloning the Week 13 Monday Night Football performance of Tom Brady.

Hopefully the Panthers come up with a similar surprise, and the Giants don’t.

Interesting stat of the week: Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington are all ranked in the top-6 in yards per game allowed. All four defenses in the division are ranked in the top-12 in points allowed.

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