The Washington Commanders are on the road against the New York Giants for their final stretch of four NFC East games, with a lot on the line.
They aren’t playing for a playoff spot, but Dan Quinn can’t afford to end the season on a 12-game losing streak. The Commanders also have a major offseason ahead, and need the best draft pick possible to help rebuild the roster.
The Commanders’ matchup against the Giants, who currently have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, will heavily impact where they pick in April. That’s not the only game, though; many others will have a significant impact on their strength of schedule. The Commanders currently have the sixth-overall pick in the draft, with a strength of schedule of .511 heading into Week 15.
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Browns @ Bears
The Commanders’ outcome will obviously have a huge impact on their draft position, depending on their record, but the tiebreaker goes to whoever has the lower SOS, so they need teams on their schedule to keep losing more. The Chicago Bears beat the Commanders earlier in the season, and they don’t play the Cleveland Browns, so they need the Browns’ defense to have another lights-out game and get the upset.
This is one of the more unlikely outcomes to happen, so don’t bank on this one as much as some of the others. Anything is possible, though, and Myles Garrett is chasing a record and will have Caleb Williams on the run early and often.
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Raiders @ Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are down bad right now, but not bad enough to lose to the Las Vegas Raiders like the Commanders need them to. The Raiders are the favorites to land the No. 1 overall pick, and this would be the upset of the season. The Commanders play the Eagles twice in the last three weeks, so the more losses by the Eagles, the better for lowering the Commanders’ strength of schedule.
The city of Philadelphia will implode if they lose to the Raiders, so there’s a much better chance the Commanders actually lose to the Eagles twice. The Eagles also have a huge matchup against the Buffalo Bills in between the Commanders’ games, and they need to lose that game as well.
Lions @ Rams
This looks and feels like a playoff game with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams facing off again in another Jared Goff vs Matt Stafford showdown. The Commanders need the Rams to win this game, since they played the Lions earlier in the season.
The Rams look like the more complete team, and they’re playing at home. This might be one of the games to feel the best about with the Rams needing to protect their No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
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Colts @ Seahawks
This looked like a great game before Daniel Jones went down for the season. Now, the Commanders need a miracle from Phillip Rivers, who is making an insane return. The Commanders got blown out by the Seattle Seahawks weeks ago, so they need the Indianapolis Colts to get an upset on the road, which likely won’t happen. The next two games could get interesting, though.
Vikings @ Cowboys
The Commanders lost to the Dallas Cowboys once already, and they’ll have them again on Christmas Day. We all saw them get blown out 31-0 against the Minnesota Vikings last week, and maybe the Vikings will carry that over to beat the Cowboys, which the Commanders need. Yes, the Vikings’ record impacts their strength of schedule, but the Cowboys’ record impacts it more since they play them twice.
The Cowboys’ defense is still horrible, despite their offense being one of the best in the league. The Vikings are the complete opposite, so we have no idea how this will turn out.
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Dolphins @ Steelers
The Commanders lost to the Miami Dolphins a few weeks ago in Madrid, Spain, which might have been a blessing, looking back at this nightmare of a season with no hopes of the playoffs. The Pittsburgh Steelers are fighting to hang onto a spot in the playoffs, and the Commanders need them to handle the Dolphins at home, which is very likely to happen.
The Commanders need a handful of outcomes in Week 15 to happen to boost their draft stock to help them make the proper moves this offseason to get back on track.
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.