As ESPN’s John Keim writes, one key stretch of games against playoff-claiber teams could make or break Washington’s season.<\/p>\n
“Washington finishes the regular season with four consecutive NFC East games — two vs. the Eagles in three weeks in addition playing at the Giants and home vs. Dallas,” Keim writes<\/a>. “If the Commanders need to make up ground, they can do it here. And then you can stretch it out another week because their finish begins with a road game at Minnesota. That means they’ll play three games vs. teams that made the postseason in 2024 — two of which are against the Super Bowl champion. Heck, the Commanders play Denver, another playoff team, the week before Minnesota.”<\/p>\n Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. (3) sacks Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5).\u00a9 Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/p>\n So, if the Commanders aren’t able to bank wins early in the year, then playing catch-up in the later months might be a tough proposition.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That’s not to say Washington doesn’t have the talent to do so, because they do, but the last thing the franchise will want is for its season to come down to the last three games of the year (two vs. Eagles, one vs. Cowboys) in order for it to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n So it is a defining stretch late in the season that could determine how successful or not Daniels and Co. are in Year 2.<\/p>\n Related: Commanders Dan Quinn Praises General Manager<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/a156cfc7bcd2e7dbfb0aa06e50691a84.jpeg\"\/)
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