Steve Kornacki joins Kickoff Live, talks playoff probabilities originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
It's Week 15 in the NFL and the playoff chase is heating up for the NFC East. Enter MSNBC political analyst Steve Kornacki, who joined the Washington Football Kickoff Live show (tune in at 10 a.m. Sunday) to discuss Washington's path to the postseason.
"To me, this is one of those hinge-point moments in the playoff race," Kornacki said, "because I think Washington can win, but they'd be pulling an upset. You look at who the Giants play in Cleveland, you look at who Philadelphia play in Arizona, there's a decent chance at least one, very likely both of those teams, could lose this weekend."
If both the Giants and Eagles both lose their respective Week 15 contests, there's no question coach Ron Rivera's team gains a stronghold on the division. Against difficult opposition, Washington could be looking down at the standings at a 5-9 Giants team and a 4-9-1 Eagles squad.
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"If Washington gets an unexpected win, both those teams lose, I think those playoff probabilities will be through the roof," Kornacki said. We already have it at somewhere around 70%. I think at that point they'd be in a very, very close to a lock situation."
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Of course, Washington still has to play the Eagles during Week 17 of the regular season. While things could already be decided by then, pulling off an upset against the Seahawks won't be easy considering they've already gotten upset by the Giants a couple weeks back.
"The flip side to that is if Washington loses and one of the other teams, or even both of those other teams, pick up a win, the Giants can knock off Cleveland and Philly is suddenly getting hot with Jalen Hurts to beat Arizona, I think there would be a pretty dramatic change in those numbers," Kornacki said. I think there's a possibility there's a three-team race after this weekend, and there's a possibility where Washington runs away with it."
