Depleted Redskins still eyeing a playoff run

“We’ve got to keep winning,” safety D.J. Swearinger said. (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

Josh Norman believes, even if you don’t.

There are more than enough reasons to write off him and the rest of the Washington Redskins, more than enough injuries and erratic play to assume they’re destined to stumble toward the finish line of the regular season. But despite all of those setbacks and their many self-inflicted wounds, Norman remains confident that he and his teammates can still make the playoffs.

“Why would you not?” the cornerback asked, flashing a smile.

In the aftermath of an ugly, mistake-prone affair with the reeling Giants (2-9) — a prime time matchup that featured quarterback Kirk Cousins getting sacked six times and throwing a pick-six interception — there was nothing but optimism circulating through a buoyant Redskins locker room on Thanksgiving night.

[Redskins turn back hapless Giants, keep flickering playoff hopes alive]

All that mattered to Jay Gruden’s players was the final score — 20-10 — and what’s lies ahead: another Thursday night showdown with an NFC East rival, this time, the Dallas Cowboys.
It’ll be the third game in 12 days for the Redskins. But it also will serve as another chance for players to prove they can fight through hardships together, as a team, and be victorious.

“When you come out here and you still have those injuries and you put teams away, that again speaks for itself,” Norman said. “So if we can continue this, with the injuries that we have, nobody has anything (negative) to say about our team.

“We’ve just got to keep going, and just keep fighting. Because at the end of the day, we’ve just got to be resilient. I think that’s the thing that’s going to determine our team. Resiliency. If we can have that … with the guys that went down, then you’ve got to put us up there. You really do.”

The likelihood of the Redskins (5-6) making the playoffs is slim considering the landscape of the NFC playoff picture. The Philadelphia Eagles (9-1), Minnesota Vikings (9-2), New Orleans Saints (8-2) and Los Angeles Rams (7-3) are currently atop their respective divisions, while the Carolina Panthers (7-3) and Atlanta Falcons (6-4) are, at the moment, in good position to earn the two wild-card spots up for grabs. Meanwhile, six other teams — Seattle (6-4), Detroit (6-5), Green Bay (5-5), Dallas (5-6), Arizona (4-6) and Tampa Bay (4-6) — are all in the wild-card hunt with the Redskins.

“We’ve got to keep winning,” safety D.J. Swearinger said, reiterating his confidence in Washington’s ability to make a postseason run. “This last stretch, these last five games, we’ve got to be on point. Every game is a playoff game from here on out if we want to make a run. So we’ve just got to stay the course.”

Each week, the length of the Redskins’ injured reserve list grows. And each week, Gruden is charged with plugging roster holes with backups and unproven no-names. The Redskins are the walking wounded, a team that has featured 23 different offensive starters this season — tied for most in NFL. But adversity hasn’t weakened their resolve. Not even after last week’s crushing 34-31 overtime-loss in New Orleans.

“Confidence is the key to everything, no matter who you’re facing that week, regardless of who you have on the field with injuries,” Norman said. “Everybody seems to be on IR. It’s the craziest thing ever.

“But guys come in off the street, they get plugged in and the next couple of days they’re playing a football game — against stars. It’s the craziest thing ever. And they’re holding their own. And we’re out here balling. … Sometimes we blow those [leads], but tonight we didn’t.”

Their head coach, however, did his best to steer the conversation away from postseason chatter. “We have to take one game at a time — ‘Coach speak’ obviously, but there’s no way you can even look forward to the playoffs right now,” Gruden said. “We have a great game against the Dallas Cowboys who came in here and beat us last time so we take one game at a time and after the season we’ll see where we stand.”

Getting a win against on Thursday night was paramount. But if the Redskins hope to have any shot of sneaking into the playoffs, they’ll need to be far more productive and efficient than were against the equally depleted Giants.

“We can’t waver,” Norman said. “I’m tired of this good-bad-good. We’ve got to keep going in the right direction.”

And if Washington somehow is able to pull off the improbable over the next month, it’s “going to make this thing so much better,” Norman added. “And make this thing so much [more] special.”

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