It’s been a rocky road out of the gate for Washington and the Commanders playoff odds in Year Four of the Ron Rivera era.
The team has split its first four regular season games and is sitting third in the NFC East. After Sunday’s tough-luck 34-31 overtime loss to Philadelphia, the Commanders enter a Thursday night showdown against 0-4 Chicago looking to right the ship on their season.
Oddsmakers at Caesars Sportsbook Virginia have Washington as a 6.5-point home favorite. Utilizing Champs or Chumps, BetVirginia.com looked at how teams ended the season after starting 2-2 since 2012. There have been 110 teams to start 2-2 in the last 10 years.
Performance Of NFL Teams Starting 2-2
The Commanders Super Bowl odds are +12500, tied with New England and Indianapolis. Only seven teams in the NFL have worse championship odds.
History Favorable for 2-2 Teams
Based on the 110 NFL teams that started the year 2-2, there’s no reason to suspect the Commanders can’t right the ship and get into the playoffs. Since 2012, 40% of the teams that split their first four games reached the playoffs at year’s end, though Washington’s brutal strength of schedule won’t help matters much.
According to Sharp Football Analysis, the Commanders have the ninth toughest strength of schedule in the NFL, playing Chicago, Philadelphia, the New York Giants, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas at home, to go with road games against Atlanta, the Giants, New England, Seattle, Dallas, the L.A. Rams and the New York Jets.
Still, with Washington a Virginia sports betting favorite to win Thursday, there’s a good chance it will enter its Week 6 road game against the Falcons at 3-2. With a win over the Falcons, they’ll enter a stretch of three road contests in four weeks, setting the stage for a “make or break” moment.
