Former Vikings quarterback could keep his old team out of the playoffs

Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Taylor Heinicke led the Washington Football Team to a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

With quarterback Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Football Team defeating the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, the Minnesota Vikings have now dropped to the No. 8 seed in the NFC, meaning they would miss the playoffs if the season ended today.

Since Week 2, Heinicke has been the starting quarterback for Washington, and he’s helped lead the team to five wins in 10 starts.

The former Vikings passer doesn’t put up monster numbers, but Washington has still been able to remain in playoff contention with him starting under center.

Could Washington Football Team QB Taylor Heinicke keep the Minnesota Vikings out of the playoffs?

Four weeks ago, Washington was sitting with a 2-6 record, and any thoughts of making the postseason this year seemed far-fetched.

But since returning from their bye, Washington has won their last three games in a row, including a big upset over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10, and now they’re right back in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs.

During this three-game stretch, Heinicke has completed 77.5 percent of his passes, thrown five touchdowns and just one interception, averaged 228.3 passing yards per contest, and compiled an impressive passer rating of 112.8.

His passer rating during the last three weeks has actually been better than the current starting quarterback of his former team, Kirk Cousins, during the same time period (112.8).

If Heinicke and Washington are able to keep up their winning ways, they could prevent Minnesota from getting a spot in this season’s playoffs.

The Vikings have an easier remaining schedule (seventh-easiest in the NFL), but it’s not like Washington has to go through a gauntlet either.

Next week, Washington faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-3 in their last four games), then they end their season with two matchups against the Dallas Cowboys (also 1-3 in their four contests), two games against the Philadelphia Eagles (winless vs. the NFC East this year), and a season-finale against the New York Giants (2-2 in their last four).

Needless to say, Washington is going to be a team that the Vikings and their fans are likely going to be paying attention to during the next few weeks as the NFC playoff picture sorts itself out.