That, folks, was a seven-nail loss for an eight-nail playoff coffin.

All that’s left is the you-never-know nail.

Washington could stumble multiple times and give the division away.

Stanford could gather itself and run the table.

Playoff contenders in other Power 5 conferences could lose unexpectedly.

You never know.

Is a team that just lost by 38 points capable of responding with a long winning streak? Unlikely, but … you never know.

It’s not like there are a slew of contenders blocking the Cardinal’s path:

Washington State has two losses, Notre Dame’s struggling, Oregon’s struggling. There’s no Utah, no Arizona State. Heck, Colorado just might be the best team Stanford faces over the final two months.

But right now … just a few days after Stanford was considered a potential semifinalist (both here and elsewhere) … the playoff picture looks as bleak as the Cardinal’s prospects for victory looked Friday night when the second half began.

We’ll dispense with playoff talk in this space until late October – and quite possibly for good.

Result: Lost at Washington 44-6

Grade: F

Comment: By my way of thinking, the most remarkable aspect of the bludgeoning wasn’t that Stanford averaged 1.0 yards per rush. It was that Stanford lost by 38 points without allowing a special teams touchdowns or a Pick 6 and yielding just seven points off turnovers.

*** It was, if you have paid any attention to Stanford over the past decade, a step back in time …

A step back to the 1980s and ’90s, when the powerhouse Huskies routinely walloped the out-manned Cardinal.

A step back to the wasted years of the mid-2000s under Buddy Teevens and Walt Harris, when Stanford was blown off the field with sunrise frequency.

And a step back to just a few weeks ago, to last season, and to so many recent seasons when the Cardinal overpowered opponents at the line of scrimmage.

All the beat downs Stanford has administered … well, that’s what happened to the Cardinal in Husky Stadium.

*** Yes, it was a difficult assignment: Back-to-back road games with a taxing front-end game, a short second week, an amped-up back-end opponent, a rowdy stadium — and without both starting cornerbacks, no less.

Would the outcome have been different if Stanford had an extra day to prepare and Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder in uniform?

Yes.

The Cardinal would have lost by 18 or 28 instead of 38.

Such was the depth of Washington’s dominance, especially at the point of attack, and the breadth of Stanford’s shortcomings physically and mentally.

David Shaw said after the game that his players weren’t rattled. They could have fooled me.

Penalties: 11.

Sacks allowed: Eight.

Yards-per-rush: 1.0

Looks of bewilderment: Many.

Baffling mistakes: Plenty.

(To name one: Coming out of the timeout prior to fourth-and-two, the Cardinal produced a broken play.)

Bad bounces: One.

(It it was significant: The deflected punt off the back of Ben Edwards early in the third quarter, which killed any chance Stanford had to get back in the game.)

Oh, and third-down conversions: Stanford was 2 of 12, Washington 9 of 12

*** Also worth noting:

Stanford has scored two offensive touchdowns in the past two games, and only one was truly meaningful: The game winner at UCLA. (Friday’s game was over when Ryan Burns hit JJ Arcega-Whiteside late in the third quarter TD.)

The issues, as I see them currently: The line has three new starters, just faced two of the best defensive fronts in the conference – maybe the best – and it isn’t controlling scrimmage.

Trent Irwin is good for a few chunk receptions each week, but Michael Rector isn’t part of the passing game, there is very little stretch-the-field action, and Bryce Love cannot find space to work.

Also, an offense that relies heavily on multiple-tight end sets has only one healthy tight end: Dalton Schultz.

Aside from the final drive in the Rose Bowl, Burns has done little to elevate the offense. Then again, he was under heavy pressure Friday night and has only one dependable playmaker.

*** The defense?

No doubt, Meeks and Holder were missed, but there are other problems:

No consistent edge rusher, one difference-maker on the line (Solomon Thomas), mediocre speed throughout the front seven, no punisher in the middle (i.e., Shayne Skov or Blake Martinez) and no outside linebacker capable of holding the edge.

That said, there are enough ingredients, when the secondary is healthy – it’s the most talented unit, by far — for the Cardinal to produce a top-third/top-half defense within the conference.

But top-third won’t cut it when the offense scores one touchdown per game.

Perspective is critical: Stanford is not nearly as bad as it looked Friday and could very well reel off a winning streak — that would come as no surprise.

But it must get the problems correctly, quickly.

Next up: vs. Washington State

The matchup: Can I get back to you in a few days, when there’s more clarity on the status of Holder and Meeks.

The Cougars are not the team you want to play without your starting CBs. They have one of the best quarterbacks (Luke Falk) and most sophisticated passing games in the conference.

WSU played Stanford as well as anyone last year, causing plenty of problems with the Air Raid and its pressure defense, which held up physically against the Cardinal.

Stanford was doomed until Kevin Hogan turned the game with his mobility. Burns isn’t quite ready for that — he’ll need help from someone other than McCaffrey.

*** Stanford opened as a 12.5-point favorite, but the number quickly dropped to 8.5.

Even that seems a bit high considering Stanford’s issues, WSU’s improvement since the opening weeks and the problems the Cougars present — problems that were so evident last year in Pullman.

If Holder and Meeks play and the Cardinal returns to its usual level of execution, Stanford should win a reasonably close game.

If they don’t, it could again go to the wire, and perhaps beyond.

*** Here’s episode 3 of the Hotline podcast, with guest Ralph Russo, the lead college football writer for the Associated Press. We discussed the national perception of the Pac-12, east coast bias, Heisman and top-25 voting and more.

*** Please note: The Hotline podcast is available on iTunes.