The Lions have played two of the best teams in the NFL so far this season and now they have to deal with the very physical Washington Redskins who come to town.  The Lions should give the ball to Kevin Smith as much as possible in this football game.  Sure, the Redskins have MLB London Fletcher and DT Albert Haynesworth but that hasn’t stopped opposing teams from averaging 114.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this season.  If the Lions can get the running game going that would set up some play action passing for Matt Stafford who can pound the ball downfield to Calvin Johnson who the Redskins will no doubt be double covering.  The Lions must control the clock with their running game and short passing game if they want to win this Sunday.

The Redskins were in a tooth and nail battle last week with the terrible St. Louis Rams winning only 9-7 at home.  That is bad news for the Lions as they will not overlook them this week.  The Redskins like to run the football and Clinton Portis (141 yards rushing) and Ladell Betts will likely run all over the Lions’ D which is allowing 134.5 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry so far this season.  The Redskins could decide to pass to get the lead and then grind the game with the running game.  The Lions are allowing 255.5 yards passing per game this season and opposing QBs have a 134.9 rating against them this year. 

PREDICTION:  WASHINGTON REDSKINS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10