The Redskins played their butts off yesterday in Philly but they just came up a tad short.  Jason Campbell was effective yesterday completing 22 of 37 passes for 231 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 2 yards (1.0 ypc) with a TD run.  Rock Cartwright did not have a good game rushing for 38 yards on 15 carries (2.5 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 avg).  Quinton Ganther pitched in with 32 yards rushing on 5 carries (6.4 ypc) yesterday.  Malcolm Kelly (2 rec, 50 yards), Devin Thomas (4 rec, 46 yards), Fred Davis (4 rec, 43 yards, TD) and Santana Moss (4 rec, 28 yards, TD) all pitched in on the passing game for the Redskins yesterday and it was a good sign.  The Redskins finished up with 303 total yards on offense (82 rushing, 221 passing) in this game. 

The defense didn’t play too well for the Redskins in this game.  You can’t blame London Fletcher for that as he had 12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit.  Safety Reed Doughty pitched in with 9 tackles yesterday.  The Eagles finished up with 381 total yards on offense (123 rushing, 258 passing) in this game.  The Redskins are now 3-8 on the year.

These two teams always seem to play good games regardless of records.  The Redskins and a very banged up team right now but they have proved the last two weeks to be a very dangerous opponent so the Eagles better not overlook them.  The Redskins will likely try to run a pretty balanced offense this week.  Rock Cartwright will be the main man in the running game for the Redskins and he is a good player despite opening the season #3 on the depth chart.  Jason Campbell will likely be under a heavy rush from the Eagles who already have 30 sacks this season so the passing game will likely be kept short.  That means that the Redskins WRs and TEs are going to have to be willing to go over the middle and it will be interesting to see if they have the stones to do so as it’s a pretty soft bunch.

Head Coach Andy Reid of the Eagles is so set in his ways that the Eagles will likely continue to throw the ball a lot this week despite the fact that the Redskins are only allowing 161.6 yards passing per game this year.  The thing that will help Donovan McNabb the most this week as he has deep weapons in Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and short guys in TE Brent Celek and RB Lesean McCoy in the passing game.  That will make it hard for the Redskins to key on anyone in the passing game.  The Redskins are allowing 128.4 yards rushing per game (4.4 ypc) so Lesean McCoy could have a big game if the Eagles give him the ball enough.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 20, REDSKINS 14

The Redskins have lost G/T Chad Rinehart and back up fullback Eddie Williams for the year as both of them have broken fibulas.  Rinehart played in 4 games (all starts) for the Redskins this season.  Williams didn’t do much of anything for the Redskins this year.  These injuries will hurt the depth of the Redskins but that’s about it.

The Washington Redskins (3-7) should have beat the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) on Sunday, but two missed field goals by Shuan Suisham ended up being the difference maker.  Injuries also have really set the Redskins back as Clinton Portis, Albert Haynesworth, and Chris Cooley all sat this game out.  The injury bug continued to spread in this game with Ladell Betts injuring his knee and right tackle Chad Rinehart breaking his leg.  The Redskins still battled the Cowboys very well and the defense did a very good job against Tony Romo and the Cowboys’ offense.  They got two turnovers and held Romo to 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and 158 yards on 15/27 passes.  They couldn’t stop Romo when a stop was needed most though.  With 2:41 left in the game Romo hit Patrick Crayton in the endzone to put the Cowboys ahead.  They also let Marion Barber rush for 99 yards on 20 carries.

The Redskins offense could not find the endzone in this one.  Betts left the game after only four carries after injuring his MCL so the running back duties fell to third stringer Rock Cartwright, who did a decent job rushing for 67 yards on 13 carries.  Cartwright also caught seven passes for 73 yards.  Jason Campbell had a pretty good game, going 24/37 for 256 yards, but he just could not lead the Skins to a touchdown and his late game comeback attempt fell short and ended with an interception.  Campbell was great in third down situations though, going 12-12 for 150 yards on 3rd downs, and he did enough to lead this team to the win if his kicker did his job.  Suisham missed a 39-yard field goal attempt right before the half and then missed a 50-yard field goal attempt late in the 4th quarter before Romo’s touchdown.  If Suisham hits either one of those the Redskins win the game.

27-year old Jason Campbell will likely be traded in the off season because he has not improved much to this point in his career.  He has played in all 10 games for the Redskins this season and he has completed 192 of 291 passes (66%) for 2,126 yards with 10 TD passes and 9 INTs (86.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 31 times for 158 yards (5.1 ypc) this year.  Campbell is saved by the fact that the Redskins won’t be likely yanking him for Todd Collins who is ancient for a QB.  Campbell has now played in 46 games for the Redskins in his career and he has completed 867 of 1,421 passes (61%) for 9,368 yards with 45 TD passes and 32 INTs (81.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 138 times for 708 yards (5.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  The Redskins really need to go in a different direction at QB starting in 2010.

29-year old RB Rock Cartwright did not want to get his big chance this way as Clinton Portis (concussion) and Ladell Betts (torn ACL+MCL) are both injured.  He is now the featured running back for the Redskins until Portis is ready to return to action.  He has played in 10 games this season for the Redskins and he has carried the ball 30 times for 135 yards (4.5 ypc).  Cartwright has also caught 13 passes for 93 yards (7.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The big question with Cartwright is whether or not he will still return kickoffs.  My guess is that he won’t due to his importance on offense.  He has returned 28 kickoffs for 644 yards (23.0 avg) so far this season.  Cartwright has waited a long time for his chance to show what he can really do at RB in the NFL.  He has played in 117 games in 8 years for the Redskins and he has carried the ball 181 times for 796 yards (4.4 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He has also caught 45 passes for 406 yards (9.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his career.  Cartwright has earned his paychecks from the Redskins on special teams as he has returned 211 kickoffs for 5,108 yards (24.2 avg) with 1 TD return.  Quinton Ganther will move up the depth chart to the #2 job behind Cartwright.  He has played in 2 games for the Redskins this season and he has carried the ball 6 times for 10 yards (1.7 ypc) and he has also caught 1 pass for 18 yards.

The Redskins have lost 30-year old running back Ladell Betts for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee.  Betts played in all 10 games for the Redskins so far this season and he rushed the ball 56 times for 210 yards (3.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 17 passes for 179 yards (10.5 avg) and he returned 1 kickoff for 29 yards this year.  Betts’ injury coupled with the loss of Clinton Portis to a concussion could leave the Redskins in dire straits at RB for the near future.

It is rivalry week as the Washington Redskins (3-6) head to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys (6-3).  Although the first place Cowboys are the better team, the Redskins always come ready to play against their rivals and have won five of the last eight contests.  The Skins will need to be on top of their game though and Jason Campbell will need more than 194 passing yard average he has had the past two games.  Campbell has been using a lot of short passes and screens lately to try and limit his interceptions, but to keep up with Tony Romo and Cowboys’ offense Campbell will have to take some shots down-field.  Campbell will have to do it without the help of Clinton Portis, who is sitting out another game due to a concussion he is still suffering the effects from.  That means Ladell Betts will be the starter again and hopefully he can repeat his performance from last week where he rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

The Redskins defense should be taking note of how the Packers defended the Cowboys last week.  The Packers nearly shut the Cowboys out and completely shut down their running game.  If they can contain Marion Barber and Felix Jones like the Packers did last week, then it will make it a lot easier to defend Tony Romo and the passing game.  Romo is likely to make some mistakes and possibly throw a pick if the Redskins can eliminate the Cowboys’ running game.  This will be a tough task though, so I think the Cowboys will win a close one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 28, Washington Redskins 20

The Washington Redskins (3-6) did not start off well against the Denver Broncos (6-3) on Sunday.  They gave up two very big passing plays in the first quarter to Broncos’ receiver Brandon Marshall.  He had a 40-yard touchdown catch and a 75-yard touchdown catch from Kyle Orton, and the Broncos had a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.  The Broncos looked like they were going to hold the Redskins to only 7 first half points, but a fake punt changed the whole game.  The Redskins were almost obvious about their fake, but it worked.  It was 4th and 20 on the 35-yard line when punter Hunter Smith took the snap and rolled out to the right before floating a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sellers.  It tied the game at 14 and the Broncos got a late field goal to give them a slight 17-14 halftime lead.

The Redskins completely shut down the Broncos passing game in the second half.  Most of that was because Broncos’ starting quarterback Kyle Orton injured his ankle late in the first half and did not return.  Chris Simms replaced him and did terrible.  He went 3/13 for 13 yards and DeAngelo Hall intercepted him.  They let Knowshown Moreno rush for 97 yards on 18 carries, but they kept him out of the endzone.  Overall it was a solid performance by the defense and they will need more of the same against the Dallas Cowboys next game.

The Redskins have released punter Sam Paulescu.  Paulescu played in 1 game for the Redskins this season and he punted the ball 3 times for 150 yards (50.0 avg).  Paulescu became expendable due to the return of starter Hunter Smith from injury.  The special teams will likely start playing better behind Smith.