The Redskins have placed starting RB Clinton Portis on the Injured Reserve List due to a serious concussion.  Portis played in 8 games for the Redskins this season and he carried the ball 124 times for 494 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 9 passes for 57 yards (6.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This injury has really hurt the Redskins this season as it has put too much of the pressure on Jason Campbell to carry the team through the air.

The Redskins have released 27-year old kicker Scott Suisham in kind of a knee jerk reaction to his missed game winning field goal last week against the Saints.  Suisham played in 12 games for the Redskins this season and he connected on 18 of 21 field goals  (85.7%) and 20 of 21 extra points which was good for 74 points.  In his six years in the NFL, Suisham played in 55 games in which he has made 85 of 107 field goals (79.4%) and 96 of 98 extra points which is good for 351 points.  The Redskins have signed 22-year old Graham Gano who was a good kicker in college at Florida State but he is a unproven player in the NFL so the jury is out on him.

The Washington Redskins (3-9) went toe-to-toe with the undefeated New Orleans Saints (12-0), but they fell short in overtime.  Bad luck and turnovers cost the Redskins this game.  With a 7-point lead, the Redskins had an opportunity to pretty much seal the game late  in the 4th quarter, but Shaun Suisham missed a 23 yard field goal and the Saints stayed alive.  Suisham has now been cut by the Redskins.  Also, with 22 seconds left in the first half, the Saints turned an interception thrown by their quarterback Drew Brees into a touchdown when Robert Meachum stripped Kareem Moore (who had intercepted Brees) and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.  The Redskins lost three fumbles in this game, and if they would have just held on to the ball they would have won.

The Redskins offense gave their best effort against arguably the best offense in the NFL this season.  They held the Saints to 55 rushing yards, but they gave up way too much in the passing game.  Drew Brees threw for 2 touchdowns and 419 yards on 35/49 pass attempt.  He had the one interception, but it turned into a Saints touchdown anyway.  This was almost the upset of the season and if they had a reliable kicker it probably would have happened.

The Washington Redskins (3-8) should pretty much put another loss in their record as they don’t have much of a chance against the New Orleans Saints (11-0).  The Redskins may be able to score some points, but they have no chance at keeping up with Drew Brees and the explosive Saints offense.  The best bet for the Redskins is to try and eat up as much clock as they can and keep the ball out of Brees’ hands.  That means Rock Cartwright will have to have the game of his life running the ball.

The Redskins defense probably already has a headache just trying to prepare for the Saints offense.  They are not a bad defense, but the Saints are on another level and will probably do whatever they want on offense like they have done most of the year.  They average 426 total yards of offense and no team has been able to beat them this year, so there is no way the 3-8 Redskins will be able to do what every other team has failed to do.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:   Washington Redskins 17, New Orleans Saints 42

30-year old DE Andre Carter is having his best season with the Redskins.  With DT Albert Haynesworth taking up blockers on the inside it’s preventing teams from doubling Carter and the results have been really good this year.  Carter has played in 11 games for the Redskins this season and he has made 46 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, defensed 3 passes, forced 3 fumbles and he has 9 sacks.  Opposing QBs better keep tabs of where Carter is as he has been living in the other teams’ backfield most of this year and it should continue.