This should be a very interesting game this Sunday.  The Redskins have traveled well this year as they are 2-1 on the road despite being outscored 56-50.  The Lions had a bye last week and it helped Matthew Stafford get ready to play in this game.  The Lions are playing well at home this year as they are 1-1 despite outscoring the opposition 75-41.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Redskins have the ball:  The Redskins would be smart to keep balanced on offense this Sunday.  Ryan Torain should find running room against a Lions’ D that is allowing 138.8 yards rushing and 4.9 yards per carry so far this year.  If Donovan McNabb has time to throw the ball he should have success throwing against the Lions’ D which is allowing 224.0 yards passing per game this year.  TE Chris Cooley & WR Santana Moss are both likely in for big games this Sunday.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Redskins are going to have to blitz a lot this Sunday to put pressure on Matthew Stafford or he’s going to have success throwing the ball.  The Redskins are giving up 292.1 yards passing per game and the Lions are averaging 258.7 yards passing per game so chances are that Stafford could have a big game on Sunday.  He also has a much bigger arm than Shaun Hill does so look for him to pound the ball down the field to Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson.  The Lions don’t have much of a running game due to rookie Jahvid Best having a case of turf toe.

PREDICTION:  LIONS 30, REDSKINS 27

The Redskins have signed 24-year old RB James Davis to the practice squad.  Davis played in 4 games for the Browns this year and he carried the ball 4 times for 9 yards (2.3 ypc).  Davis has played two years in his NFL career appearing in 6 games in which he has carried the ball 13 times for 24 yards (1.8 ypc).  He has also caught 4 passes for 5 yards (1.3 avg) in his NFL career.  It never hurts to stash a young guy like Davis on the practice squad.

The Redskins won this game with defense today which has not been the strong point of the team until this game.  CB DeAngelo Hall was a one man wrecking crew in this game for the Redskins.  Hall had 7 tackles, he defensed 4 passes and he had 4 interceptions (one of which he returned 92 yards for a TD to give the Redskins the lead for good).  Rocky McIntosh (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit), London Fletcher (8 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and Adam Carriker (2 tackles, fumble recovery) also had big games for the Skins on D today.  The Bears finished up with 66 yards rushing on 16 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 40 passes for 256 yards today.

Donovan McNabb wasn’t too good in this game as he completed 17 of 32 passes for 200 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (Bears’ CB returned one of the pickoffs 54 yards for a TD).  Ryan Torain had a solid game for the Redskins once again with 21 carries for 125 yards (6.0 ypc).  Santana Moss (5 rec, 63 yards) and Chris Cooley (7 rec, 52 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Skins today.  The Redskins finished up with 121 yards rushing on 28 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 32 passes for 187 yards.  The Redskins improve to 4-3 on the year with this big road win.

Both of these teams are coming off tough losses so it will be interesting to see which one is hungrier this Sunday in Chicago.  This game looks very even to me and here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Redskins have the ball:  This game will be a tough test for the Redskins’ offense.  The Redkins would like to be balanced on offense with Ryan Torain running the ball and Donovan McNabb chucking it down field.  The Bears have a good run defense allowing only 84.0 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry but that won’t stop the Redskins from giving the running game the old college try.  The Bears only have 9 sacks so far this year so Donovan McNabb might have more time to throw the ball than usual as long as the O-Line can keep Julius Peppers away from him.  The Bears have 7 interceptions so far this year so McNabb will have to be careful with the football.  With TE Chris Cooley likely ready to go this week, McNabb will look to him on the short stuff and Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong down the field.

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears want to be a throwing team but the O-Line has allowed 27 sacks which isn’t giving Jay Cutler much of a chance to make plays.  OLB Brian Orakpo and Co. will be bringing the heat against Cutler all day long.  If Cutler is smart (and I’m not so sure he is) he will look to get the ball to his RBs (Matt Forte & Chester Taylor) and TE Greg Olsen on the short stuff in an attempt to slow the pass rush.  It would also help if Forte & Taylor got the running game going against a Redskins’ D that is allowing 121.8 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry.

PREDICTION:  REDSKINS 23, BEARS 20

When Clinton Portis was injured (serious groin injury) the Redskins needed someone to step up at running back.  So far, 24-year old Ryan Torain has been that guy.  He has played in 4 games for the Redskins so far this year and he has carried the ball 61 times for 256 yards (4.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Torain has also caught 5 passes for 36 yards (7.2 avg) so far this year.  Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan drafted Torain in the 5th round of the 2008 NFL Draft and he didn’t forget about him when he got to Washington.  So far, Torain has rewarded Shanahan for his faith in him.  The Redskins hope that Torain can handle the load in the running game until Portis is ready to return to action.

The Washington Redskins could be without starting TE Chris Cooley for a couple of weeks after he suffered a concussion against the Colts last Sunday Night.  Cooley has played in all six games for the Redskins so far this year and he has caught 28 passes for 340 yards (12.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Cooley has really become one of Donovan McNabb’s favorite targets early on this year so he will be missed unless 24-year old Fred Davis steps up.  Davis has played in all six games for the Redskins so far this year and he has caught 6 passes for 96 yards (16.0 avg).  Davis did play well last season when Cooley was out of action as the played in 16 games last season in which he caught 48 passes for 509 yards (10.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  I’m pretty confident that Davis will do a good job for the Redskins while Cooley is out of action.

UPDATE:  (10/22/2010) – It looks as if Cooley might be a go this Sunday against the Bears as he is making a quick recovery.

The Redskins just weren’t quite good enough to beat the Colts last night.  But they fought hard just falling a tad short.  Donovan McNabb completed 29 of 45 passes for 246 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  Ryan Torain was very solid on the ground with 20 carries for 100 yards (5.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Rookie RB Keiland Williams had 2 carries for 12 yards (6.0 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 19 yards (4.8 avg) with a TD grab.  Santana Moss (8 rec, 77 yards), Anthony Armstrong (5 rec, 46 yards) and Chris Cooley (5 rec, 37 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Redskins last night.  The Redskins finished up with 113 yards rushing on 24 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 45 passes for 222 yards.

Linebacker London Fletcher led the way for the Skins on D last night with 14 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  Safeties Reed Doughty (12 tackles) and LaRon Landry (11 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery) also were very busy yesterday for the Skins.  OLB/DE Andre Carter and CB Byron Westbrook each recovered a fumble in this game for the Skins last night.  The Colts finished up with 170 yards rushing on 29 carries (5.9 ypc) and they also completed 25 of 38 passes for 299 yards.  The Redskins are now 3-3 on the year.

The Colts don’t play well on the road where they are 1-2 on the year.  The Redskins are solid at home where they are 2-1, losing only a O.T. game to the Texans that they should have won.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Redskins have the ball:  The Redskins will likely try to run the ball a bit more than usual tomorrow night with Ryan Torain against a Colts’ D that is allowing 142.2 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry.  This game is why the Redskins traded for Donovan McNabb over the off-season.  The Colts are having big time trouble at safety and Donovan McNabb loves to throw to his TE short and his WRs deep.  If the O-Line succeeds in blocking DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, then McNabb is going to throw for more yards then Peyton Manning will in this game.  TE Chris Cooley should have a huge game tomorrow night.  WRs Santana Moss, Anthony Armstrong and Joey Galloway will be targeted deep by McNabb tomorrow night.

When the Colts have the ball:  No disrespect to Joseph Addai and Mike Hart but the Redskins are going to use only the front seven to contain the Colts’ running game.  The Redskins will have to get after Peyton Manning or he’s going to have a big game as the Skins are giving up 298.0 yards passing per game this year. 

PREDICTION:  REDSKINS 30, COLTS 27

The Redskins’ D gave up a lot of yards in this game but they were bending but not breaking.  Safety LaRon Landry led the way for the Redskins today with 13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and a interception in OT that set up kicker Graham Gano for the 33-yard game winning field goal.  CB DeAngelo Hall (12 tackles) and OLB Brian Orakpo (3 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits) also had big impacts in this game for the Skins.  The Packers finished up with 157 yards rushing on 17 carries (9.2 ypc) and they completed 27 of 46 passes for 270 yards.

Donovan McNabb led the Redskins’ offense to a lot of yards on offense but like the Packers they had trouble putting points on the ball.  McNabb completed 26 of 49 passes for 357 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 10 yards (2.5 ypc) today.  Ryan Torain got the start at RB and he found yardage hard to come by.  Torain carried the ball 16 times for 40 yards (2.5 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 27 yards (6.8 avg).  Santana Moss (7 rec, 118 yards), Anthony Armstrong (3 rec, 84 yards, TD) and Chris Cooley (7 rec, 69 yards) led the way for the Redskins in the passing game.  The Redskins finished up with 51 yards rushing on 21 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 49 passes for 322 yards.  The Redskins are now 3-2 on the year.

The Redskins have released WR/KR Devin Thomas.  Thomas played in 4 games for the Skins this year but he didn’t catch any passes.  He did however return 12 kickoffs for 336 yards (28.0 avg) this year.  Thomas played in 44 games for the Redskins in his three years with the team and he caught 40 passes for 445 yards (11.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 51 yards (8.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also returned 32 kickoffs for 775 yards (24.2 avg).  Thomas is going to hook on with another team so the Redskins might regret letting him go.

UPDATE:  (10/19/2010) – Thomas was claimed off waivers by the Panthers last week.