The Redskins have waived 39-year old WR Joey Galloway.  Galloway played in 10 games for the Redskins this season and he caught 12 passes for 173 yards (14.4 avg) and he also had 2 tackles.  Galloway only caught 12 of 38 targets (31.6%) this season and while not every throw was a perfect one he still should have caught a lot more passes than he did.  The Redskins have signed rookie WR Terrence Austin off the practice squad to replace Galloway.  He was a 7th round pick out of UCLA.

The Redskins played a hard fought defensive battle yesterday but they fell just a tad short.  Donovan McNabb completed 21 of 35 passes for 211 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 7 yards (3.5 ypc) in this game.  James Davis led the way for the Redskins on the ground in this game with 11 yards on 6 carries (1.8 ypc).  Keiland Williams only rushed for 5 yards on 3 carries (1.7 ypc) in this game but he did catch 4 passes for 21 yards (5.3 avg).  WR Anthony Armstrong (2 rec, 53 yards), TE Chris Cooley (5 rec, 49 yards), WR Santana Moss (5 rec, 40 yards) and TE Fred Davis (3 rec, 25 yards, TD) led the way for the Skins in this passing game yesterday.  The Redskins finished up with 29 yards rushing on 13 carries (2.2 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 35 passes for 187 yards as they only had the ball for 26:55.

Safety Reed Doughty (10 tackles) and LB Rocky McIntosh (9 tackles) led the way for the Redskins’ on D yesterday.  The Vikings finished up with 137 yards rushing on 38 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 23 passes for 162 yards.  The Redskins are now 5-6 on the year.

The Redskins won a hard fought game on the road last week in Tennessee while the Vikings fired their head coach after getting punished 31-3 at home last weekend.  The Redskins are only 2-3 at home this year while the Vikings are 0-5 on the road.  This game will mark Leslie Frazier’s head coaching debut for the Vikings.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Redskins have the ball:  The Redskins are likely going to come out passing this Sunday.  If Donovan McNabb has time to throw the ball he could have some success as the Vikings are giving up 218.0 yards passing per game.  McNabb is going to have to get yards through the air because the Vikings have a very stout run D.  Keiland Williams is going to have to fight for every yard he gets this weekend.  Also, Santana Moss is a little iffy for Sunday and if the can’t go the Redskins might have issues moving the ball.

When the Vikings have the ball:  I have a feeling that the new head coach is going to want to get the ball in his best player’s hands (Adrian Peterson) as often as possible.  The Redskins must go all out to stop him as they are giving up 131.0 yards rushing and 5.1 yards per carry.  If the Redskins can slow down Peterson and force Brett Favre to pass they might be in luck.  That being said, the Redskins are allowing 280.1 yards passing per game so maybe Brett Favre wakes up this week. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 23, REDSKINS 17

The Redskins have signed 24-year old safety Macho Harris.  Harris played in 15 games as a rookie for the Eagles last season and he had 41 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  Harris also returned 19 kickoffs for 394 yards (20.8 avg) last season.  The Redskins might need Harris to learn quickly as LaRon Landry won’t be playing this week due to injury.

The running game is all up to undrafted rookie RB Keiland Williams.  With Clinton Portis out for the year and Ryan Torain banged up, Williams could he the main the rest of the season.  Williams has played in 9 games for the Redskins so far this season and he has carried the ball 49 times for 195 yards (4.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 24 passes for 162 yards (6.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs this year.  With teams preparing to defend Williams the yards are going to start to get harder to earn but the Redskins hope he gives the offense some balance going forward.

The Redskins have placed Clinton Portis (groin injury), Chad Simpson (foot surgery) and Anderson Russell (torn ACL) on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  29-year old RB Clinton Portis played in 5 games for the Redskins this season and he carried the ball 54 times for 227 yards (4.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 5 passes for 55 yards (11.0 avg) this year.  This injury hurts the Skins as Portis is the best RB on the roster.  25-year old RB/KR Chad Simpson was injured in pre-game warmups last weekend.  Simpson played in 3 games for the Redskins this season and he returned 2 kickoffs for 59 yards (29.5 avg) and he had 1 tackle.  23-year old safety Anderson Russell played in 2 games for the Redskins and he had 2 tackles.  The Redskins can’t afford too many more injuries as the roster is getting pretty thin.

The Redskins had a blip on special teams early in this game when Marc Mariani returned a punt 87 yards for a TD but then they tightened up especially on D.  Donovan McNabb had one of his best games of the year last week when he completed 30 of 50 passes for 376 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Keiland Williams led the way on the ground for the Redskins in this game with 68 yards rushing on 23 carries (3.0 ypc).  He also caught 6 passes for 27 yards (4.5 avg) in this game.  Santana Moss (6 rec, 106 yards, TD) and Chris Cooley (7 rec, 91 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Skins.  The Redskins finished up with 107 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 30 of 50 passes for 358 yards as they possessed the ball for 40:09.

The Redskins’ D was protected by the offense as the Titans only had the ball for 26:34.  The Redskins also bent on D without breaking keeping them completely out of the end zone offensively.  The Titans finished up with 151 yards rushing on 25 carries (6.0 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 25 passes for 222 yards.  The Redskins are now 5-5 on the season.

The Redskins are reeling as they have lost two games in a row by a combined score of 96-53!  The Titans have also lost two games in a row (on the road) in which they have been outscored 62-38!  Someone’s going to turn it around this weekend and here’s a look at the matchups:

When the Redkins have the ball:  The Redskins need to run the ball in this game to attempt to keep the defense off the field.  Keiland Williams is getting the start again at RB for the Redskins and he did a good job of both running and catching the ball out of the backfield.  He’s going to have to fight for every yard as the Titans are giving up 103.1 yards rushing per game but only 3.9 yards per carry.  The O-Line could have a hard time protecting Donovan McNabb this weekend as the Titans have 27 sacks already this year.  The Titans are giving up 247.7 yards passing per game so there are plays to be made down the field if he has time to throw the ball.

When the Titans have the ball:  This is a really bad matchup for the Redskins.  Vince Young is a QB with the same kind of skill set as Michael Vick and that’s got to be scaring the heck out of the Redskins in the film room.  The Redskins are giving up 128.8 yards rushing and 5.0 yards per carry so look for Chris Johnson & Vince Young to gash their defense.  The Redskins are giving up 286.6 yards passing per game so look for Vince Young to throw the ball long to Randy Moss and Nate Washington a few times each in this game.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 30, REDSKINS 17

The Redskins are in a tailspin right now.  They have lost two games in a row by a combined score of 96-53!  The Redskins have a horrid defense this year as they are giving up 415.3 yards and 25.4 points per game this year.  It’s hard to win that way.  Especially when you’re down to your third string RB and you only have two decent receivers (Santana Moss and TE Chris Cooley).  Shanahan has actually done a good job when you consider all of those facts.  But it’s going to be his job to fire up his team the rest of the year because they could be overmatched in a lot of games the rest of the way.

The Redskins signed 33-year old QB Donovan McNabb to a 5-year, $78 million dollar contract extension yesterday.  Like all contracts in the NFL it likely isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.  If the Redskins decide to release McNabb in the off-season they will only owe McNabb $3.75 million bucks.  It looks to me like that is the only money McNabb will see out of this contract.  He has played in 9 games for the Redskins so far this year and he has completed 176 of 308 passes (57.1%) for 2,266 yards with 9 TD passes and 11 INTs (79.1 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 24 times for 135 yards (5.6 ypc) this year.  McNabb has had a outstanding NFL career but it appears to me that he’s on the downside of it.  I don’t see the Redskins keeping him on as the starting QB in 2011.