The Washington Redskins (2-6) are going into their game Sunday against the Denver Broncos (6-2) a little banged up.  Quarterback Jason Campbell is going to play through an ankle injury and running back Clinton Portis is out with a concussion.  His back-up Ladell Betts is probable, as he is also battling an ankle injury.  The offense will have a big challenge, especially since their top skill positions are not 100%.  The Broncos have lost two straight though, giving up an average of 29 points in those losses.  They only give up 280 total yards a game though, so it will be a tough one of the Redskins.

The Redskins defense should attack Kyle Orton the way the Steelers did last week.  Orton has his worst game of the season, throwing three picks.  If the Skins can mimick what the Steelers did, they will have a great shot at the upset win.  Their running game struggled as well, but don’t expect that to happen again.  The Redskins will need to get a lot of turnovers if they want to win this one, but I don’t really see that happening so I’m picking the Broncos in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Denver Broncos 27, Washington Redskins 17

The Washington Redskins need to get something going on offense if they are to start winning some games.  The Atlanta D will give the Redskins a lot of opportunities to get back on track as they are allowing 121.7 yards rushing and 256.4 yards passing per game this season.  Personally, I would just come out and pound the Falcons’ D with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts until the Falcons prove they can stop it.  That would make things a lot easier on Jason Campbell who has not had his best year so far.  Still, look for TE Fred Davis to be big part of the offense in this game for the Redskins this week on the short stuff over the middle.  If the Redskins indeed establish a good running game then they will likely go up top to Santana Moss.

The Falcons will have to deal with a solid Redskins’ D that is only allowing 283.5 yards of total offense (118.6 rushing, 164.9 passing) per game this season.  With that in mind look for the Falcons to continue riding the hot hand which belongs to Michael Turner.  The Redskins are only allowing 3.9 yards per carry despite giving up 118.6 yards per game on the ground.  The Falcons’ O-Line has only allowed Matt Ryan to be sacked 9 times this season but they will have their hands full with DE Andre Carter who has 6.5 sacks.  Tony Gonzalez likely has the chance to have a big game here as the Redskins will no doubt try to take WR Roddy White out of this game.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 23, REDSKINS 20

This game is no doubt going to be a defensive battle on Monday Night Football.  The Eagles can’t afford to throw the ball every down in this game to have success.  The Redskins will be likely blitzing a little bit more than usual taking a page from the game plan the Raiders used last week to shut the Eagles down.  To slow the blitzing the Eagles must run the ball and throw screen passes to Brian Westbrook and Lesean McCoy.  If the Eagles don’t have any threat of a running game than Donovan McNabb will be a sitting duck like last week.  The Redskins give up 118.0 yards rushing per game so the Eagles would be smart to mix things up better on offense in this game.

It will be interesting to see how new offensive co-ordinator Sherm Lewis plans to attack the Eagles’ D.  The thought here is that Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts will be very busy running the ball against a Eagles’ D that is allowing 103.8 yards rushing per game but only 3.6 yards per carry.  The Eagles will be blitzing from the minute they get off the team bus so look for Jason Campbell to throw a lot of short passes to TE Chris Cooley.  The Raiders’ TE Zach Miller repeatedly torched the Eagles last week so look for Cooley to have a big game.  If the Eagles start to sneak up to stop the running game and the TE look for the Redskins to throw the ball downfield no matter who the QB is.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 16, REDSKINS 13

 The Washington Redskins (2-3) are at home against the Kansas City Chiefs (0-5) Sunday.  This will be the six game in a row that the Redskins are taking on a win-less team (including week one against 0-0 NY Giants).  They have not fared well against those teams, as the Detroit Lions ended a 19-game losing streak and the win-less Carolina Panthers beat them last week.  The Redskins do a terrible job of keeping a lead, proving that last week when they blew a 17-2 lead in their loss to the Panthers.  They are facing a Chiefs team that is improving and almost beat the Dallas Cowboys last week, falling in overtime 26-20.  They did have a late game comeback with 2:16 left in the 4th quarter to send the game into overtime, so this is going to be a tough game for the Redskins.

Quarterback Jason Campbell needs to step it up and play more consistently.  The Skins running game has been effective, with Clinton Portis having 338 yards on 91 carries (3.7 avg) and a touchdown.  Campbell has been very inconsistent and seems to be afraid to throw the ball down field.  He has a high completion percentage (67%) because he dumps it down almost every pass and struggles to get passed 200 passing yards.  The Redskins are going to need Campbell to have a good game, and he should since the Cheifs are giving up over 270 passing yards per game.  I think the Chiefs are improving a lot though, and the Redskins seem to be taking a step back each week as they either lose or barely beat win-less teams.  With the schedule they have had so far, they should be 4-1.  I think the Chiefs are going to upset the Redskins in this one, with Matt Cassel leading the way.  Cassel is a good quarterback when he is healthy, and has thrown seven touchdowns on 711 yards and only two interceptions with a 59 % completion rate.  The Redskins are going to fall again to a win-less team in a close game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Kansas City Chiefs 23, Washington Redskins 21

The Washington Redskins (2-2) are taking on another win-less team this week, as they are on the road against the Carolina Panthers (0-3).  The Redskins two wins were both against win-less teams and they are looking to continue that trend.  The Redskins should have a lot of success running the ball since the Panthers are the worst in the league at stopping the run.  They give up 183 rushing yards per game, so look for Redskins’ running back Clinton Portis to get a lot of carries.  Portis has rushed for 281 yards on 72 carries (3.9 avg) so far this year and has failed to rush for 100 yards in a game and has no touchdowns.  He could have himself a breakout game against the Panthers pathetic run defense, so I am expecting him to finally break that 100-yard barrier.

The Skins D is not very good at stopping the run either, so the Panthers’ running back DeAngelo Williams could have a big game.  Williams has rushed for 180 yards on 41 carries (4.4 avg) and has two touchdowns so far this season, so the Redskins need to make sure they slow him down.  They also have to worry about running back Jonathan Stewart, as the second year player has 99 yards on 23 carries (4.3 avg). If they can stop the running game than they will be in great shape to win the game, as the Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme has been having a horrible season and has thrown seven interceptions already.  The Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell has had some turnover problems recently as well, as he threw three picks last week.  If Campbell takes care of the ball in this game and if the Skins can limit the Panthers running game, then they should win this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Washington Redskins 28, Carolina Panthers 23