The 4-3 Washington Redskins visit the hapless 1-5 Detroit Lions. You figure the Redskins will win this game. After all, they now have Mike Shanahan, a Super Bowl coach; while the Lions have… one win is six tries.
Don’t fall for that trap. Reputations won’t be on the field Sunday. Talent will be. The talent on the field for the Redskins and the Lions are a near match and that’s why the sports books have made Detroit three-point favorites to win on their home field. Detroit earned it.
Washington’s NFC East rivals Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants have already faced Detroit. Those teams needed 35 and 28 points respectively to beat the Lions and even then had to hold on for the win. Washington has yet to score more than 27 points in any game. The Redskins beat the Lions’ NFC North rivals Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears in low scoring affairs.
Defense and low scoring may be the key to the game. Hold the Lions to under 21 points. Stay close, then maybe the Redskins pull the game out in the end.
Did I mention that the Eagles and Giants beat the Lions when Detroit’s starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford, was out with an injury? Stafford expects to return for the ‘Skins game. He figures to be a tad rusty. The Lions’ performance did not fall off much with Shaun Hill at quarterback. With or without Stafford, this team can score.
Lions rookie Jahvid Best is well named. His 5 touchdowns and 534 yards from scrimmage is the best performance of all NFL rookies. Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is a beast.
The media writers will focus on Johnson versus Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall. They will (over)hype Donovan McNabb versus Stafford. The real battle in this game will be the Redskins offensive line versus the Lions defensive front seven, especially Redskins rookie left tackle Trent Williams versus DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and DL Ndamukong Suh. Tell me who wins that contest and I’ll tell you who will win.
The game figures to be highly entertaining between two evenly matched teams. The outcome is not predictable.
Pick-’em.
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