Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Redskins-Lions: Poll, postgame chat

As always, I'll be chatting about the game at CSNwashington.com starting with about five minutes left and continuing on for as long as you want to talk. Just drop by the main page of the site and you can find the link in the slideshow at the top. While you're waiting for the game to start, take a look at my Q&A with Sean Yullie, the mane main man at The Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's fine Lions blog. And, of course, vote in the poll; who is going to win and by how much: [polldaddy poll=4013306]

Redskins injury report: Questionable X 12

Portis is out, no probables. All of the questionable players should play:

Questionable
Pos.	Player
T	Jammal Brown (LP)
TE	Chris Cooley (FP)
CB	DeAngelo Hall (FP)
T	Stephon Heyer (LP)
S	LaRon Landry (LP)
G	Kory Lichtensteiger (FP)
QB	Donovan McNabb (FP)
S	Kareem Moore (LP)
LB	Brian Orakpo (FP)
C	Casey Rabach (FP)
FB	Mike Sellers (LP)
RB	Chad Simpson (FP)

Are low-scoring wins a good omen for Redskins?

As you probably know, the Washington Redskins have won four games this year and they haven't scored more than 17 points in any of those games. What you may not know is that such a circumstance is not necessarily a bad thing.

The common fan reaction to all of the low-scoring wins is that it’s great, but not good. It’s great because the Redskins are winning; the problem, they say, is that good teams don’t win like that. Maybe that’s true for some teams but a look through Redskins history reveals that winning a lot of low-scoring games is a sign of at least modest success.

CSN: Are low-scoring wins a good omen for Redskins?

Redskins injury report 10.28.10

The bye week can't get here a moment too soon. Here is the Redskins' Thursday injury report. Nobody has been ruled out of Sunday's game with the exception of Clinton Portis:

Limited Participation in Practice
Pos.	Player		Injury
T	Jammal Brown		Hip
CB	DeAngelo Hall		Back
T	Stephon Heyer		Ankle
S	LaRon Landry		Achilles
QB	Donovan McNabb		Hamstring
S	Kareem Moore		Knee
FB	Mike Sellers		Foot
Full Participation in Practice
Pos.	Player		Injury
TE	Chris Cooley		Foot
G	Kory Lichtensteiger		Back
LB	Brian Orakpo		Ankle
C	Casey Rabach		Foot
RB	Chad Simpson		Hamstring

Video: Hall, Fletcher milestones

Kelli Johnson reports from around Redskins Park on DeAngelo Hall's four-interception day and London Fletcher's approaching milestone. Have to like the 21 hat on Hall.

Banks a quantum upgrade at PR

In four games as the Redskins' punt returner, Brandon Banks already has more return yards than Antwaan Randle El did in 16 games last year. The punt return game cost the Redskins a lot of field position last year and Banks has solved that problem. My Nickel Package goes into Banks, DeAngelo Hall's four pick game, why there may have been less to Ryan Torain's performance against the Bears than met the eye, how the Redskins used to own the Lions, and playoff possibilities and permutations.

Nickel Package: Banks a Quantum Improvement

Point-Counterpoint: Are the Redskins a playoff team?

If the season ended today—and we know that it doesn’t, it’s called a hypothetical situation—the Redskins would be right in the mix for a playoff spot. They already have as many wins this year as they accumulated all of last year and the season isn’t halfway over. They are 4-3 and in the NFC nobody has fewer than two losses. At the same time, this team has some major flaws. Nearing the midway point of the season, are the 2010 Redskins a playoff team? Or are they a pretender that will disappear faster than the campaign promises that the D. C. politicians are handing out? That’s the debate in this week’s edition of the wildly popular Point-Counterpoint. Go here to read the full article and then take the poll: [polldaddy poll=3995963]

Video: Mike Shanahan weekly exclusive

Check out Mike Shanahan's weekly exclusive talk with Mike Shanahan:

Worse than ugly but still an win

My weekly "After Further Review" article from CSNwashington.com:

It wasn’t pretty. In fact, calling the Redskins’ 17-14 win over the Bears ugly is an insult to all things ugly. That includes the Ugly Ducking, the Ugly American, Coyote Ugly, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Whatever adjective you want to use to describe it, the word “win” is at the end of it and that is all that really matters. "People remember the end of the game," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "The most important thing is we won."

Hit the link for the full article:

After Further Review: Worse Than Ugly, But Still a Win

Free Orakpo! Another uncalled hold

Brian Orakpo had two sacks yesterday and he now has seven on the year, putting on a pace to get 16 for the season. That should be good enough for a return trip to the Pro Bowl. But Orakpo could be on a record pace for sacks if opposing linemen didn’t find that frequently the only way to stop him is to commit an illegal act. He has drawn numerous holding flags but he must lead the league in uncalled holds. I saw a few during my review of the Bears game. I snapped a picture of the most egregious example. It just so happened that it took place on the play where Jay Cutler threw his only touchdown pass of the day (well, the only one to a member of his own team, anyway). Orkapo was on the verge of getting to Cutler until tackle Frank Omiyale got a hold of his jersey and pulled him back. Cutler scrambles away and throws to Johnny Knox for the touchdown.