Preview: Washington Redskins vs Indianapolis Colts
The Washington Redskins are leading the NFC East. They have won against the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, all of whom made it into the 2009 playoffs. They have been showing their strength as a team and have proven themselves
capable of taking on formidable foes. But so have the Indianapolis Colts. Next week the two teams would face each other and the result could roll either way. But what is certain is that it is going to be a tough contest.
The Colt’s quarterback Peyton Manning is one of NFL’s great but the Redskins have already faced quarterbacks on par with Manning, like Tony Romo and Aaron Rodgers and have came out on top against them. That fact would give Washington the confidence they
need to face the Indianapolis Colts. The Redskins defence have been using more nickel and dime defences lately then they have over the past years. The Kansas City Chiefs employed the strategy against the Colts and it worked really well for them. The Colts
are ranked close to the bottom in rushing so the Redskins won’t have qualms about focussing their defence on Manning.
“You might confuse him for a quarter or a half or maybe even three quarters,” said cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
“But at some point, he's going to figure out what's going on and he's going to be able to execute that offense,” he added.
The Redskins had been up against the Saint Luis Rams in their third week only to suffer a crushing 30 against 16 defeat. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford passed 235 yards in that game. Hall said that the Redskins weren’t able to through off Bradford and they
certainly wouldn’t be able to do that with Manning.
Hall noted that Bradford was able to anticipate where the Blitzes would come from and get rid of the ball before the Washington defence could get to him. “With Peyton, we're going to have to go to the drawing board, figure out what we want to do as a defense,
as a staff, and try to execute it,” Hall said. “We know what Peyton likes to do.” Redskin’s safety Reed Doughty said. “We have to do our best to have [him] not know what we do.” Agreeing with Hall, Doughty admitted that Peyton would figure out the defence
sooner or later and if Washington isn’t able to execute it to perfection, the Colts would win.
Bradford might be the number 1 2010 draft pick but Manning has many years of experience over the rookie. What didn’t work for Bradford has no chance of working on Manning. Washington needs to play almost a flawless game if they are going to have any hope
against Manning who is one of the top quarterbacks so far in this season. “We're going to go out there and play our kind of football and hopefully we contain him,” Hall said.
The Colts and the Redskins have both won 3 games and lost two. Donovan McNabb is as good a quarterback and the offense is strong and has seen quiet an improvement from last year. Last season Washington was not able to win a single one of their division games.
This year, they have won both game they played.
The Colts have one of the worst defences in the league when it comes to stopping the rush. If the defence is able to stop Manning from scoring early, the offense could make good use the running game. Someone to keep an eye on during the running game would
be Washington’s Ryan Torain. Right now the Redskins are ranked the lowest in the league in yards per game while Manning is ranked third with over 300 yards per game.
The Skins have been making plays when it mattered but not with consistency. Washington is walking into a tough battle but McNabb could rescue them. He is ranked 6th in passing yards currently and Santana Moss is fourth in receiving. There is still
room for overall improvement in the offense. If that improvement can come by the 17th, the Washington Redskins would have a good chance to win.
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