On Sunday the Washington Redskins will travel to Chicago to take on the second of four NFC North teams this season when they face the Bears at Soldier Field. Kickoff is 1 P.M. This will be the 40th regular-season meeting against the Bears and Chicago leads the series, 20-18-1 but the Redskins have won the last three meetings. The last time the Redskins and Bears faced each other was in 2007, when QB Todd Collins replaced a injured Jason Campbell in a 24-16 Redskins victory, they last played at Soldier Field in 2004 when RB Clinton Portis rushed for 171 yards on 36 carries in a 13-10 Redskins win. Although a career backup Todd Collins was credited with leading the Washington Redskins to their last playoff appearance after replacing Jason Campbell late in the season and guided the Redskins to four victories before losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2007 Wild Card game. Collins is currently the backup quarterback for the Chicago Bears. The current Redskins backup QB is Rex Grossman who played six years for the Bears including an appearance in Super Bowl XLI.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been sacked 15 times in the last two games he has appeared in. After sitting out the previous week with a concussion, Cutler was sacked six times in the Bears 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday. The Redskins are also going into this game after a 3 point lost, falling 27-24 to the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday night.
By the Numbers:
– WR Santana Moss has 37 catches and 485 yards, this puts him on pace for 99 receptions and 1,293 yards for the season, which would be his best statistical season since his first year with the Washington Redskins.
– The Washington Redskins defensive unit is ranked dead last in yards per game, 31st in passing yards per game, and 24th in rushing yards per game, but the unit is 14th in points against per game. They are on pace to allow 6,720 yards, which would make them the second-worst defense of all time when it comes to yardage allowed, the Baltimore Colts defense allowed 6,793 yards in 1981
– DL Albert Haynesworth has played 75 of the Redskins 457 defensive snaps this year, or just 16.4 percent.
– Although he only has seven attempts, WR/PR Brandon Banks is second in the league in punt return average. By comparison WR/PR Antwaan Randle-El is dead last amongst players with 7 or more punt returns.
– TE Chris Cooley has 28 catches and 340 yards, and is on pace for 75 catches and 907 yards, which would be the best season of his career.
– The Redskins defense is known around the league has a hard hitting unit, they are also a strong tackling unit, in fact 20 percent of the NFL’s top twenty tacklers wear burgundy and goal. LB Rocky McIntosh is tied at 17th with 46 tackles, CB DeAngelo Hall is at 13th with 50, LB London Fletcher is 3rd in the league with 60 and S LaRon Landry leads the NFL with 63
Quotes and Notes:
— The Washington Redskins have been sending opposing players to see their training staff for treatment or X-rays at a alarming rate. DeMarcus Ware made a early exit in week one, Andre Johnson sat out a portion of the game in the second week of the season, Steven Jackson and O.J. Atogwe were done before halftime in week three, then Mike Vick went down in the first quarter of week four and hasn’t played since. Next to join the list were Green Bay’s Donald Lee, Jermichael Finley, Ryan Pickett, Clay Matthews, and Derrick Martin after they all departed the week five game with injuries. After the game, the Packers revealed that Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion during the game. Following last week’s game Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon, Antonio Johnson, Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark have been added to the list. The Rodgers concussion cost Redskins defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon $5000 for a helmet to helmet hit although it was more of a chest-bump than anything else.
— The only player that didn’t practice full-speed on Friday was fullback Mike Sellers, who has been bothered by a heel injury this week. Coach Mike Shanahan said, however, that he doesn’t expect it to keep Sellers out of Sunday’s game.
— According to STATS LLC, CB Carlos Rogers has failed to come down with a league-high six “pickable passes” this season. He’s had 10 since the start of the 2009 season, tying him with Johnathan Joseph and Darrelle Revis for the most over that period. The Redskins’ other starting CB, DeAngelo Hall, has allowed a league-high 35 catches this season, according to STATS.
Injury Report:
Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan has made frequent use of the “questionable” tag all year.
RB Clinton Portis (Groin) is listed as Out
Portis will be out 2-4 weeks with a third-degree groin separation, this is the third week Portis has been listed as out
S LaRon Landry (Achilles) is Questionable
Landry was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday, he is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game but says he will play
TE Chris Cooley (concussion) is Questionable
Cooley was not limited in practice this week and is expected to play Sunday but is listed as questionable
RB Chad Simpson (Hamstring) is Questionable
Simpson was limited in practice all week, and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Bears.
LB Rocky McIntosh (concussion) is Questionable
McIntosh was not limited in practice this week and is expected to play Sunday but is listed as questionable
FB Mike Sellers (Heel) is Questionable
Sellers had limited participation in practice this week, and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game
CB DeAngelo Hall (Back ) is Questionable
Hall had full participation in practice this week, but is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game
CB Carlos Rodgers (Shoulder) is Questionable
Rodgers had full participation in practice this week, but is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game
OT Trent Williams (Knee) is Questionable
Williams had full participation in practice this week, but is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game
Injured Reserves:
The following players are done for the 2010 season:
WR Malcolm Kelly (Hamstring)
WR Mike Furrey (Concussion)
OL Mike Williams (Non-Football Injury)
LB Robert Henson (Knee)
OL Clint Oldenburg (Ankle)
P Josh Bidwell (Hip)
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Bernie Marshall