Do Da Dirty Bird: Previewing Week Nine, Falcons v. Redskins

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For a 2-5 team, the Washington Redskins sure are making a whole lotta noise. Even the occasional ESPN viewer is familiar with the faces of owner Dan Snyder, head coach Jim Zorn, and offensive "consultant" Sherman Lewis at this point, if for all the wrong reasons.

In regards to bossman's words from this past week, I know he didn't make the perfect vocab choices, but shouldn't he feel bad about losses? I mean, do we expect him to be just singin' in the rain over this clueless offense?

Of course, we've gotten a chance to see now what a shift in playcalling duties amounted to (um, nothing in terms of additional point production or cohesion), so this could all just be due to a particularly slow-building chemistry or off-kilter personnel.

But anyway, no matter what's up in the capital, it's pretty safe to say the 'Skins come into my hometown in some degree of turmoil. Not that we're looking completely solid...

Coming off two consecutive losses, both of them frustrating and puzzling considering how well the offense worked early, my Atlanta Falcons want a win badly to get right back in the Wild Card discussion.

Meanwhile, the Redskins want a win (or at least a close game) just as much, as they hope to put anything in the mouths of the pundits besides all the criticisms they're spouting at the moment.

In short, you can wave goodbye to the relatively relaxed demeanors of these teams in the first half of the season. Stuff gets serious, man.

Washington Rush Offense v. Atlanta Rush Defense

I've always liked Clinton Portis, for his running style, his production, and his outfits (dude, where do you buy your clothes?). No matter how much I feel for the guy, though, I can't lie: The magic is missing to this point in '09.

A lot of blame can and should go the line's way, as they seem to like to play only about 50 percent of the time, but the numbers don't lie. Portis is on pace to barely top 1,000 yards for the season at this point, and while that's not the end of the world in itself, it is when the next most productive rusher on the team has...wait for it...103 yards.

This is not the frighteningly diversified attack we saw on Monday in New Orleans, y'all.

Add in the fact that Washington ballcarriers (that'd be more or less only Clinton and quarterback Jason Campbell) have five fumbles to two touchdowns, and I think our ground D will get a decent confidence boost tomorrow.

I'd expect Jamaal Anderson to be at tackle again, hopefully in less of a rotation with Trey Lewis and more just playing every down. People frequently criticize him for overextending on plays and thereby letting a guy get by, but I'd prefer that over Lewis' half-motoring any day.

Jonathan Babineaux is going to be able to plug the center well considering the blockers he'll face. I don't see him needing to engage two guys at the line for long; the way pulls have been going so far for Washington, he made need only take a step back to collect Portis' momentum and bring him to the ground.

Of course, Clinton is always a threat on the outside or the edge, but we're strong there, even if we rely almost entirely on the linebackers to get runners when they bounce. It's a good sign to me that Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson are actually picking up speed as we progress this year.

I just can't see a team ranked 31st in rushing touchdowns and 26th in rushing yards per game doing much on the ground. Besides that, the Redskins have made it clear that when they get behind, which has been often, they're going to go to the pass pretty much exclusively: They're now 28th in total rush attempts.

Atlanta Rush Offense v. Washington Rush Defense

Michael Turner's production last week was like a cool, refreshing can of Diet Mountain Dew Ultraviolet after a long afternoon of sportswriting. And if you don't live like me, then just assume I was talking about a drink of water after crossing some desert.

The point is, the Burner (or is that "the Churner"? Thanks, Ron Jaworski) going for 151 yards with an average of 7.6 per carry was the brightest spot on an offense that was actually generally bright despite the loss to the Saints. The fact that there was no one sharing carries with him actually makes it better, in my eyes; he remained effective despite the defense being able to key in on him.

Of course, the N.O. defense, while vastly improved from the past two seasons, had no Albert Haynesworth in the middle and no London Fletcher with 71 (holy crap!) total tackles in the second level. Going to the outside is probably our best bet, but young 'backers Rocky McIntosh and Brian Orakpo aren't the worst lateral movers in the world, either.

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