Public Loves Redskins
Detroit, Michigan – One of the Washington Redskins’ stars felt his team played down to its opposition when it was upset by a previously winless team two weeks ago.
After overcoming a bad first half to survive another close call last week, they’ll try to return to form by taking advantage of another of the NFL’s worst teams.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made the Redskins -9 point spread favorites (View NFL Football odds) for Sunday’s game (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 74% of bets for this game have been placed on the Redskins -9 (View NFL Football bet percentages).
The Redskins look to improve to 6-2 for the first time in eight years when they visit the winless Detroit Lions on Sunday.
After a season-opening loss to the New York Giants, Washington went on a four-game win streak, defeating New Orleans and Arizona before notching impressive road victories over NFC East rivals Dallas and Philadelphia.
However, the run was snapped Oct. 12 with a 19-17 home loss to St. Louis, which had lost its first four contests.
"The headlines got good. The guys started high-fiving," running back Clinton Portis said after that game. "We hadn’t thought ahead all season long until this week."
Washington rebounded with a 14-11 victory over Cleveland last Sunday despite being held without a point in the first half, their first scoreless half since the season opener. The Redskins defense kept them in the game, as Washington held the Browns to 236 yards and forced eight punts.
"Somebody’s got to do the dirty work," said defensive tackle Kedric Golston, who batted away one of five passes deflected at the line of scrimmage. "And we take just as much pride in doing the dirty work as we do making the play."
Washington’s success on defense gave the team’s balanced offense plenty of opportunities to take over. Though he didn’t practice much during the week because of a nagging hip flexor injury, Portis ran 27 times for a season-high 175 yards and a touchdown. Jason Campbell, meanwhile, was 14-for-23 for 164 yards and a touchdown without an interception.
The Redskins’ streak of 332 regular season pass attempts without an interception surpasses the previous NFL record of 281 set by Oakland in 2001. Campbell’s individual streak is a franchise-record 224 attempts, still well short of Bernie Kosar’s league mark of 308.
Portis has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of his last four games to lift his season total to 818 yards, 134 more than the next-highest in the league. Through seven games last season, he had 433 yards on the ground without reaching the 100-year mark once.
Portis’ success is due in part to Washington’s offensive line.
"There are times when there are big holes and there are times when there is not much of a hole and Clinton is making a great cut, making a great move," right tackle Jon Jansen told the team’s official Web site. "That’s why they call it a team game. Sometimes we make him look good, sometimes he makes us look good. All we care about is, in the end, winning the game."
That’s something Detroit (0-6) hasn’t experienced this season. The Lions are in the midst of their longest winless start since they opened 0-12 in 2001, but have reason to believe they’re headed in the right direction.
After losing their first four games by an average of 20.3 points, their last two defeats have come down to the final possession. Detroit fell 12-10 at Minnesota on a last-second field goal Oct. 12, and outscored Houston 11-0 in the fourth quarter before its rally fell short in a 28-21 road defeat last Sunday.
"I feel that there were some things that were a lot better this week than in other weeks," said coach Rod Marinelli, who’s 10-28 over three seasons, including 1-13 since Nov. 11. "I will have to go back and look at the tapes, but overall I feel that the progression of this team this week was a good one."
In his second straight start in place of Jon Kitna, who’s out for the year with a back injury, Dan Orlovsky was 12-for-25 for 265 yards and a touchdown last week. Second-year receiver Calvin Johnson had a 96-yard touchdown catch and finished with a career-high 154 yards on a season low-tying two receptions.
"We’re trying to do things to help us win, but I need to do a better job of getting (Johnson) the ball," Orlovsky said.
Detroit won consecutive games against Washington in 1999 and 2000, but the Redskins have taken the last two meetings to improve to 18-2 against the Lions since the start of the 1968 season. Campbell was 23-for-29 for 248 yards and two touchdowns and Portis ran 18 times for 72 yards in Washington’s 34-3 rout last Oct. 7.
The Redskins hope to continue their dominance of the Lions for first-year coach Jim Zorn, an assistant with Detroit from 1999-00.
Top Betting Trends:
All games in this series since 1992
WASHINGTON is 5-3 against the spread versus DETROIT since 1992
WASHINGTON is 6-2 straight up against DETROIT since 1992
6 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1992
Games over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 1-0 against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 1-0 straight up against DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
All games played at DETROIT since 1992
DETROIT is 2-1 against the spread versus WASHINGTON since 1992
DETROIT is 2-1 straight up against WASHINGTON since 1992
2 of 2 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1992
Key Player Injuries
WASHINGTON
[S] Reed Doughty is doubtful. – Back – 10/09/08
[OG] Pete Kendall is doubtful. – Knee – 10/09/08
[OL] Stephon Heyer missed last game, "?" – Shoulder – 10/05/08
[DE] Jason Taylor missed last game, "?" – Calf – 10/02/08
[OG] Randy Thomas is doubtful. – Knee – 10/09/08
[LB] Phillip Daniels IR – Knee – 07/21/08
[DT] Cornelius Griffin injured last game, "?" – Shoulder – 10/06/08
[LB] Marcus Washington missed last game, "?" – Hamstring – 10/05/08
[CB] Shawn Springs missed last game, "?" – Calf – 10/05/08
[DE] Alex Buzbee IR – Achilles – 09/04/08
[WR] Malcolm Kelly missed last game, "?" – Ankle – 10/03/08
DETROIT
[QB] Dan Orlovsky is upgraded to probable – Ankle – 10/08/08
[TE] Dan Campbell IR – Hamstring – 09/09/08
[FB] Jon Bradley IR – Shoulder – 08/20/08
[CB] Stanley Wilson IR – Achilles – 09/04/08
[OT] George Foster missed last game, "?" – Knee – 10/05/08
[WR] Aveion Cason IR – Ankle – 08/31/08
[OG] Stephen Peterman missed last game, "?" – Hand – 10/05/08
[QB] Jon Kitna injured last game, "?" – Back – 10/08/08
[CB] Travis Fisher is "?" – Knee – 10/08/08
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Posted: 10/22/08 7:16 PM