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So now the 2009 Redskins take the field with a lame-duck quarterback in the last year of his contract. Either Campbell has a huge season and gets a rich new deal from owner Dan Snyder or he's a goner. There's probably no middle ground.

Unfortunately, that Washington offense looks rather average, as does this entire team. Campbell is good not great. Clinton Portis is pretty good but has had a huge workload in his career (325 carries in four of the past five years) and might be ready to hit the wall – he declined big time at the end of last season. Santana Moss is a solid receiver but not really a No. 1 guy. Chris Cooley is a good tight end but had just one TD catch last year. The offensive line is solid but getting old fast. I hate to bring up fantasy football when talking about a real NFL team, but on the Skins offense you might want Portis and maybe Cooley on your fantasy team as a starter, and that's probably it. The Washington offense definitely needs either Devin Thomas or Malcolm Kelly to step up at receiver if it is to take the next step.

The Washington defense should be better with Albert Haynesworth to clog the middle. But will he give full effort now that he got his $100 million deal? The Redskins were last in the NFC in sacks last year, and that should change with Haynesworth taking up two blockers at a time. The secondary might be the strength of this team with a re-energized DeAngelo Hall and rising Carlos Rogers and LaRon Landry.

This team will win some games it shouldn't and lose a few it also shouldn't – much like last year's 8-8 club.

Here is the Redskins' 2009 schedule, and we'll break it down after:
Sept. 13 at New York Giants, 4:15 p.m.
Sept. 20 vs. St. Louis Rams, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m.
Oct. 4 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m.
Oct. 11 at Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m.
Oct. 18 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m.
Oct. 26 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 8:30 p.m.
Week 8: Bye
Nov. 8 at Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m.
Nov. 22 at Dallas Cowboys, 1 p.m.
Nov. 29 at Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m.
Dec. 6 vs. New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m.
Dec. 13 at Oakland Raiders, 4:05 p.m.
Dec. 21 vs. New York Giants, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs. Dallas Cowboys, 8:20 p.m.
Jan. 3 at San Diego Chargers, 4:15 p.m.

Strength of schedule: 16th (opponents combined to go 125-192-2, .492, in 2008)
Projected record: 8-8
Bodog over/under total: 8
Bodog odds to win NFC East: 6/1
Bodog odds to win NFC: 14/1
Bodog odds to win Super Bowl XLIV: 34/1

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The Redskins open on the road against the G-Men for the second straight year and will lose to them for the second year in a row. But there's no excuse for this team not to start 3-1 as it faces the lowly Rams and Lions and the rebuilding Bucs following the opener. Of course, St. Louis pulled the road upset of Washington last year and Tampa Bay has won the past three regular-season matchups, so you never know.

In fact, anything worse than 4-3 entering the bye probably means coach Jim Zorn's fate is sealed. That home game with the Chiefs, K.C.'s first visit since 2001, also should be somewhat of a layup.

However, following the bye things get much more difficult as the Skins have just one game against a team that finished below .500 last year. If those back-to-back road games against Dallas, their first at the Cowboys' new stadium, and Philly look familiar, it's because it is the second year in a row Washington must visit those two rivals on consecutive weeks. The Redskins swept the Eagles last season but haven't done so in consecutive years since 1982-83.

The final four weeks are especially brutal: Two more prime-time games against NFC East foes (all three of Washington's home division games are scheduled in prime time) sandwiched by cross-country trips to the West Coast. That game in Oakland is Washington's first since 1998 and the stop in San Diego is the Redskins' first since 2001.

I don't see how this team isn't the worst in the NFC East yet again, but it certainly will be very competitive in nearly every game. Good but not great should be this team's motto. Look for Snyder to dump Zorn barring a playoff push and for the owner to have Mike Shanahan as his coach (and maybe GM) in 2010.

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The Patriots are listed as 3-point favorites.

Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell has played poorly in his team's first two preseason games, completing just 4-of-13 passes for 48 yards, including 1-of-7 for 10 yards in last Saturday's 17-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The story for the Patriots, meanwhile, as it was in the club's first two August matchups, will be the work of quarterback Tom Brady.

The offense should have a better chance for success if tight end Ben Watson, who has been absent during the preseason with an undisclosed injury, is able to return.

New England owns a 12-7 advantage in its all-time preseason series with Washington.

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The Baltimore Ravens routed the Redskins 23-0, and gained 500 net yards on offense Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium.

The good news for the Redskins is Pro Bowl defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth expects to play Saturday against the defending Super Bowl champs.

Clinton Portis also is expected to make his preseason debut against the Steelers.

All of this adds up to Washington being much more competitive, at least while their two stars get some game action in.

For the Steelers, two-time Pro Bowl RB Willie Parker, who missed most of last week and didn’t play against the Cardinals because of back spasms, has also returned to practice and will play against the Redskins.

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The 3-point favored Ravens are coming off an 11-5 season in which they made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. The team did lose defensive coordinator Rex Ryan as he left to take the top spot with the Jets, as well as two defensive starters in Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard.

The Redskins have some choices to make at quarterback during the exhibition season. Jason Campbell is the clear-cut starter, but there is a battle for the third-string spot between Colt Brennan and rookie Chase Daniel. If the coaching staff likes what they see out of the two youngsters, it may be veteran quarterback Todd Collins who gets cut.

Thursday's game is scheduled to get underway at 7:30pm ET at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

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The Redskins put together their own impressive victory in Week 16, but it had nothing to do with their offense. Washington clipped Philadelphia 10-3 and found a way to shut down an Eagles offense that had scored 98 points in the last three games. The Redskins’ D came up huge on the final play of the game, stopping receiver Reggie Brown at the one-yard line on what would have been the game-tying score for Philly. Bet on NFL football in the Bodog Sportsbook.

If Philly wins their final two games against Washington and Dallas, they would finish 10-5-1. But both Tampa Bay and Atlanta are 9-5 and could clinch the two NFC Wild Card spots with wins in their final two games.

Part of the reason for the Redskins’ nosedive is that they were outscored 41-0 in the first quarter of their last four games. Washington has been outscored 82-33 in the first quarter for the season. The Eagles are 5-1 ATS in their last six vs. the NFC and are 5-0 ATS in their last five games on Field Turf. Get your NFL betting in the Bodog Sportsbook.

Backers of the Redskins will be curious to see if Portis hits the field fired up after the spat he and head coach Jim Zorn had this week. The Redskins need him badly since they have been held to 10 or fewer points in four of the last five games to fall to 29th in the league in scoring.

The 7-point underdog Bengals will be in tough once again. They have gone 0-3-1 since a 21-19 win over Jacksonville on Nov. 2 and have been outscored 69-6 the last two weeks.

Washington started the 2008 season on fire at 4-1 SU and ATS; however, it’s been a struggle since then. The latest loss was a 23-7 final at home to the New York Giants (-3.5); quarterback Jason Campbell had one interception and zero touchdown passes in one of his least effective starts of the season. All of Campbell’s four picks on the season came in Washington’s last three defeats.

The ‘Skins fortunes this Sunday night rest on the balky knee of RB Clinton Portis, who rushed for only 22 yards against the Giants. Baltimore had the top-ranked defense in the league (both rushing and passing) heading into Week 13.

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On Sunday the Washington Redskins are next in line to try and knock off arguably the best team in the NFL.

The Redskins are hoping that Brandon Jacobs misses a second consecutive game with a knee injury when they have a rematch against the Giants. That’s because the Giants’ bruiser, who rumbled through the Redskins for 130 yards on 25 carries last December and 116 yards on 21 carries this September, figures to be facing a depleted Washington run defense. The Redskins slipped from fifth to seventh in run defense as they squeaked past Seattle 20-17 Sunday. Jacobs and New York’s top-ranked running attack will present a much bigger challenge. Get all your NFL betting in the Bodog Sportsbook today.

Now they have to try and bounce back from a tough loss to Dallas on Sunday. The good news is they will be lining up against a very weak Seattle Seahawks team that has little to play for other than pride.

Clinton Portis, the NFL’s No. 2 rusher with 1,063 yards, is getting better every day and should get a lot more touches than he did against the Cowboys. That is good news since the Redskins will be going up against a rush defense that is only ranked No. 21 in the NFL.

Seattle, who has lost six of their last seven games, now have to change their focus from winning the division to playing spoiler. Get your NFL picks in the Bodog Sportsbook.