Tough slate in trying times

Byline: Ryan O'Halloran, THE WASHINGTON TIMES For most of this season, the Washington Redskins have been a punchline for their inability to take advantage of a soft early season schedule and the constant tumult surrounding coach Jim Zorn and the front office. They might spend November as a punching bag. Back at practice Monday following a five-day break, the Redskins know they will be underdogs for the foreseeable future because of injuries, offensive struggles and a difficult schedule. The Redskins' four November games come against teams with a combined 20-8 record, including three teams that lead or are tied for theirdivision lead - Denver (6-1), Philadelphia (5-2) and Dallas (5-2). First up this Sunday is Atlanta, which fell to 4-3 after losing to NewOrleans on Monday night. No other team faces winning teams in each of its next four games. It's going to be tough, no doubt, center Casey Rabach said. We're over our easy part of the schedule, which wasn't so easy, and now on to the tough part. We have to prepare like normal and go out and try to play good Football. The players used the short vacation to travel to their offseason homes, stay in the area, heal their injuries or, in the case of tight end Fred Davis, work on route running and blocking in one-player practice sessions. Zorn used the time to review the previous seven games to evaluate why the offense is tied for 28th in points and has yet to score more than 17 in a game. Having the record we have makes it more painful, Zorn said of the process. "You can look at all the games and notice what some of the trends are, what some of the glaring recurrences that happened. .. You're able to isolate things, put them on video and there's some revelation there It creates some subtle changes, and it may create some resolve in how to doit a little bit differently." A day after the loss to Philadelphia, Zorn said it was the ideal time for the bye; the players held the same opinion after an hour-long, no-pads practice at Redskin Park. Anytime your team gets a chance to regroup and rejuvenate, especially around here, we needed a bye week, and it was well timed, linebacker London Fletcher said. Said cornerback Carlos Rogers: We needed it a lot. Everybody needed it. It was time to rest, get some of the guys back healthy and get away from all this losing for a minute and try to turn this season around. Rogers said the Redskins benefited from leaving behind a circus-like atmosphere. Just in the past month, Zorn has lost the playcalling,the offense has lost three starters to injury and there's the three-game losing streak. There's more stuff going on than just the losing that I've never experienced, Rogers said. But you can't do nothing about it. We're just trying to get a lot of wins. Only a lot of wins will give the Redskins any hope of contending for a playoff spot. They're already three games out of first place. Zorn said the Redskins will not make any major scheme changes but some tweaks may be required because Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas are out for the year and tight end Chris Cooley is expected to miss a minimum four weeks. Those injuries will make any kind of climb up the standings difficult. The Redskins know they wasted a golden opportunity to start 4-2 by losing to Detroit and Kansas City - those teams' only win this year. Now if they are to make a late-season run like they did in 2005 and 2007, it will have to come against division rivals and teams like New Orleans and Denver. The Redskins' defense expects to hold its own - the unit is tied for fourth in fewest yards and is fifth in fewest points allowed. The month features games against the second- and fifth-ranked offenses (Dallas and Philadelphia). We'll never shy away as a defense, Rogers said. We're one of the top in the league, and we'll continue to build off that. Just watchingfilm [Monday], there are a lot of stuff we need to be do better likeexplosive plays, explosive runs [allowed]. The offense remains the weak link. While only Denver (first) is among the top 10 defenses on the upcoming schedule, every team presentsthe Redskins with a challenge until they get their pass protection figured out. We have some issues that we need to get patched up, receiver Antwaan Randle El said. It's going to be tough, but I look at it like the way we started last year - nobody had us picked to beat Philadelphia and Dallas and get on a roll. That's what we have to do now. That's the bottom line - it hasn't fallen our way, but we have to get some wins now. Despite the struggles, Zorn is confident the players' effort and concentration levels won't decline. As far as our players go, we're on the right track, he said. We see where our weaknesses are and will try to help ourselves with those and keep pushing. +++++ IT ONLY GETS HARDER The Redskins return from their bye to play five straight games against teams with a winning record. Their November schedule is the toughest in the NFL; the opponents are a combined 20-8. SUNDAY: at ATLANTA (4-3) Key stats: Entering Monday night's game, the Falcons' offense was protecting quarterback Matt Ryan (fourth in fewest sacks per pass play) and keeping drives alive with a 44.6 percent conversion rate on third down (sixth best). NOV. 15: DENVER (6-1) Key stats: The surprise of the NFL's first half, the Broncos are among the top eight in 10 statistical categories, including first in yards allowed (266.7) and second in sacks (23.0). NOV. 22: at DALLAS (5-2) Key stats: The Cowboys have scored 26 or more points during each game of a three-game winning streak and are sixth in rushing (147.6 yards) and seventh in passing (263.6 yards). NOV. 29: at PHILADELPHIA (5-2) Key stats: The Eagles blew out the Giants on Sunday and have reached the top of the division because they don't give up plays (second in yards a snap) and make big passing plays (nine of 40 yards or more). CAPTION(S): Jim Zorn: We see where our weaknesses are and will try to help ourselves with those and keep pushing. [Photo by Peter Lockley/The Washington Times]