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Colts-Redskins Preview

Oct 13, 2010 - 10:13 PM By JEFF BARTL STATS Writer

With one of the NFL's top offenses coming to town, Washington hopes its NFL-worst defense can step up.

The Redskins meet the Indianapolis Colts and the league's third-ranked offense in a matchup of co-division leaders Sunday night.

Despite giving up 410.2 yards per game, Washington (3-2) sits tied atop the NFC East due in large part to its eight takeaways against four turnovers. The Redskins have given up one touchdown in each of their three wins but surrendered 30 points in both losses.

"That's been the ongoing saga for years with offenses and defenses," coach Mike Shanahan said. "Is it total offense, or is it points scored? Total defense, or points given up? Then you get to turnover ratio. Honestly, if you look over the years, that's probably the biggest factor."

LaRon Landry's interception in overtime helped set up the winning field goal in last week's 16-13 victory against Green Bay after the Redskins had allowed 427 yards.

"We don't care about you running up and down the field," linebacker Brian Orakpo said. "We don't care about that. We care about you scoring points and getting into our end zone. And that's what we're trying to defend."

Each of the Redskins' three victories possessed some late-game drama.

"The perfect scenario, we'd all like to put teams away early," Shanahan said. "We'd like to dominate teams, that's your goal. It doesn't always work out that way, but that's your plan. I think ultimately you have to find a way to win.

"We need to improve in a lot of different areas, but it's nice to need to improve and still win."

Washington gets a boost to its defensive line with Albert Haynesworth returning to the lineup after missing last Sunday's game due to the death of his brother.

The Redskins may need all the help they can get, as Indianapolis (3-2) is averaging 401.6 yards. Peyton Manning is tied for the NFL lead in touchdown passes with 11 and ranks third with 1,609 yards.

Reggie Wayne's 531 yards receiving are second in the NFL and his 106.2 yards per game rank third.

However, the running game has struggled. Indianapolis is 28th in rushing at 79.8 yards per game, and the Colts are dealing with injuries to Joseph Addai (shoulder) and Donald Brown (hamstring).

In last week's 19-9 win against previously undefeated Kansas City, third-string back Mike Hart, despite a sore knee, stepped in after Addai left the game and scored on an 11-yard run to seal the victory. He finished with 11 carries and 50 yards, both career highs.

"Mike did a great job," Manning said after going 26 of 44 for 244 yards and one interception. "He had an interesting week practice-wise. He got injured during the week and didn't know quite what was going to happen. Next thing you know, he comes out and does a heck of a job for us. That's why you've got to have depth. Everybody's got to be ready at any time."

Washington has injury problems of its own. Clinton Portis is out at least a month with a groin injury, and his replacement Ryan Torain will hope to break out Sunday after a 16-carry, 40-yard performance last week. Indianapolis ranks 29th in the NFL in rush defense.

"(Torain) has the ability to be a top back," Shanahan said, "and we'll find out in time if he can do that and stay healthy."

Still, Washington faces a difficult task on offense. Indianapolis kept the Chiefs out of the end zone last week and held them to 261 total yards.

"A lot of problems that happened are self-inflicted," defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "And we came (last Sunday) and played the way we were supposed to play."

Manning is 2-1 in his career against Washington with eight touchdowns and three interceptions, while Donovan McNabb lost both his starts against Indianapolis while playing for Philadelphia.

The Colts haven't won in five visits to Washington since Oct. 29, 1967, when the franchise was located in Baltimore.