Two weeks ago, the Redskins were heavy favorites against the winless St. Louis Rams at FedExField.
But for the first time all season, the Redskins were careless with the football, fumbling three times. And the Rams pulled off a stunning 19-17 upset, courtesy of a last-second field goal.
Now the Redskins, at 5-2, are getting set to play the winless Detroit Lions this Sunday at Ford Field.
They are certain to be overwhelming favorites against a Detroit team that is ranked 27th overall in offense, 32nd in defense and yielding an average of 31 points per game.
After the Rams game, players said they prepared as hard for the Rams as they did for any other opponent this season.
Mistakes did them in, though.
And perhaps they had a little less intensity for the Rams as they did for the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
Have the Redskins learned the lesson?
Clinton Portis thinks so.
"Guys have come in this week determined not to let that happen again," Portis said.
Jason Campbell agrees.
"When we lost that game, I couldn't sleep for two nights," Campbell said. "We were on a four-game win streak and we ended up losing that game at home--and that made it worse. We were able to learn from it, come back out against Cleveland and put together a hard-fought effort. I feel like we put [the Rams game] behind us."
Marcus Washington expects the Lions to battle hard for a win because no team wants to go through a season winless.
"A lot of times when you a play a team that hasn't had a win, they come out really tough," Washington said. "It's not that you're necessarily slacking, it's that they're playing good football. So we've got to be ready for a fight."
Added Rock Cartwright: "You don't want history to repeat itself. We had that experience [of getting upset by a winless team] with the Rams.
"We know Detroit is going to play hard. They're going to play at home and they're going to want to win badly. We have to prepare for them, be physical and put points on the board."
-- REDSKINS LOSE CRUMMEY, SIGN ROSS
Practice squad offensive lineman Andrew Crummey has decided to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals' active roster this week.
That means the Redskins had a vacancy on the practice squad, and they filled it quickly by signing guard Isaiah Ross.
Ross, 6-3 and 320 pounds, spent time on the New Orleans and Minnesota practice squads earlier this season. He joined the Saints for training camp after playing the last two springs in the Arena Football League.
Ross originally entered the NFL in 2004 as an undrafted rookie free agent with San Diego. He played his college ball at the University of Nevada.
-- SIX STARTERS SIT OUT PRACTICE
Cornelius Griffin was among five Redskins starters to sit out practice on Wednesday. Griffin has been slowed by a shoulder injury.
Jim Zorn said that he may opt to hold Griffin out of this Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions.
Other starters who missed practice on Wednesday: Clinton Portis (hip), Chris Horton (ankle), Pete Kendall (knee), Fred Smoot (groin) and Shawn Springs (calf).
Ladell Betts also sat our practice due to a knee injury. He is not expected to play against the Lions.
Zorn said he expected most of the injured starters to be available for Sunday's game, with the exceptions being Springs and Griffin.
Regarding Smoot and his groin injury, Zorn said: "He knows he has to push it. We'll wait and see."
-- SETBACK FOR KELLY
Malcolm Kelly continues to experience swelling in his knee, a setback for the rookie wide receiver.
He is expected to undergo an MRI to further evaluate the knee.
Jim Zorn indicated that Kelly could be placed on injured reserve as soon as this week.
"It's a re-occurring issue," Zorn said. "We may [put Kelly on injured reserve] to give him a chance to get well. That would allow us to sign a guy who can participate with us."
