Death and Taxes

Tomorrow, the Redskins face off against the Cleveland Browns, looking to establish a win streak against one of the league's consistently weaker teams.

What the Redskins have shown this season is that there are no "gimme" games. The offense's red zone weakness coupled with the production out of the defense in the first three games has made every contest more unpredictable than expected.

So what can be expected? Expect to see a lot of starters and role players on the sidelines in sweats. Center Kory Lichtensteiger, safety DeAngelo Hall, cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland and  Dashaun Phillips, guard Shawn Luavo and wide receiver Josh Doctson are ruled out for Sunday's game, with Lichtensteiger and Hall on the injured reserve for much longer. Hall's season is likely over with an ACL tear.

Without Breeland, Phillips and Hall, the Redskins secondary is noticeably weaker than it already was, which is almost an accomplishment. So to risk sounding like Andre 3K, what's weaker than weak? A secondary with Josh Norman and a revolving door of players coach Jay Gruen couldn't even pick out of a police line up.

Doctson's injury may be a blessing in disguise for the maligned rookie. He was a held out of the Giants game after a flare up in his achilles injury that has held him back since August. With his expectations for the year so high, it's not unfair at all to say that the former TCU phenom may be shut down for the next few weeks. It seems that he was rushed into playing week one despite the actual status of his injury. The injury has hampered his rookie production, with his only input of note being a 57-yard reception against the Cowboys in week 2. Shutting him down may not be the worst move. Not only will it give his injury time to heal, but the break from expectations to perform on an injury will help restore any confidence lost.

While no win in the NFL is guaranteed to any team, the Redskins always look to serve as a painfully personified reminder of this fact. It'd be nice to think that the Redskins can beat a team who's current number one wide receiver is a converted quarterback, but anything can happen.