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Looking over the Redskins schedule:

The Redskins don't get to the dog-meat part of their road schedule until the final weeks of the season, when they go to Cincinnati, to Baltimore, and to San Francisco in the span of four weeks. That's a positive thing, because if the Redskins are in a battle for playoff position, they'll be in good shape to finish strong. The Ravens and 49ers figure to be total trash, and there's a high likelihood that the Bengals will have self-destructed by then.

But up to that point, the Skins actually have a pretty tough schedule. I guess that can be expected for any team in the NFC East these days. Washington got lucky, though, with only one semi-tough out of conference road game, in Seattle. Seattle has had Washington's number for several years now, and that's just unacceptable. The Seahawks are one of the most overrated teams in the NFL, I can't handle them routinely coming out on top against the Skins. No way.

Other than that, they go to Detroit and then the aforementioned poo-poo platter down the stretch. Detroit could be interesting: their defense will be garbage, but they've got big-time receivers and a hot quarterback. Nevermind that the Skins absolutely crushed the Lions last season. The pass rush will be important in that game. Pressuring any quarterback who has previously played in the Mike Martz system turns them into a screaming, shitting disaster, as evidenced by Jon Kitna's epic disaster of a game in this matchup last season, and Kurt Warner's ongoing PTSD. Come to think of it, Marc Bulger is right there too, what with the fumblitis and the constant injuries.

Speaking of Martz, Bulger, and dog-meat, the Skins host the woeful Rams in week six, after consecutive division road games. That should be a bloodbath. The Rams are horrid.

The way I see it, the Skins have four out-of-division home games against teams with legit playoff hopes: week two vs. the Saints, week three vs. the Cardinals, week 7 vs. the Browns, and week 9 vs. the Steelers right before the bye. The Saints were slow starters last season, and the pass rush will be a huge factor in this matchup. New Orleans is potentially explosive, and we saw how dirt-poor Drew Brees was in the face of pocket pressure at the start of last season. Same goes for Arizona. The Cardinals could even be more explosive, so heat on the passer will be important. The Browns may not have a defense worth mentioning, and just like the other two, it's an explosive offense that will require a consistent pass-rush. The Steelers are tough, man. They've got no offensive line, so if the Skins can stuff the run, a pass-rush shouldn't be too difficult to muster. Honestly, the Redskins could very easily take 3 of 4 of those home dates.

Let's assume the Redskins win all the out-of-division games they ought to win . . . that gives them four wins . . . I think . . . yeah. 49ers, Rams, Bengals, Ravens. Then lets go ahead and say the Skins split their division games, that puts us at seven. That leaves @ Seattle and Detroit, and home games against New Orleans, Arizona, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Let's go ahead and say they split those games. That gets us to 10 wins, which will put the Skins in the wild-card race but not get them a division. Shoot.

Now, another interesting note: after their opening five games, the Redskins go through a stretch where they play 4 of 5 and 5 of 7 games at home, while their division foes in Philadelphia don't play consecutive home games all season. This will be a crucial stretch in the Redskins schedule, a big-time chance to take advantage of some home cooking before they go on their season ending binge vs. the NFL's garbage. If they can take those home games, they'll be in great position to finish the season strong and ready for the playoffs. The late bye week (week 10) is a bonus as well.