Colts at Redskins (in Canton, Ohio), Sunday, August 3, 2008
While one would normally be hard-pressed to pick the Washington Redskins to beat the Indianapolis Colts in a football game in this day and age, in the preseason it is probably in your best interest to do so. Historically, coach Tony Dungy does not put much ephasis on meaningless games - even if they are during the regular season, as Browns fans remember from last year when they missed out on the playoffs with a 10-6 record because Dungy put his backups in to play the Titans in the regular season finale. That game propelled an undeserving Tennessee team into the postseason and left the Browns on the outside looking in.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this will be the first game that the Redskins play with Jim Zorn (below, with new team) as their head coach. It is also Zorn’s first game ever as a head coach…or even as a head coordinator, for that matter. The Seahawks’ quarterback coach from 2001 until Dan Snyder hired him in Washington this past offseason, Zorn will no doubt be anxious to prove his worth right from the get-go, preseason or not. His counterpart, Dungy, has no neither the need nor the desire to prove his mettle in such a fashion.
While the Yardstick at FanYard in these early days of 2008 NFL would call for a 5-point Colts victory, both myself and the people who make odds on games would disagree wholeheartedly. There is nothing from recent years to make me think the Colts will do more than show up for this game. Even so, it likely won’t be a blowout if the Skins do win. With a new system being tested and many second and thrid-stringers of their own on the field, Washington will be tested even against the backups for Indy. While both teams have injuries to some of those who ostensibly would be starters in a regular season game, those players, at least on the Colts front, probably would not have played for any meaningful length anyway. (Check out that last link to Hog Heaven and vote in their poll on the Washington team dropping the name Redskins.”) And join FanYard 
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