The New England Patriots will be on the road against the Washington Redskins. They have never defeated them in Washington, but this will be a great opportunity. The Patriots are coming off a win against the Colts while the Redskins look to rebound after a bad loss to the New York Jets. New England can clinch an AFC East division title and a playoff spot with a win and a Jets loss. If the Pats win, they will tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the best record in the AFC. Considering this, they should have no problem making the playoffs ranked as one of the top seeds, because their remaining three week schedule is not very challenging. The Redskins on the other hand, at 4-8, will probably not make the playoffs even if they somehow win all of their remaining games. This game will be important for the Patriots if they wish to play at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs, instead of traveling on the road.

When the Patriots have the ball, they must keep a close watch on the two young outside pass rushers that the Redskins have. As with any other game, protecting Tom Brady and controlling the line of scrimmage will be key. I don't see any other major threats, but linebacker London Fletcher will make some plays. However, his play alone won't be enough to stop all the weapons at Tom Brady's disposal, including touchdown machine Rob Gronkowski. I would like to see the Patriots go to Aaron Hernandez a little bit more, because Gronkowski has been getting a lot of attention, especially in recent games. It wouldn't hurt to spread the ball around a little bit, because this would make it even harder for opposing defenses to find favorable matchups. This might be the day Gronkowski breaks the record for most touchdowns in a single season by a tight end all-time. One would think that since he has been getting the ball more and more, that defenses would try their best to contain him, but this has not been the case. Last week, the Colts allowed him to get three touchdowns. Furthermore, he was unaccounted for and wide open on one of them. Look for players like Wes Welker to come up big against a defense that allowed 34 points to a pretty bad Jets offense led by Mark Sanchez.

When the Redskins have the ball, quarterback Rex Grossman will either turn the ball over, or make some stupid decisions. Expect Washington to rely heavily on their young running back Roy Helu, who has had two consecutive one hundred yard performances. He will be tough to contain, but since the Patriots are good at stopping the run, and getting ahead early, this shouldn't be a huge problem. If they do get ahead early, the Redskins will be forced to play catchup with gunslinger Rex Grossman, who has caused turnovers throughout his entire career. But not all of the blame should go on Grossman, because offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is notorious for getting pass happy at odd times. I would expect the Pats to attack the vulnerable offensive line of the Redskins with Andre Carter and Mark Anderson, and this will allow guys like Kyle Arrington and Jerod Mayo to make plays because Grossman will be under pressure. And to add to the Redskins' frustrations, they will be without leading receiver Fred Davis, and valuable offensive lineman Trent Williams. These two players are arguably the best they have on offense, but both of them are out for the season due to repeated violations of the league's substance abuse policy.

Based on these things, Pats win.