FanHouse Anthony Montgomery

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Redskins stormed out of the gate in Jim Zorn's first season as head coach, running their record to 6-2 at the halfway point. The second half of the season, unfortunately, was perfectly symmetrical -- they went 2-6 to finish 8-8.

They could have won three of those games in best-case scenarios, but the best teams come through instead of talking about what could have been. The reality is that the Redskins only played a half-season in '08.

Both the Cowboys are Redskins are coming off a bye. Both lost big games to physical teams the last time they took the field. Injuries have been the buzzword in both cities. And all fans involved are quite nervous that a great start may go for naught.

In a weird scheduling quirk, Week 11 will see the Redskins play their first home game against a division opponent. That is what makes the game so huge ... especially for Dallas. A Washington win gives them the ultimate tiebreaker and puts them at 3-1 against NFC East teams while Dallas would fall to 1-3.

Prime time hasn't been kind to Washington. The Skins have lost both night games they have played (Giants, Steelers). These two teams aren't strangers to the national stage. This will be their fourth ever Sunday Night meeting to go along with 14 Monday Night games and six Thanksgiving Day games.

The Washington Redskins are 4-1. They have come off major road wins against Dallas and Philadelphia. The St. Louis Rams are 0-4. They are coming off a bye week which saw their head coach fired. Trap game alert!

The last time the Rams and Redskins shared a field together, Steven Jackson rushed for 150 yards and added another 102 yards receiving. He topped it off with a 21-yard touchdown run in overtime to give the Rams a 37-31 victory. Of course, the Rams were on their way to an 8-8 season while the Redskins bottomed out at 5-11.

That was 2006 and neither team resembles anything like that now.

The Redskins are the NFL's buzz team after reeling off four straight wins and winning in Dallas and Philadelphia. The once-turnover laden Skins have committed just one this season and that was on a punt. The defense has slowed down each opponent they've played while the offense has come together to enforce their will.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: The young Jason Campbell made some nice strides last year ... but had a huge problem holding onto the ball too long. His fumbles, unnecessary sacks and bad decisions led to some poor end-of-game situations. Now with Jim Zorn calling the shots, Campbell will be in his 7th different system in eight years (counting his time at Auburn). Now he will be learning the West Coast offense that takes QBs a while to learn. Backup Todd Collins was golden in his duties last year and it was a bit of a surprise that he re-upped in Washington again. Colt Brennan is a project as the No. 3. Heat Index: 5

Running Back: Heading into last year, many people figured that the Redskins would go to a dual-back system. Didn't happen. Clinton Portis (who is always nicked up) brought it all season long, taking his place near the top of the yardage and TD rankings. Ladell Betts wasn't bad or anything -- he just didn't get the opportunities to shine as he did in 2006. Still, Betts is a very serviceable backup who could get more touches if Zorn really does want to run the football. Heat Index: 8

Here's hoping to a plan C . Backup DE Renaldo Wynn was injured in the New England Patriots game, saying he was horse-collared, making his status for Thursday's preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens in doubt. Add that to the injuries to Cornelius Griffin and Phillip Daniels and the defensive line is averaging one lost player per game.

That leaves at DE first year Redskin Andre Carter, solid backups Demetric Evans and Nic Clemon, and your pick between Karon Riley and Joe Sykes until Phillip Daniels returns. At DT, until Cornelius Griffin is back, there's starter Joe Salave'a, solid backup Cedric Killings, still-learning backup Ryan Boschetti and the four rookies, Anthony Montgomery, Kedric Golston, Chris Mineo and Vaka Manupuna.

Wynn sprained his right ankle in the preseason game and says it's a day at a time. The Redskins are first waiting for the inflammation to go down and treat the ankle as much as possible to prepare Wynn for the regular season. Luckily, there wasn't any diagnosis of weeks of missing action, so he may be returning around the same time as Phillips, Griffin and Springs (a little later).