The Thursday Night Football game in Week 10 will put up two teams that are struggling a bit after making the playoffs in the Washington Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings and the game on NFL Network will start up at 8:30 pm and will have a protest from the Oneida Indian Nation about the Washington franchise nick name.
The game is a crucial one for the Washington Redskins, as they are coming off of a win over the San Diego Chargers and with another divisional game looming ahead, any chance they have in the NFC East this season starts with them winning now. Robert Griffin has been playing much better in the second half and the Redskins now have the chance to turn things around after getting off to a terrible start. The team made the playoffs and won the division title last season and now they may not even make the postseason. The team is third in the division with a 3-5 record and they have to have a great second half to get back into the race.
The Redskins started out 0-3 before winning their first game and then they lost to the Dallas Cowboys to fall to 1-4 and they also lost a rough game to the Denver Broncos, putting them in a position where they need to have a stellar second half performance. Griffin has been playing much better than the first chunk of the season and he now has 2,169 yards and nine scores and he is ranked second on the team in rushing with 257 yards on the ground behind second year back Alfred Morris, who had an amazing rookie season in 2012 and now has 686 yards and five scores.
The receivers have put up some nice number for Griffin and Pierre Garcon led the way last week against the Chargers and now he could have another solid game against the Vikings, who are giving up more yards than last season through the air in their secondary. Jordan Reed is second on the team behind Garcon, who has 684 yards, while the tight end has as many TDs with two on the season. The team is ranked 12th in the league in passing yards per game and sixth in rushing and they have not been that good on defense, ranking 28th and 22nd in passing and rushing yards allowed per game.
The Redskins have a divisional game left next against the Philadelphia Eagles and then they have some huge matchups with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night football at home and then they host the New York Giants. Those games will be crucial for any chance of the Redskins making it and the team then has another tough matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs who are undefeated and then on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. The team finishes with the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants and those divisional games will be crucial for any chance at Griffin getting back into things.