Redskins Reality Checks Week 10: Where does the team stand heading to Tampa?

4. The Reality Is, Tampa Bay is “Atlanta-Lite” and the Redskins can’t afford a repeat performance.

Tampa Bay has a similar offensive explosiveness to Atlanta. Tampa Bay also has similar defensive vulnerabilities. The glaring difference is that Tampa Bay is dead last in the league in turnover differential.

If the Redskins allow Tampa Bay 10-for-13 on 3rd downs, they have no chance in this game. If they allow Tampa Bay’s defense to gain some confidence with several early three-and-outs, the Redskins have no chance in this game. If they can’t force multiple turnovers, they have no chance in this game.

I’ll be focusing particularly on the Redskins’ offensive and defensive lines in this game. Against a team this unbalanced with a terrible defense and excellent offense, the trenches are where the Redskins must outperform expectations. The offensive line has to hold up and the defensive line has to be impactful.

Prediction: The Redskins will look vastly different this week than they did against Atlanta. There will not be many similarities between the games because the Redskins will not suffer the plague of penalties and injuries like they did against Atlanta. Expect a much more evenly matched game this week with a more back-and-forth feel as opposed to the tilted field feeling we got last week.