The Lions are saying that Stafford could have played against the Giants a couple of weeks ago, but they wanted him to get more practice time in order to get his timing back with his receivers. The Lions are tweaking their protection packages to make sure that Washington’s Brian Orakpo doesn’t rattle Stafford. Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall, who tied an NFL record with four interceptions last week, will have Johnson much of the day.
On the flip side, the Lions will put CB Chris Houston on Washington WR Santana Moss. You can bet that Donovan McNabb will be looking to go deep to Anthony Armstrong, plus he feels good about finding TE Chris Cooley on underneath routes as long as he gets time against Detroit’s solid pass rush. If it’s close, don’t forget that Jason Hanson has kicked 438 field goals, fifth all-time.