Three Things to Watch: Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Redskins, Week 3

Each week on Friday, as a preview of the upcoming Redskins game, District Sports Page will publish “Three Things to Watch” for that week’s game.  This week, the Skins host the Cincinnati Bengals, owners of the ugliest uniforms in North American sports.

THE NUMBERS:

HOME COOKING: This is Robert Griffin III’s first regular season game at FedEx Field. The home crowd, which has been less of an advantage as the years since a playoff appearance increased, should be rocking for his home debut. It’s hard to remember a player whose debut was this highly anticipated by the D.C. crowd. It should be good for the team to feel the energy behind them as opposed to against them, as they’ve started the season with their first two games on the road in hostile environs.

“We’re excited obviously to play in front of our fans, obviously put a good game together,” head coach Mike Shanahan said this week. “So you always look forward to your debut and hopefully we can do it the right way.”

DIFFERENCE-MAKERS ON DEFENSE: The Skins already rely heavily on their veteran middle linebacker London Fletcher, but with all the injuries to the front seven, he needs to be part coach on the field this week more than normal, making sure Rob Jackson, Chris Wilson and Jarvis Jenkins concentrate on doing their jobs and not worry about filling the shoes of Adan Carriker and Brian Orakpo, both lost for the season due to injuries last week.

“When somebody’s injured, we shouldn’t have a drop off,” Jenkins told the Redskins’ official website. “That’s what everybody gets coached for, it’s why everybody goes to training camp, it’s why our defensive line coach coaches everybody the same, because once one guy goes down, somebody has to step up.”

LIMITING PENALTIES: Through two weeks, the Skins are one of the most penalized teams in the league, which is uncharacteristic of a Mike Shanahan team. “Well you have to look at the penalties,” Shanahan said. “We are a very disciplined football team. There were a number of those calls that shouldn’t have been called and a number of calls that should have been called. We will work on those things, but I guarantee you at the end of the day we won’t have those penalties.”

Obviously the replacement refs have played a part in that, but it still needs to be a point of emphasis this week against a Bengals team that will certainly try to mimic the blueprint used by St. Louis to rattle the young Redskins players on offense.

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan barks at someone during last week’s loss to St. Louis. (photo by Brian Murphy)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan, on if defenses are going to try to play physical on RGIII because he’s a rookie: “I think that happens. If guys get a chance to hit your quarterback – whoever the quarterback is – they’re going to. When a guy has that ball in his hands a little bit more and he’s running a little bit more, they’re going to take some shots. Guys are going to always try to get as good of a shot as they can. It’s a good thing he has the athletic ability to get out of the way most the time. You always hope to not have too many of them [sacks], but that is expected.”

INJURY REPORT:

Redskins
WR Pierre Garcon (foot): Doubtful
S Brandon Merriweather (knee): Questionable
CB Josh Wilson (head): Probable

Bengals
DE Jamaal Anderson (knee): Out
CB Dre Kirkpatrick (knee): Out
TE Donald Lee (thigh): Doubtful
CB Leon Hall (calf): Questionable

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Dave Nichols is Editor-in-Chief of District Sports Page. He is credentialed to cover the Nats and the Caps, and previously wrote Nats News Network and Caps News Network. Dave’s first sports hero was Bobby Dandridge. Follow Dave’s Redskins coverage on Twitter @RedskinsDSP.