More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

It says here Chris Horton will get the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Redskins.

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Hmmm...we haven't done so hot setting bold expectations for this squad so far have we? This week I thought I would lay out five reachable, yet lofty goals. In keeping with the overall theme of getting the win while improving across the board in key areas, here are the things I would expect to see in a game that results in a road win against the Lions.

1) 25 1st downs: Our offense averages 18 1st downs per game. Detroit has allowed 23 per game. So getting 25 first downs would not only be an improvement for our offense, but it would say that we are capable of taking more from the Lions than they are wiling to give us.

2) 300 yards passing for Jason Campbell: On defense, Detroit has given up just north of 255 yards per game in the air. Quarterbacks have hit OVER 80% of their passes against this defense. This is in addition to the 135 yards of rushing they have allowed per game. If the Redskins' offense is going to make a statement about figuring things out, they have to go big against a unit like the Lions' defense. And with Ernie Sims dinged up, their defense will be without some of the only bite they have had so far.

3) Defensive touchdown: If we have to learn how to get comfy with a team led by its defense then we need our defense to display some of the traits that define an elite unit. That means scoring points.

4) 37 points: Hold on...I have a reason for this. This is my boldest hope yet in this column. If we score 37 points this week, it would raise our per game average to 21. We need to start working on getting this per game average up now, since the second half of our schedule is going to most likely crush it. And you know as well as me, that in these parts, our scoring average has been a bone of contention in recent years. I don't really care that it would be kind of falsely inflating our numbers by running it up against the Lions (if we are capable of such a thing.)

5) Malcolm Kelly/Devin Thomas/Fred Davis combine for 10+ catches: It has to happen eventually (if we are all going to maintain our sanity.) And I can't keep picking Orakpo to get 2 sacks.

Will we go 0-for-5 yet again? God, that would be depressing.

Kevin and I will be hosting our first Hogs Haven event at the Hard Times Cafe in Bethesda, MD on Sunday.

Bracelets are $5 and they get you half-price appetizers, discounted draft beers, and all the Beirut you can play.

Hard Times has the NFL ticket, but expect the Redskins game to dominate the TV's around the bar and the Skins/Lions audio to be pumping through their speakers. (We'll see how long that lasts since Brian Billick is the color man for the Skins/Lions game).

While this is relatively short notice, this presents our first opportunity to try and get the community together for a game. A good showing this weekend nets us bigger and better deals whenever we want to get the band together. So come out and enjoy the game with some chili, cold beer, and Beirut with Kevin and I on Sunday.

Hard Times Cafe address:
4920 Delray Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814

There is a parking garage directly across the street that is free on Sundays so parking will not be a problem.

No RSVP necessary, but feel free to indicate your intentions in the comments section.

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

First step: Show us that we have a reason to believe this team is better than last year's team. Show us improvement and show us growth.

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We made it! When the final whistle blew on December 28th last year in San Francisco, the dreaded off-season was upon us, and with it the depressing reality of our team. After starting 6-2, the playoffs were assumed to be in our grasp. In fact, you would have been hard-pressed to find many people who would have predicted the 2-6 finish we hauled into the clubhouse. The early loss to St. Louis was hard to bear at the time, especially in light of the now infamous Pete Kendall fumble that led to a touchdown by the Rams with no time left in the first half. The second half of the season saw us fall to two more teams that had no business beating us, or so we thought. Cincinnati and San Francisco showed up to a couple games that our team might have taken a little for granted. On top of that, our offensive line was a patchwork quilt and our passing game became almost completely nonexistent. And so as usual, we were left with more questions than answers as we began our hibernation for the winter.

The off-season did have its positives though, as we brought in the best player on the free agent market in Albert Haynesworth, and we added an immensely talented defensive player in Brian Orakpo to help beef up our pass rush. Philip Daniels got healthy and came back, and DeAngelo Hall made D.C. his long-term home. No need to beat down the dead horse that was our off-season though.

As for Jim Zorn, the only way he could look more comfortable out there these days is if he was wearing a red velvet smoking jacket with two Playboy Playmates on each arm. His offense has had time to digest in the bellies of our offensive weapons and the young players last year who seemed lost and rudderless have shown signs of "getting it".

What I want to see tonight:

--minimal penalties from starters

--NO offensive pass interference on Devin Thomas

--one solid hit on a running back at the line of scrimmage by Orakpo

--no INT's from JC, and at least 1 touchdown in the red zone (gotta raise expectations)

The proof will come between the whistles of course.

And the first whistle is at 7:30 pm this evening. Is anyone else fired up out there? What is the one thing you want to see more than anything else?

Just like the NYTimes crossword puzzle, Friday's game will always be really tough. Good luck. And if you need help with the one on the right, please seek help...especially because his name is on his shorts.

On slow news days, we'll post a pic of a former Skin and see who can guess it...this is a pretty comical picture since this former Skin only played a handful of games for the Bungles in his only year with them. Can anyone name him?