OPPONENT: Washington Redskins

2009 record: 2-3, with victories over St. Louis and Tampa Bay and losses to the N.Y. Giants, Detroit and Carolina.

Last year’s record: 8-8, fourth place in the NFC East.

Record for the last five seasons: 39-44, with two appearances in the playoffs in ‘05 and ‘07.

Last appearance in the playoffs: They dropped a wildcard game in the ‘07 playoffs at Seattle 35-14. Last victory in the playoffs came in ‘04, when they won a wildcard game against Tampa Bay 17-10, before losing in the next round to the Seahawks 20-10.

Head coach: Jim Zorn, in his second season has a 10-11 record. Zorn played 11 years in the NFL at quarterback, with most of that time in Seattle with the Seahawks where he was the team’s first QB when the team began in 1976. He spent eight years in college coaching, before joining the Seahawks in ‘97 as an offensive assistant. Zorn went on to Detroit and then back to Seattle where he was the Hawks quarterback coach for seven years.

Coordinators: Sherman Smith, offense; Greg Blache, defense; Danny Smith, special teams.

Roster overview: In this decade, the Redskins have been one of the biggest players in unrestricted free agency as majority owner Daniel Snyder has never been afraid of paying big bucks for guys like DT Albert Haynesworth this past February. In fact, the entire starting defensive line is made up of UFAs with Philip Daniels and Andre Carter on the ends and Haynesworth and Cornelius Griffin inside. But Washington’s starting lineup actually has more draft choices than UFAs, as 10 picks are on the field to start, including QB Jason Campbell (1st-2005), CB Carlos Rogers (1st-2005), FS LaRon Landry (1st-2007) and DE Brian Orakpo (1st-2009). The group would have included LT Chris Samuels (1st-2000), but he’s out right now with an injury. There are only six rookies on the roster, while there are 10 players who have been in the league 10 seasons or more.

Quarterback: Campbell is in his fifth season out of Auburn and has been the starter since 2007. He’s got 41 TD passes to 28 interceptions over his 41 games played. Each season he’s improved his completion percentage (right now he’s 66.7 percent) and his yards per attempt is up this year (7.54 yards). Campbell is mobile enough to get away from pressure and he’s currently the Redskins second leading rusher with 89 yards on 18 carries, including a 21-yard run.

Offensive threats: Zorn has an interesting collection of weapons for his offense, starting with RB Clinton Portis. He’s in his eighth NFL season and has six seasons with 1,000 rushing yards or more, including 1,487 yards in ‘08 when Portis was picked for the Pro Bowl. The leading receiver for Campbell is TE Chris Cooley, who has caught 22 passes for 254 yards. On the outside are WRs Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El, who can both hit the big play in the passing game.

Defensive stars: The defense runs around MLB London Fletcher, who in this decade is the NFL’s leading tackler with 1,286. This year Fletcher already has 67 total tackles in five games. He’s now got a load in front of him providing protection in Haynesworth, who has had 23 total tackles. DE Carter is the leading sacker with 3.5 so far this season. In the secondary, CB DeAngelo Hall has three interceptions already this year, or more than the Chiefs have as a team. FS LaRon Landry is one of the NFL’s best young safeties.

Special teamers: P Hunter Smith has been fighting a groin injury and did not kick last Sunday. His status will be up in the air right until the weekend. He’s had a good year so far, with a 43.5-yard gross average and a 40.4 net average. Kicker Shaun Suisham is six for six on FGs, but has tried nothing longer than 42 yards. Randle El is the primary punt returner and he’s scored many times over his career but is averaging just 6.3 yards per return this season. RB Rock Cartwright handles the kickoffs and he’s average 23.8 yards a return. He had a 100-yard return for a TD three years ago. The top coverage man is LB H.B. Blades, who has 13 tackles.

Top ‘09 draft picks: 1st-round DE Brian Orakpo has made contributions in his first season and already has 2.5 sacks and is starting at a LB/DE-type position. Orakpo has 20 total tackles and three other QB hurries with the sacks. 3rd-round choice CB Kevin Barnes has been inactive for five games,

Familiar faces: Backup QB Todd Collins spent eight seasons with the Chiefs as a backup quarterback from 1998 through 2005. He appeared in 12 games during that time with no starts, as he threw one TD pass and no interceptions during his limited play time. Blue Springs High School product RB Ladell Betts is in his eighth season with the Redskins. Betts was the team’s second-round selection in the 2002 NFL Draft out of Iowa. Betts had 1,154 rushing yards in 2006 when Portis went out with an injury. The director of player personnel for the Redskins is Scott Campbell, who served as an area scout for the Chiefs for three seasons (1997-99.) One of Campbell’s scouts is

INJURY REPORT: HAS NOT PRACTICED – DE Philip Daniels (biceps), DT Cornelius Griffin (elbow), OT Chris Samuels (neck), P Hunter Smith (groin). LIMITED PRACTICE TIME – DT Albert Haynesworth (ankle), DT Anthony Montgomery (knee) and RB Clinton Portis (calf).