Photo by dharmabumx.

It didn’t take much to turn Redskins fans’ frowns into smiles: a fake field goal throw for a touchdown, an injury to starting Denver starting QB Kyle Orton, and, finally, a win over a halfway decent team to celebrate. The future still looks bleak, but yes, the Redskins are now 3-6 after last week’s 27-17 home win against the Broncos. Redskins fans seemed to hold their heads high this week, knowing that this team — perhaps definitively — is not the worst in football. We might even get to enjoy another win or two before the season’s over!

This week, though, is a whole different story — Dallas week, as we say here in Washington. We’ve had some success against the hated Cowboys in the past few years, taking five of the last eight. That’s not an incredible clip, but given the team’s relative mediocrity, it’s worth mentioning. If Albert Haynesworth can shake off an ankle injury and if Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter can get to Tony Romo, I foresee the ‘Skins keeping it close, but not close enough: 24-20, Cowboys.

Haynesworth is currently listed as questionable, and many were surprised last week when his injury turned out to be a real knock, not just a chance to lie down, drink some Gatorade and eat one of those little energy bars. Missing him might be the difference, as he occupies enough blockers to free up the outside pass rush for others. On the other side of the ball, this week’s buzz centers on the performance of Ladell Betts. Anyone who has spent considerable time around this writer for the past two years has heard a vociferous insistence about the need to get Betts touches. His performance at the end of 2006, when he started the last seven games but still went over 1,000 yards for the season, was tremendous. If last week was any indication, Betts is still capable of bursting through holes with more quickness and power than the still-concussed Clinton Portis has shown over the past year. Last week’s determined performance, in which Betts ran for 114 yards and a touchdown, made it pretty clear that this team’s best chance to win is with Ladell in the lineup.

All that said, the Cowboys have a little more firepower in their backfield than the Broncos, and Tony Romo — much as it pains me to admit it — is certainly a better passer than Chris Simms. ‘Skins defensive back Carlos Rogers was so bad last week that he got benched, and, besides a big interception, DeAngelo Hall wasn’t a whole lot better. If called on, can Justin Tryon really deal with the Cowboys aerial attack? It looks like Rogers will start, but the major, catastrophic breakdowns have come early and often in the past few weeks, and frankly, I’m nervous. But as usual, the recipe’s the same: limit mistakes, get a big turnover or two, run the ball for somewhere around 150, and maybe we get a win.

That’s a big maybe.