Sunday, the Washington Redskins fell to the Carolina Panthers, 33-20, to drop to 3-3. That's bad news in the short term, but the long-term outlook isn't any better. Leading rusher Tim Hightower's season-ending ACL tear, coupled with the broken left hand which will rule top wide receiver Santana Moss out for at least five weeks, can only worsen an already mediocre offense. Thus, former Baltimore Ravens coach and current FOX Sports analysts Brian Billick saw fit to drop Washington two spots in his NFL Power Rankings, to No. 21 overall. His comments:
Not sure that it matters whether John Beck or Rex Grossman is the QB right now. Tight end Fred Davis continues to be a factor in the passing game, but the Redskins have to run the ball to win and they have not done that the past two games. Defense was a little disappointing against the Panthers.
Davis leads all Redskins in receiving yards and will have to assume a larger offensive role due to Moss' injury and Washington's dearth of talent at wide receiver.
Incidentally, Billick ranks the Redskins lower than every other team in the NFC East. In addition to ranking higher than Washington, the New York Giants (No. 12), Philadelphia Eagles (No. 17), and Dallas Cowboys (No. 18) either improved or stayed the same this week. The Redskins are trending down, but the rest of the division is trending up.
For more NFL Power Rankings, visit SBNation.com.