What a difference a division makes. At 5-7, Washington plays Sunday to break a three-way logjam at the top of the NFC East. The Bears are also 5-7, but three wins behind Green Bay and Minnesota, and hang on to faint wild-card hopes; Right now they’re 11th in the NFC.
Each team, then, probably sees a beatable opponent and considers today a game it needs to win. Each team has some lingering injuries, but the quarterbacks are healthy and the star skill players that have been out, Bears running back Matt Forte and Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson, have been back and are no longer listed on the injury report.