Editor's note: Brian Edwards has tonight's game locked and loaded with the side and total in his pick pack!

With drama engulfing every inch of Redskins Park, Washington (2-4 straight up, 1-4-1 against the spread) will try to save its season this week when it hosts arch-rival Philadelphia on Monday Night Football.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Philadelphia (3-2 SU, 3-2 ATS) as a 7 ½-point favorite with a total of 38 ½. As of early this afternoon, most books had the Eagles favored by eight with the total adjusted to 37. Bettors can back the Redskins to win outright for a plus-280 return (risk $100 to win $280).

Jim Zorn was stripped of his play-calling duties following last week’s disastrous 14-6 home loss to previously-winless Kansas City. The ‘Skins failed to cover the spread as 6 ½-point home favorites.

Afterward, Washington owner Daniel Snyder and V.P. of football operations Vinny Cerrato told Zorn his play-calling days were over. Instead, Sherm Lewis, who was recently hired as a consultant, will now take over as offensive coordinator.

Zorn obviously isn’t happy with the arrangement, but he didn’t resign because he’s not willing to leave that much money on the table. My belief is that Zorn will be fired if the Redskins lose to the Eagles to fall to 2-5 going into their bye week.

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Cerrato said that won’t be the case on a local radio show this past Thursday. In fact, he claimed Zorn would not be fired until the end of the season (if then).

I don’t know that I trust that statement, especially if Andy Reid’s team comes to town and deals out woodshed treatment. Then again, the dismissals might wait until December and Cerrato’s exit might be tied to Zorn’s pink slip.

The Zorn Era never really had a chance, anyway. He was hired to be the team’s offensive coordinator before a head coach had been picked. Basically, Zorn got the job by process of elimination and that’s never good.

The season began with a loss to the Giants in the Meadowlands. A week later, the Redskins won an ugly 9-7 decision over the still-winless Rams. Most galling for the hardcore fan base was a 19-14 loss at Detroit that marked the end of the Lions’ record run of futility that dated back to the 2007 campaign.

Both of Washington’s victories have come over teams that are still winless with Tampa Bay being the other. After the 16-13 win over the Bucs, the ‘Skins lost 20-17 at Carolina.

The offense has been anemic, failing to score more than 17 points through six games. Jason Campbell was yanked last week and although he’ll start, he could once again be on a short leash. He has connected on 65.6 percent of his throws for 1,197 passing yards, but the Auburn product has a mediocre 6/6 touchdown-interception ratio.

When Todd Collins came off the bench to start the second half against KC, he completed 6-of-14 passes for 75 yards without a TD or an interception. Santana Moss will be the go-to target for whoever is under center. Moss has 22 receptions for 379 yards and two TDs this year.

Clinton Portis was limited at practice for most of the week due to an ankle injury. But he reportedly went at full speed in Saturday’s practice and will start. Portis has 447 rushing yards and one TD run. He averages 4.2 yards per carry.

Philadelphia played its worst game of the season last week – by far. The Eagles went to Oakland and were beaten 13-9 by the Raiders, who closed as 14-point home underdogs and hooked their backers up with a plus-600 return (risk $100 to win $600).

Donovan McNabb rarely had time to throw, as he was sacked six times by an Oakland defense led by Richard Seymour, who tackled the QB twice and also forced a fumble. McNabb threw for 269 yards and wasn’t intercepted, but the offense had to settle for five field-goal attempts. Unfortunately for the Eagles, David Akers only made three of those.

McNabb appears to be back to 100 percent after cracking a rib in a season-opening win at Carolina. He returned for a 33-14 win over Tampa Bay two weeks ago. For the season, McNabb has a 5/1 touchdown-interception ratio. His protection was hampered last week when OT Jason Peters was sidelined for the rest of the game in the first half. Peters is back to 100 percent and will start tonight.

Philadelphia is No. 1 in the NFL in passing yards per game (340.7) and No. 3 in total offense (409 YPG). Washington’s pass defense is ranked 24th, giving up 241.3 yards per game through the air.

The Redskins might be without their prize free-agent acquisition, DT Albert Haynesworth, who is “questionable” with an ankle injury. They are already without their best offensive lineman, Chris Samuels, who is out for the year with a neck injury.

The ‘Skins are 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine head-to-head games against the Eagles. Washington won by a 10-3 score when these teams last met Dec. 21 at FedEx Field. The ‘Skins took the outright victory as 4 ½-point home underdogs. When they played at Philadelphia last season, Washington beat the Eagles 23-17 as a 6 ½-point road underdog.

The ‘over’ is 4-1 overall for the Eagles, 1-1 in their road games. On the flip side, Washington has seen the ‘under’ go 5-1 overall, 3-0 in its home outings. In fact, the lone ‘over’ for the Redskins this year came in their opener when Jason Campbell hit Chris Cooley for a touchdown pass in the final minute of a 23-17 loss against the Giants. The late score gave the ‘Skins the backdoor cover and gave gamblers on the ‘over’ (37 ½) a winner.

The ‘under’ is on an 8-2-1 roll in the last 11 head-to-head meetings between these better NFC East rivals.

ESPN will have the telecast at 8:35 p.m. Eastern.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--The biggest surprise of Sunday’s Week 7 action had to be the play of the Cincinnati Bengals, who absolutely destroyed Chicago 45-10 as a short home ‘dog. In the first half, Carson Palmer completed 15-of-17 passes for 183 yards and four TDs to give his team a 31-3 cushion at intermission.

--Alex Smith played his best career game Sunday, nearly leading San Francisco to a comeback win. Smith replaced starter Shaun Hill with the 49ers trailing 21-0 at Houston. The former No. 1 pick from Utah threw three touchdown passes to Vernon Davis, but it wasn’t quite enough in the Texans’ 24-21 victory. However, it was enough for San Francisco backers to get a fortunate push as a three-point underdog. Smith completed 15-of-22 passes for 206 yards. He was intercepted on a fourth-and-10 play from SF’s 38 with 36 ticks left. On Monday, head coach Mike Singletary announced that Smith would start this week at Indianapolis.

--I’ve been saying this since he came into the league and it’s finally coming true in his third season. All Minnesota WR Sidney Rice needed was a quarterback to get him the ball. Rice has it all – speed, size and great hands. Plus, he’s willing to put his body on the line and make catches in traffic. Rice had 11 receptions for 136 yards in Sunday's 27-17 loss at Pittsburgh.

--New Orleans remained one of three unbeaten teams (Indianapolis and Denver are the others) by rallyin-g from a 24-3 deficit late in the second quarter to sprint past Miami for a 46-34 win as a 6 1/2-point road favorite. Drew Brees shook off three interceptions to throw for 298 yards and one TD. He also rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

--Forget T.O. Tony Romo has found a new favorite target in Miles Austin, who had six catches for 171 yards and two TDs in the Cowboys' 37-21 home win over Atlanta. Dallas easily took the cash as a 5 1/2-point favorite. Tony Romo threw for 311 yards and three TDs without an interception.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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