Thursday, Oct 11, 2007 03:05 PM

Redskins face five of next seven games on the road

ASHBURN, Va. -- When Joe Gibbs made the surprising decision to give his players the week off during the bye, he also made a prediction.

"I'm sure there ain't going to be anybody who reminds me of it if we play well against Detroit," he said.

Reporters rarely shirk from such an easy dare. Sure enough, when Gibbs opened the floor for questions this week at his regular news conference, he was promptly reminded that, yes, he gave the team a long break during the bye, and indeed it did play well in a 34-3 win over the Lions.

"I appreciate that," Gibbs responded before letting out a laugh. "As a coach, when you lose ball games, the first thing that runs through your mind, to be honest with you, is all the things I'm going to have to answer. For everything you did do, you are hanging on going, 'I hope this works out all right.' In that case, I appreciate our players responding."

"The bad news," the coach added later, "is we've got to go to Lambeau Field now."

The truth is, even many of the pessimists predicted the Redskins would be exactly where they are right now -- 3-1 -- because of a soft early schedule. They did upset the form chart by beating Philadelphia on the road in Week 2, but then they quickly compensated by losing at home the following week to the New York Giants.

Now comes the brutal stretch. Five of the next seven are on the road, starting with Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. There also are upcoming trips to New England and Dallas, both currently undefeated. The Redskins should know whether they're for real come Thanksgiving.

"If we want to get to where we want to be, we have to play well on the road," center Casey Rabach said. "We do have some tough games and back-to-back trips coming up. It's about staying focused and taking care of each task."

If the Redskins' level of play is exceeding expectations, it's largely because of a defense that has reverted to its form of 2004 and 2005, led by a resurgence of assistant coach Gregg Williams' know-it-all swagger. Detroit's 144 total yards were the fewest gained on a Washington team since 1992. Andre Carter already has four sacks, including one for a safety.

Carlos Rogers -- who dropped numerous potential interceptions in 2006 -- picked one off Sunday and returned it for Washington's first defensive touchdown since 2005.

The defense ranked 31st last season and set an NFL non-strike season record for fewest takeaways (12) and a franchise record for fewest sacks (19). This year's team is currently ranked third overall and has six takeaways and 13 sacks. Safety Sean Taylor hasn't whiffed once from his center field perch in the simpler, redesigned scheme.

The Redskins surprised the Lions by not blitzing -- daring them to run. They still managed six sacks on Jon Kitna, including one that was credited to Marcus Washington a few days after the game after the team made an appeal to the league.

"A lot of people said we can't pass-rush, but I guess we proved them wrong," said defensive end Phillip Daniels, who played much of the game with a separated shoulder. "Four-man rush, for the most part, and I think we did a good job."

The Lions, to be fair, did not play well against the Redskins. Neither did Week 1 opponent Miami, which is still winless. The Eagles have been struggling as well. If there is such a thing as a "quality win," Washington can gets it first of the season in Green Bay on Sunday.

"This will be a tough trip," Gibbs said.

Notes: WR Antwaan Randle El (hamstring), LB Marcus Washington (hamstring) and DE Phillip Daniels (shoulder) missed practice Thursday for the second straight day. FB Mike Sellers (heel) returned after sitting out Wednesday. CB Fred Smoot was absent due to illness. ... Rabach, a Wisconsin native, will be playing at Lambeau Field for the first time. "Ticket requests are at an all-time high," he said, "but I have my wife working on that."