Against the Giants, the Redskins were 4-of-13 on third-down conversions. Take away the two that happened on the game’s last (mostly insignificant) drive, and that drops to an embarrassing 2-of-11 while the game was still being contested.

The fingers can be pointed a million ways here, but one of the things that gets a thorough look is the wide receiver position, mostly because three first-day draft picks were used to take three receivers. Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas both came in hoping to make an immediate impact on the NFL, but have quickly learned it’s not that easy. Kelly battled injury problems and is just now seeing his first game action. Thomas has 11 catches for 77 yards.

Washington’s leading receiver is Chris Cooley, who as a tight end can’t become too much of a downfield threat (aside from the 5-10 yards he always seems to pick up after his catches). That’s where Santana Moss comes in - but injury problems have kept him from being a regular, and he’s double-teamed when he does play. Antwaan Randle El seems to have taken a little time to be fully integrated into the offense, but for my money he’s the team’s best playmaking option at the position right now (assuming Moss is double-teamed).

This becomes a particular issue this week, as Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed seems to be a master of finding just the right place to be, and the right time to be there.

“He is that one guy who is very dangerous when he gets the ball,“ Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. “He’s probably dropped a couple because he was running for touchdowns before he’s caught it, but we have to be very stingy with the ball, so we are conscious of that, but he still gets his. He doesn’t hesitate and he plays with confidence.“

It will be interesting to see if someone can step up on Sunday to give this team a viable receiving option and help free up other aspects of the game for the Redskins.