Thursday's game between Chicago and Washington can be described only as sloppy. The Redskins were physically and emotionally drained in the days following Sean Taylor's tragic death and had not practiced in the short week. The Bears were trying to shake off a miserable late collapse against the Giants on Sunday. Injuries to both starting quarterbacks and a host of other players changed the complexion of this contest, and in the end, the game belonged to Todd Collins.

That's right. Backup Todd Collins made good use of screen passes, quick outs and tight end Chris Cooley over the middle to amass 224 passing yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Chicago defense failed to produce much of a pass rush, allowing Collins ample time to wait for separation to occur.

The Bears committed several false starts and inexcusable delay of game penalties. There was little rhythm to the offense, and the running game was non-existent. Brian Griese passed for 295 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Both interceptions were terribly thrown balls in the direction of Devin Hester that were snagged by Shawn Springs. The Bears appeared desperate to get the ball into their playmaker's hands.

Believe it or not, the quarterback position in Chicago needs to be watched by fantasy owners who have used the mix-and-match approach down the stretch. Two of the league's worst units against the pass, Minnesota and New Orleans, are on the schedule. Fantasy owners have a difficult call if they hit the waiver wire this week. While Griese has handled all of the snaps in Grossman's absence thus far, I expect the team to give Kyle Orton a look in the next three weeks with playoff hopes evaporated. The team knows what Griese can do. Doesn't it make sense to play and evaluate Orton heading into the off-season?

"The Original" Adrian Peterson was terrible in his second start in place of the injured Cedric Benson. He rushed for just 35 yards on 17 carries and couldn't shake tacklers loose. Most disappointing was the fact that he caught one pass for nine yards. Where were the screen passes that proved so successful with him in the past two weeks?

Speaking of screens, that was the only value gained from Clinton Portis on Thursday. He was positively terrible on the ground, rushing for 36 yards on 17 carries to equal Peterson's pathetic effort. However, he racked up 86 yards on six receptions, including a 54-yarder through the middle of the Chicago defense to add value to the fantasy scoreboard. Portis looked great in the open field, but sluggish in getting to the line.

Mike Sellers and Ladell Betts each scored for the Redskins. Betts rushed for negative yardage (minus three on three carries), but added a 16-yard touchdown reception. I still don't understand why he doesn't see the ball more in the offense following his brilliant 2006 season in relief of Portis. Backs need opportunity and reps to make a difference, and those haven't been available in this offense.

Speedster Garrett Wolfe offered a solid performance in relief of Adrian Peterson, producing 50 total yards and showing great elusiveness in the open field.

Chicago did receive another outstanding effort from Bernard Berrian, who made a beautiful catch in the back of the end zone to give him highlight-reel touchdown grabs in back-to-back games. The aforementioned Devin Hester finished with five receptions for 67 yards. It's clear that a significant amount of time and effort was put into getting the ball into Hester's hands now that opposing teams are kicking the ball out of bounds on punts and kickoffs. They succeeded in getting him open downfield. Now, how about working on improving the 3.0 yards per carry average?

Chris Cooley continued his brilliance for fantasy owners with another five-reception game (93 yards) although he also had a scare when he left the field with a shin injury. He finished well, but there was a spell where he seemed to have been forgotten by Todd Collins.

On the other hand, Santana Moss was essentially a non-factor against the Bears. To his credit, Moss is playing through pain. However, he's clearly unable to perform to his past standards. Moss caught three passes for 29 yards. It was his eighth game with 63 or fewer receiving yards in 11 games played.

The teams combined for 11 punts, 91 net yards rushing, three missed field goals and 16 penalties. That string of stats tells you what you missed if you didn't see this game.

Oh, and Todd Collins threw his first NFL touchdown passes since 2002 .