(My Sportsbook) - When he makes his first home start as a member of the Washington Redskins on Sunday, the 90,000-plus in attendance at FedEx Field will greet young Jason Campbell as something of a conquering hero.

It's not as if the second-year-player has won anything as a pro, in fact he was a 20-17 loser in his first NFL appearance, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, last week.

But Redskins fans will cheer Campbell as their franchise's savior when Washington plays host to the Carolina Panthers, because frankly, they need him to be their franchise's savior.

Campbell is the 17th quarterback to start for the Redskins since Mark Rypien led Washington to its most recent Super Bowl title following the 1991 season. Campbell's predecessors fit all sorts of descriptions, from highly-touted busts (Heath Shuler, Patrick Ramsey) to once-talented has-beens (Jeff Hostetler, Jeff George) to guys that might have led the organization to greatness if they had been given time to mature (Rich Gannon, Trent Green).

Long-suffering Skins fans are hoping that Campbell eventually falls into the more select category of Super Bowl winner, joining Rypien, Doug Williams, and Joe Theismann on Washington's list. That designation certainly won't be coming this year, as Joe Gibbs' 3-7 team is only one game out of possessing the worst record in the NFL. The loss to the Bucs, the fifth setback in the team's last six games, kept Washington comfortably in last place in the NFC East.

Carolina, meanwhile, is playing for much more than a jump-start on 2007. The Panthers enter Sunday's game tied with fading New Orleans (6-4) atop the NFC South, and are one game better than struggling third-place entry Atlanta (5-5) in the division. John Fox and company have won two straight to revitalize their once-thriving Super Bowl hopes, taking down Tampa Bay (24-10) and St. Louis (15-0) in back-to-back weeks.

SERIES HISTORY

The Redskins hold a 6-1 advantage in their all-time series with the Panthers, but were 20-17 road losers in their last meeting with Carolina, in 2003. Washington won the previous six meetings, four of which were held in the nation's capital. The Skins' most recent win in the series was a 17-14 overtime triumph at FedEx Field in 2001.

Fox is 1-0 as a head coach against Washington. The Redskins' Gibbs will be meeting both Fox and the Panthers for the first time.

PANTHERS OFFENSE VS. REDSKINS DEFENSE

Though he posted a season-low four catches in last week's win over the Rams, Carolina Pro Bowl wide receiver Steve Smith (57 receptions, 4 TD) certainly made his presence felt. Smith's four grabs went for 90 yards, including a 62- yard touchdown catch from Jake Delhomme late in the second quarter that would hold up as the only TD of the game. Smith now has a TD reception in each of his past three games. Delhomme (2161 passing yards, 11 TD, 7 INT) also extended a streak in the win, albeit a dubious one. The signal-caller, who completed 13-of-25 passes for 191 yards with the touchdown and a pick, has thrown an interception in five consecutive contests. In addition to his connections with Smith, Delhomme hit No. 2 receiver Keyshawn Johnson (47 receptions, 3 TD) four times for 55 yards in the victory. A Carolina offensive line that has been without opening day left tackle Travelle Wharton (knee) and center Justin Hartwig (groin) for most of the season has allowed 21 sacks on the year, including three last week.

Delhomme and the Carolina passing attack should have things fairly easy this week against a Washington defense that ranks last in the league in interceptions (3) and sacks (13), is tied for the NFL lead with 20 passing touchdowns allowed, and is 30th in aerial yardage allowed (237.6 yards per game). Shawn Springs (27 tackles, 1 INT) and Carlos Rogers (55 tackles) will likely be matched up on Smith and Johnson this week, and with Troy Vincent (18 tackles) listed as questionable with a hamstring injury, Sean Taylor (70 tackles) could again be joined at safety by the struggling Adam Archuleta (56 tackles, 1 sack). Springs posted his first interception of the year against Tampa Bay last week, and Taylor recorded a team-high nine tackles. No Redskins player, including starting ends Andre Carter (19 tackles, 2 sacks) and Phillip Daniels (18 tackles, 2 sacks), has more than two sacks on the season.

The Panthers' ground performance in last week's win over the Rams was what Fox and offensive coordinator Dan Henning expected to see when it began training camp in August. Four different Carolina running back churned up 245 ground yards on 40 carries (6.1 yards per rush) in the victory, led by a season-high 114 yards on 20 totes by rookie DeAngelo Williams (272 rushing yards, 1 TD, 10 receptions). Williams' increased workload came as a result of an elbow injury suffered by No. 1 running back DeShaun Foster (651 rushing yards, 2 TD, 23 receptions), who is listed as questionable for this week. Foster carried nine times for 63 yards before exiting, while third-string back Nick Goings (41 rushing yards, 7 receptions, 1 TD) and fullback Brad Hoover (55 rushing yards, 1 TD, 11 receptions) each contributed 34 yards to the proceedings. The performance moved Carolina up to 18th in NFL rushing offense (107.3) after the team has been outside the league top 20 for most of the season.

Tampa Bay came into its game against the Redskins as one of the NFL's weakest running teams, and left with three running backs having piled up 167 yards on 35 carries (4.8 yards per attempt) on the tissue-soft Washington front seven. The Redskins linebacking corps of Lemar Marshall (55 tackles, 1.5 sacks) in the middle and Marcus Washington (64 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Warrick Holdman (51 tackles, 1 sack) on the flanks has been mediocre all year, and interior linemen Cornelius Griffin (32 tackles, 1 sack) and Joe Salave'a (12 tackles) haven't been much better. Washington had eight tackles to lead the linebackers against the Bucs, and Griffin and Salave'a had four stops each for an overworked interior line. The Skins are 19th in the league in rushing defense (121.2 yards per game), though they have allowed just three touchdowns on the ground all year, tied for the best figure in the league with Chicago.

REDSKINS OFFENSE VS. PANTHERS DEFENSE

Campbell acquitted himself remarkably well in his first start, as a player that hadn't taken as much as a garbage time snap in the pros completed 19- of-34 passes for 196 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers against Tampa Bay. Both of Campbell's TD passes went to tight ends, with Chris Cooley (32 receptions, 4 TD) catching the first scoring strike of the young QB's career in the third quarter, and ex-Buccaneer Todd Yoder making his first reception since the 2004 season on a four-yard grab in the fourth. With No. 1 wideout Santana Moss (31 receptions, 3 TD) out with his sore hamstring, James Thrash (11 receptions, 1 TD) and Brandon Lloyd (17 receptions) filled primary receiving roles for the Skins. Thrash had four catches for 46 yards, while Lloyd logged two gabs for 24. Moss is listed as questionable for this week. Campbell suffered two sacks against the Bucs, but as mentioned, did not turn the ball over.

Campbell's success on Sunday will likely be predicated on his team's ability to block defensive end Julius Peppers (44 tackles). Peppers enters Week 12 ranked atop the NFL in sacks with 11, though strangely enough, he was not a part of the Panthers' seven-sack assault on St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger last week. Opposite end Mike Rucker (29 tackles, 3.5 sacks) shook off a quiet 2006 to that point with a two-sack effort, while fellow lineman Damione Lewis (4.5 sacks) was right behind him with a sack-and-a-half against his former team. Reserve d-back Christian Morton, who appeared in one game with Washington last season, tallied a rare pick off of Bulger last week. The interception was also the first of Morton's career. Starting cornerback Ken Lucas (37 tackles, 2 INT) is questionable for Sunday after missing the St. Louis game, meaning rookie Richard Marshall (50 tackles, 2 INT) will likely join Chris Gamble (51 tackles, 2 INT) in the starting lineup once again, with safeties Mike Minter (57 tackles, 1 INT) and Shaun Williams (35 tackles, 1 INT) lending support. Gamble had four tackles while matching up primarily with the Rams' Torry Holt last week.

After top rusher Clinton Portis (523 rushing yards, 7 TD, 17 receptions) was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a broken hand suffered in a Week 10 loss to Philadelphia, the Redskins gave both longtime backup Ladell Betts (384 rushing yards, 1 TD, 35 receptions) and ex-Falcon T.J. Duckett (66 rushing yards) a chance to fill the void. Neither fared particularly well against the Bucs, with Betts rushing for 18 yards on seven carries and Duckett amassing a team-high 26 yards on five totes, including an 18-yard run. Betts is likely to garner most of the touches due to his abilities as a pass- catcher. The Iowa product had a team-high-tying five catches totaling 48 yards against the Buccaneers. Fullback Mike Sellers (33 rushing yards, 14 receptions) paves the way for a running game that now ranks 12th in the league (122.6 yards per game).

The Panthers didn't have much work to do against the St. Louis run last week, as the beleaguered Rams were only able to muster eight rushing attempts totaling 31 yards against Carolina. Things will likely be slightly tougher against the Redskins' crew of rushers this week, meaning tackles Kris Jenkins (23 tackles, 2 sacks) and Maake Kemoeatu (20 tackles) will have to set the tone from their trench positions. The frequently-maligned linebacking crew of Chris Draft (64 tackles, 3 sacks) in the middle and Thomas Davis (58 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Na'il Diggs (38 tackles) on the outside will be looked to to make some plays behind the tackles. Davis had 10 tackles in the win over the Rams, and also came up with a sack-and-a-half in the Panthers' stifling defensive effort. Following last Sunday's performance, Carolina is 14th in the league against the run (105.8 yards per game).

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Campbell looked like he might be ahead of schedule in last week's loss, but it would be foolhardy to expect the green quarterback to ascend to the role of trusted team leader without a couple of missteps along the way. Look for this week to represent one of those missteps. Peppers will harass Campbell enough to keep him out of his rhythm, and the battered running back and receiving corps won't do enough to keep the pressure off of him. Meanwhile, a Washington defense that hasn't shown up all year won't start this week, which means a couple of big plays from Steve Smith and an important road victory for the Panthers.

My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Panthers 21, Redskins 9