St. Louis Rams (5-7) at Washington Redskins (3-9)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, at FedEx Field, Landover, Md. – TV: CBS

*TV announcers: Sam Rosen, Kirk Morrison

*Keys to the game: Positives for the Redskins under Colt McCoy do exist, notably explosive plays in the passing game and limited turnovers. Pressure in the pocket and sacks are still an issue, though not to the extreme Robert Griffin III experienced. St. Louis is in perpetual attack mode with its agile and aggressive front four, and McCoy has been sacked 11 times in 89 pass attempts.

Taking a page from Jeff Fisher’s offenses, the short and middle screen game will be prominent. When the score dictates the Redskins go pass-heavy, as they did last week in a 49-27 loss to the Colts, Washington is in trouble.

St. Louis rookie RB Tre Mason is averaging 4.6 yards per carry and flashed big-play speed with an 89-yard touchdown run last week. WR Stedman Bailey is coming on strong, too, with 12 catches for 189 yards and has winnable matchups this week. Washington’s young secondary is experiencing growing pains in addition to injuries, and ranks 29th in the NFL in yards per pass play (7.64).

*Matchup to watch – Redskins S Phillip Thomas vs. Rams QB Shaun Hill: Thomas is expected to start for Brandon Meriweather (toe) or at least split time in just his fifth career game. Thomas followed a textbook open-field tackle of Colts RB Daniel Herron last week by being way out of position on an easy 79-yard touchdown pass by Andrew Luck.

*Player spotlight – Rams DE Robert Quinn: With three sacks and two forced fumbles last week, Quinn has nine sacks and four forced fumbles in a dominant seven-game stretch. McCoy was sacked six times last week at Indianapolis.

*Fast facts: McCoy has zero touchdowns and has been sacked eight times in the fourth quarter this season. … Hill beat the Redskins in 2008 as starter for the 49ers. … The Rams have only one loss to a losing team (Minnesota, 5-7) this season.

WHO WILL WIN AND WHY

Hill threw more than expected to open last week’s game and the Rams like that approach against aggressive defensive coordinators. If the Redskins get RB Alfred Morris going, the upset isn’t impossible.

*Our pick: Rams 26-20