Jay Gruden occasionally has to remind people his team is in 6-3 and in first place.“That’s a heck of deal after nine games Dexter Williams Jersey ,” the Washington Redskins‘ coach said. “But I’m also excited with the fact that we have not played our best yet, and I think the best is yet to come.”It wasn’t been a flawless ride, but when the roller-coaster Redskins host the rolling Houston Texans on Sunday, it’ll be a showdown between two surprising division leaders. Washington has gotten into first place in the NFC East alternating strong and weak performances, and Houston has won six in a row to also reach 6-3 and sit atop the AFC South.Led by veterans Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson, the Redskins come into the matchup motivated by a lack of respect. Second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Texans are full of confidence after digging out of an 0-3 hole.“Winning helps,” Houston coach Bill O’Brien said. “Everybody has confidence in their ability to go out there and play well, but I also think our team understands that this is a very humbling league. This is a league, it’s a short walk. It’s a short walk from where you are right now to where you were when you were 0-3.”It’s a very short walk for the Redskins from their best to their worst. A three-game October winning streak and last week’s victory at Tampa Bay didn’t show their best.So there’s reason why, despite leading the division by two games, Washington isn’t getting the same buzz as other playoff contenders. Players are just fine with that.“Nobody’s really looking at the Redskins or anything,” middle linebacker Zach Brown said. “For us, we’re just going to keep trying to stack up the wins and see where we can take it. For us, we just need an invite to the dance because you never know what might happen.”Peterson figures it’s too early to think playoffs, but said: “You can definitely have it in the back of your mind and understand how important each and every game is.”Coming off their bye week Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , the Texans fully understand the value of every game to their chances of winning a third division title in four seasons.“We have to win against the Redskins to even keep conversations like that alive,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “If you start to look that far ahead and you start to think about things like that, that’s when you get blindsided.”Some things to watch when the Texans visit the Redskins:WHAT A COMEBACKWatt and Peterson are top candidates for the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award after turning in strong performances in their return from two straight seasons that were cut short by injuries.Watt played just eight games in the previous two seasons because of back surgeries and a broken leg. Peterson missed 19 games in the 2016 and 2017 seasons combined because of knee surgery and a neck injury.Watt is tied for third in the NFL with nine sacks and tied for first by forcing four fumbles. He also has 16 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for losses and has swatted down two passes.Peterson is tied for fifth in the league with 672 yards rushing and has scored four touchdowns.Watt raved about Peterson’s comeback.“He’s obviously one of the great running backs of the game,” Watt said. “What he’s been able to do in his career, but then to be able to come back the way he has and have the type of season he’s having — obviously, I know how difficult it is from firsthand experience to come back from injuries, so I’m extremely impressed by what he’s been able to do. I have a ton of respect for his game. It’s always a good challenge to play against him and I enjoy the competition.”SWEARINGER REVENGE GAMERedskins safety D.J. Swearinger, who was drafted by the Texans in the second round in 2013 and cut after the 2014 season, has not been shy to rip O’Brien. He posted on Instagram this week about “unprofessional actions” by O’Brien that led to his release, which his former coach responded to by saying he didn’t know what Swearinger was talking about.“D.J. made a lot of plays for us here,” O’Brien said. “He’s a very instinctive, tough, competitive player. He’s obviously gone on to Arizona and now in Washington and I think he’s a captain there and he’s (second in) the league in interceptions, doing a great job http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/anthony-zettel-jersey , has got excellent ball skills, good tackler, tough, competitive guy.”WATSON DOWNOnly the Giants‘ Eli Manning and Cowboys‘ Dak Prescott have been sacked more this season than Watson. The Texans quarterback said he tries to get back as close to the line of scrimmage as possible so as not to lose yardage on his 30 sacks.Brown has noticed on film that defenses can force sacks on Watson when they lock down on coverage because the young QB holds on to the ball so long trying to make something happen.“I think he’s just trying to make plays,” Brown said. “He’s still young. Eventually he’ll get that clock ticking in his head.” GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers must make a stand just to stay in the playoff conversation.The injury list is growing. Their postseason hopes are in serious jeopardy. They’ll need breaks to go their way with teams ahead of them in the wild-card chase.Tune out the outside noise and criticism of what might be wrong, David Bakhtiari said.More Packers coverage from FOX Sports WisconsinPhotos of the Week: 7/21/19 – 7/27/19Packers rookie Gary’s biggest critic is himselfTop Tweets: Former Badger TJ Watt has impressive four-year transformationPHOTOS: 2019 Green Bay Packers training campPackers’ Rodgers, LaFleur ironing out offense, building chemistry“I think there is a lot of, on the outside, a lot of fingers pointing a lot of different directions,” the veteran left tackle said on Wednesday. “And if you were to ask me what we need to do I think we need to take that finger and we need to point it at ourselves.“No one needs to point any other direction,” he added. “We need to figure out ourselves what we need to do to win.”While it may not be a long list, some of the same problems keep nagging the Packers: they’re having problems on third downs and they’re having trouble closing out tight games on the road.Fortunately for Green Bay (4-6-1), the last month of the season has a favorable schedule starting with a home game this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals (2-9). It’s the same team that allowed Philip Rivers to go 28 of 29 for 259 yards with three touchdowns in a 45-10 loss to the Chargers.“He’s one of my favorite players to watch http://www.detroitlionsteamonline.com/jahlani-tavai-jersey ,” said Rodgers. He watched last week’s film and praised Rivers for, among other things, throwing into tight spots and finding the right receivers.As for Rodgers, he’s apparently taking some heat from TV pundits for at least a couple of poor throws in last week’s 24-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The two-time NFL MVP fielded a couple of questions about fundamentals after practice Wednesday.7<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:Upon Further Review: Packers at VikingsUSA TODAY NETWORKOne attempt might stand out — a throw to receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on second-and-1 at the 20 with 2:34 left that bounced near the rookie’s feet. The Packers settled for a field goal, and the Vikings ran out the clock. Another misfired throw stuck to the quarterback’s hand, Rodgers said.“Oh, it’s embarrassing, for sure. … I remember (Hall of Fame quarterback Brett) Favre used to say, ‘Anything you do, I’ve done many times previous.’ And I actually tell the young guys this all the time, ‘The mistakes you make, I’ve made before,'” Rodgers said.But when it comes to fundamentals, Rodgers said nothing has changed, other than his completion rate of 61.7 percent is down from the past couple of seasons and below his career average of 64.9.He still drills them. He said he’s not playing any differently.“I don’t put a lot of weight into a pundit on (TV) talking about fundamentals http://www.houstontexansteamonline.com/kahale-warring-jersey ,” Rodgers said. “I listen to my quarterback coach and my offensive coordinator and my head coach. My study of myself, I’m very critical of my own film.”The Packers’ offense has been so prolific for so long under Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy that season-long problems such as they ones the offense has had tend to stand out.“We had some opportunities that we hit sometimes and sometimes you don’t. The most important thing for us is to keep going after it. And that’s what we’re doing,” McCarthy said.Consider that Rodgers has thrown 20 touchdowns to just one interception, a ratio that almost any other team in the league would crave. He finished the second drive against Minnesota with a vintage back-shoulder touchdown throw to No. 1 wideout Davante Adams.The quarterback was hamstrung earlier in the year by a left knee injury that limited his practice time. Starting receivers Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison have been hurt for much of the season, and tight end Jimmy Graham is now trying to play through a thumb injury.It has left more attention from opposing defenses to Adams, and more snaps for rookies St. Brown and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.The Packers were 2 of 10 on third down against the Vikings, including 1 of 6 in the second half, when they were held to just three points after being tied at 14 at halftime. Green Bay also couldn’t convert on fourth-and-1 from its 44 in the third quarter.“I think we’ve just got to be more decisive as a unit,” Bakhtiari said.His availability is in question for Sunday after he missed practice with a knee injury. Starting left guard Lane Taylor (quad), along with Cobb (hamstring) and cornerback Kevin King (hamstring) were limited.