Weve been a better team than that.

Washington Redskins players and coaches couldnt shake the pit-in-the-stomach feeling after playing to a tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.A week after a last-minute loss at the Detroit Lions, they went into their bye week 4-3-1 and not quite sure how to feel.The Redskins sit in last place in the unexpectedly strong NFC East, and uncertainty about situational defense, red zone offense and a four-game suspension to Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams has them feeling uneasy.Were not in a great position, but were not in a bad position right now at 4-3-1, linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said.Were still over .500 and we know were still right in the thick of things with the NFC East and weve still got a bunch of NFC East games left. Were right there, weve just got to find a way to get healthy over the bye week and then come back and win some pretty big games.Coach Jay Gruden called being in last place a little disappointing, a description that just about sums up Washingtons first half -- even after quarterback Kirk Cousins led a four-game winning streak to climb out of an 0-2 hole. The upcoming schedule of games against the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals makes it a perilous situation.The climb back to the playoffs is more difficult because the Redskins have to face those four opponents without Williams, suspended four games for violating the NFLs substance abuse policy. Its Williams second four-game suspension after serving one in 2011, only this time itll force Ty Nsekhe into important duty for a crucial stretch.Keeping the running game clicking without Williams is a substantial challenge, though the bigger one may be splitting up carries between fumble-prone starter Matt Jones, undrafted rookie Robert Kelley, third-down back Chris Thompson and even preseason favorite Mack Brown. Jones missed the Bengals game with a knee injury and even if healthy may not shoulder the load anymore.If we had a clear-cut, No. 1 guy, it would be different, Gruden said. I think we have four really good backs. Its just a matter of you only have one ball.We have five, six, seven really good receivers and tight ends and we just have to distribute the ball properly and try to keep everybody off-balance with our running game and passing game.Finding balance is all well and good, but the Redskins would really like to find the end zone more. At 40 percent efficiency, theyre second-last in the NFL, despite having difficult-to-cover tight end Jordan Reed and receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon to throw to.We have to get better in the red zone, without a doubt, Gruden said. Were not going to concede to anything. We understand the importance of the red zone and converting drives into touchdowns. Whether its run or pass, weve got to take a long look at it and find our best ways to get the ball to our best weapons down there and convert.On the other side of the ball, Washington is 29th in third-down defense. Gruden said thats part of the situational football the Redskins will try to get better at coming out of the bye.Effort isnt the question. Execution is.Im sure there will be a lot of things we can correct, but I think the more we play together, the better we are, linebacker Will Compton said.Gruden sees coachable fixes to problems, and Kerrigan believes the Redskins still have their best ahead of them. They have to if theyre going to repeat as a playoff team.Nothings going to get easier, defensive end Chris Baker said. Weve got a lot of great opponents coming up, so weve just got to heal our bodies up and get a chance to get away from football this week. Heal up if youve got any injuries and get back and get ready to finish a really tough season.---Freelancer Zac Boyer in London contributed.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Custom Wild Jersey China .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Custom Wild T-shirts . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. http://www.customwildjersey.com/custom-eric-staal-jersey-large-74t.html . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Wild Jerseys China . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Custom Wild Jerseys . LUCIE, Fla. OTTAWA, Ontario -- The Ottawa Senators left the Boston Bruins behind with a big third period.Chris Wideman and Kyle Turris scored in the third to help the Senators beat the Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night.Mark Stone tied it in the second period, and Craig Anderson made 19 saves.Were becoming a more resilient group, a more veteran group where we dont play to the scoreboard, we just play our way, the way were supposed to whether were up a goal or down a goal, Anderson said. I think weve grown here since the start of the year.The Senators were coming off a 4-3 victory at NHL-leading Montreal on Tuesday night. Before producing seven goals in their last six periods, the Senators had struggled to score 12 goals in their nine previous games.Huge win for us, Turris said. We just have to keep the momentum going now. Were playing we. We played real strong defensively and in the neutral zone. It was just an all-around solid game for us.David Pastrnak scored for Boston, and Tuukka Rask stopped 23 shots.I think the whole game there was poor puck management in my estimation, Bruins coach Claude Julien said. Weve been a better team than that. Its disappointing tonight in an important game like this wwe came out with one of worst efforts in probably a month, Julien said.dddddddddddd.I didnt like our game tonight, decision making, puck management, I would say there were a lot of no shows, as well. Those are things that cant happen in these kind of games. Definitely not happy with not just the outcome, but our team. Definitely we need to be better.Wideman scored at 6:28 of the third. After Rask made a save off Derick Brassard, Torey Krug tried to clear the puck, but he put it right onto the stick of Wideman, whose shot bounced off Bruins defenseman Dominic Moore in front of Rask and in.Turris scored at 10:16, taking a pass from Bobby Ryan and beating Rask on a breakaway.Game notes The Senators improved to 12-7-1, and the Bruins dropped to 11-9-0. ... Ottawa scratched Fredrik Claesson and Max McCormick, and Colin Miller, Zdeno Chara and Anton Khudobin sat out for Boston. ... The Senators have scored the first goal just five times in 20 games this season.UP NEXTBruins: Return home to face Calgary on Friday night.Senators: Host Carolina on Saturday night. ' ' '