Must-see-TV? Losing Vikings visit losing Redskins

There's also been some debate as to whether Shanahan should have declared the Redskins to be in rebuilding mode during training camp. He has essentially conceded that to be the case, saying recently this was the year to stock the defense and next year the focus will be on adding talent to the offense.

Meanwhile, the real fun should be watching Allen. He has 17 ½ sacks and is expected to spend much of the game against left tackle Willie Smith, who made his NFL debut just two weeks ago after Trent Williams was suspended for the rest of the season for violating the NFL's drug policy.

Allen used to give Shanahan fits when the defensive end was with the Kansas City Chiefs and the coach was leading the Denver Broncos. During one game, Shanahan called for a play for the tight end to deck Allen with a crack-back block. There was only one problem — Allen came out of the game for that play.

"And so we just kill the guy that's substituting for Allen," Shanahan said, "and I look across the field and he's pointing his finger at me and he is laughing as hard as he can. And I couldn't help it, I started laughing myself. I saw him in Vegas that offseason and he looked at me and said, 'Oh, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen. You just killed my substitute. That could have been me.'"

Could there be a similar call in the Shanahan playbook on Saturday?

"Could be, could be," the coach said.

Yet another reason to watch!

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP