Thursday Night Football Kicks Off the 2008 NFL Season

Each week, I'm going to give my breakdown and prediction of each NFL game. The season starts tonight, so I figured now would be as good a time as any to get started. I'm only doing the Thursday Night Game, but the other predictions will be available soon after that. The predictions work on a "confidence level" basis. That means that I pick a winner, and assign a number from 1 (meaning least confident) all the way up to 16 (for most confident). This week, there are 16 games, so 16 is the highest total I can assign to a given game. I'm going to work on getting all my stuff out there earlier in the week from now on (say, by Thursdays) ...

Washington Redskins at New York Giants, 7 PM
2007 Records: Washington was 9-7 (5-3 at home, 4-4 on the road); New York was 10-6 (3-5 at home, 7-1 on the road). Prediction for 2008: Washington will go 8-8, while New York will go 7-9.

Well, here we are.

214 days ago, the New York "football" Giants shocked the football world by stopping the New England Patriots from sealing their place in history with a 19-0 season. They became America's team for that game, and broke the hearts of Patriots fans everywhere (including myself).

But that was a very different Giants team. The 21st century's version of the New York Sack Exchange entered a downward spiral this offseason. Michael Strahan decided that, after winning an elusive Super Bowl in his 15th NFL season, there was no need to continue. So, he's off to a cushy TV gig. Osi Umenyiora wishes the choice to not play the season was his. Cartilage damage suffered in the meaningless preseason will prevent him from recording a single take-down of opposing quarterbacks, after he registered 13 in 2007. Add that total to Strahan's, and 22 sacks from 2007 are gone. Three other defensive starters - linebackers Kawika Mitchell, Reggie Torbor and safety Gibril Wilson - are no longer around, either.

Still, it's not like the Giants need to cancel the season before it's start. Mercurial tight end Jeremy Shockey is also gone, but Kevin Boss looked good down the stretch in 2007. The Giants still have budding Eli Manning, who may have taken that "leap" in 2007 to the status of a trustworthy franchise quarterback. Running back Brandon Jacobs will provide a bruising ground attack, and wideout Plaxico Burress will still be the go-to guy for Big Blue.

Washington is entering it's second post-Joe Gibbs era. This time, Jim Zorn has been handed the keys by Daniel Snyder. Washington sneaked into the playoffs last year, ripping off four straight wins to punch their ticket. All that was after the tragic death of safety Sean Taylor. In 2008, the 'skins hope they won't need another late season run.

I like the Washington offense, but I don't think they have enough at the receiver position to win this game. Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El are both dynamic, but there is not much behind them. Even with depleted depth along their defensive front, I can see the Giants shutting down Washington's running game, and forcing QB Jason Campbell to make plays. Plus, no defending Super Bowl champion has lost their home opener since the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Does that really apply to the 2008 Giants? Nope. Just wanted to throw a useless fact out there, people!

Here's another one: the 2007 Giants had a 3-5 record at home. In doing so, they became only the second Super Bowl champions in the last three decades to have a non-winning record at home. The 1988 San Francisco 49ers went 4-4 before winning Super Bowl XXIII. OK, I'm done ..

Prediction: New York (7)