Washington Redskins at New York Giants Preview and Pick

NFL Football Betting Preview by Jay of BangTheBook.com
Giants Stadium September 13^th, 4:15PM Eastern

Bookmaker betting line – New York -6.5, 37 O/U

The opening weekend in the NFL will host a pair of NFC East teams when the Washington Redskins travel to the Meadowlands to battle with the New York Giants. The Giants had a solid year in 2008 leading the NFC with a 12-4 regular season record. However, the Giants faced on and off the field troubles down the stretch leading to a disappoint seasons end. Washington also had more disappointments than expected last season finishing 4^th in the NFC East with a regular season record of 8-8. The problems for both teams came on the defensive side of the ball. Giants QB Eli Manning struggled after losing the big play threat of WR Plaxico Burress and the passing game has a lot of concerns heading into 2009. Redskins QB Jason Campbell failed to have the big season Washington fans were hoping and both teams will try to find more success on offense this year.

New York will return one of the better defenses in the league from 2008. The Giants defense ranked 5^th in total defense holding offenses to just 292 yards per game. The Giants defense will be even better this season when Osi Umenyiora returns to the lineup. Umenyiora missed the 2008 season with an MCL injury and having the Giants biggest player on defense back should help matters. Umenyiora brought down the quarterback 13 times in 2007 so expect the Giants defense to rack up a few more sacks this season. The additions of defensive tackles Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard will make the defensive front even more dangerous from a unit that already acquired 42 sacks in 2008. New York also added LB Mike Boley from Atlanta to the defensive mix meaning the entire unit will be very touch to overcome.

The Giants offense faces the biggest challenges this season. New York led the NFL in rushing offense last season averaging 157 yards per game on the ground. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward combined to be an unbeatable force in the backfield. However, Ward has now gone to the Buccaneers meaning Jacobs will now carry the entire load. Jacobs is a big time runner so there should not be a significant drop off, but they may not be as successful without the dual threat fueled by two different style runners. However, everything will come down to the questions surrounding the passing game on offense. The Giants ranked 18^th in passing last season and it may have been worse than that if not for so much success during the first half of the year. The big play threat is gone and there are a lot of young receivers that will need to step up. If Eli Manning can not find a consistent target, the Giants offense could sputter once again. Rookie Hakeem Nicks and youngster Steve Smith could help turn the passing game around if all goes according to plan.

Washington was also led by the play of their defense in 2008 and like the Giants have all indications to be even better this season. The Redskins ranked 4^th overall in total defense holding opponents to 288 yards per game and holding teams to just 18.5 points per game. Washington actually added even more talent to the defensive side of the ball than the Giants, actually by a pretty good margin. DT Albert Haynesworth is possibly the best defensive lineman in the league and signed a lucrative 100 million dollar deal. Having Haynesworth anchoring down the defensive line along with the explosive rookie OLB Brian Orakpo makes the Redskins very dangerous. Expect the Redskins to also get to the quarterback more often, and to be among the best defenses in the league for some years to come with the ridiculous stacked young talent on that side of the ball.

The Redskins focus now has to turn to the offensive side of the ball which just simply did not get the job done last year. Jim Zorn introduced the new west coast offense to the team last season and it simply did not work out. However, year 2 of the system will likely provide better results. QB Jason Campbell ended 2007 giving the Redskins faithful tons of anticipation heading into last season. However, the new offense may have prevented the breakout season Washington had hoped for. If the offensive line can hold up this season, expect Campbell to look much better. Speaking of the offensive line, they will hold the key to success this season. Clinton Portis produced strong numbers last year rushing for 1,487 yards on the year and it is imperative the running game move the ball again this season. Considering how well the defense could be, the offense may not have to be overpowering at all. A strong running game will be vital to breaking above the .500 mark in the toughest conference in football and also in taking down the Giants this Sunday.

Pick – Offenses will struggle at times for both teams this year, and the defenses that take the field this Sunday will be dynamic. Do not expect a lot of points. Take the under 37.