The games already began this morning when AOL took some uncharitable shots at the arrogant and haughty Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Just because Snyder hangs out with Tom Cruise and gives him seed money for worthless film projects is no reason for AOL to have put Dan-a-roo among its nominees for NFL blowhards. Just try getting AOL on the service line some time if you’ve got a computer problem. See who's the blowhard.
I believe it was Joe Theisman who once said that statistics were all about the numbers. And here’s a few to consider with tonight’s NFL season opener between the NY Giants and the Washington Redskins.
Maybe the most facile of all barometers, but one which will certainly prompt a lot of wagering is the fact that the last eight Super Bowl champions have won their openers the following season.
So you’d think the Giants, right? But what are the odds of nine straight? The Giants are playing at home which is always a consideration. But nine straight? Hmmm.
Now here’s where he get into the real head games of should I, shouldn’t I. The Giants lost their first two games last season but came on strong going 10-4 after that including four straight road games.
So you ask yourself will they get off to a similar slow start, and is the sixth-year Eli Manning – now with a Super Bowl victory- even in the same league as his brother Peyton?
In the regular season last year, Eli was hardly stellar with 20 interceptions matched up against 23 TDs. And, remember this, as well. The Giants didn’t win the Super Bowl as much as New England handed it to them, losing 17-14.
Consider this. The Giants have lost five defensive starters including Pro Bowler Michael Strahan who retired in June. Strahan’s divorce to some bimbo blond hairdresser read like a pulp novel but that didn’t seem to bother him too much on the playing field.
The Giants also lost marquee player Osi Umenyiora who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month when he tripped over the pronunciation of his last name. Between them, Strahan and Umenyiora accounted for 22 of the Giants’ league-leading number of sacks, 53.
For the most part, the Giants’ offensive line returns intact and healthy, but Manning won’t have Jeremy Shockey to throw to any more. Not that goofball Shockey was any factor at all last season, and he was out for the playoffs. So Kevin Boss steps into the Shockey role. And the big man on the offense- Plaxico Burris- had a paltry eight catches for 111 yards in two games against the Redskins last season. Will that be of any importance tonight? Or just another meaningless statistic that would have been priceless in the hands of a Joe Theisman?
In their head-to-head matchups, the Giants have won three out of the last four against Washington and are 85-61-4 overall. A factor that might also be considered is that Manning was 18 of 53 his last outing against the ‘Skins who now have a new coach, Jim Zorn.
Washington went 9-7 last season winning its last four games to get into the playoffs but lost to Seattle 35-14 in the wild card matchup. Add to this the fact that Washington last year blew a 17-3 halftime lead only to lose against the Giants certainly makes a case that with a better record they would have gone deeper into the playoffs.
And much, too, is being made of the fact that Zorn, the quarterback coach at Seattle last year, is bringing the West Coast offense with him. What I know of the West Coast offense is that it’s three hours behind the East Coast defense, so if that’s going to be a major element in this game’s outcome, so be it.
But another question mark is the fact that quarterback Jason Campbell hasn’t had that much time to work consistently with the offensive line to begin with, much less go West Coast.
We could go on with this, for instance, making a case that Santana Moss has a cooler name than Plaxico Burris, but the real compass needle on where the game’s going will be how many times the network cameras turn to Giants coach Tom Coughlin who, guaranteed, will be wincing painfully like a man in need of a serious dump.
Here's the call: over six cued cutaways to Tom will give the Giants a decided edge. But by then it will have been too late to place a call to your bookie.
Here’s how the Adultfyi pool looks at tonight’s game:
New York: Gene Ross, Steve Volponi, Sean from www.pornlegends.com , Steve Seidman, Jack Spade, Mastrick, Mike Dickinson, Dave F., Dan Davis, Willie D., Tony Batman, Brian Wallace, John Gray, Tim Case, Jeff Mullen, Kortni Kiss, Danny Season, Mike Moz, Joe Brandi, Mike Fattorosi, www.adultbizlaw.com ; the mysterious Sinlinlin from the Woo Tang Province, John from Adult Source Media, Robert Interlandi from www.deepthroatenergy.com , Mila Shegol and Steve from Magnus, www.magnusxxx.com
Washington: Ryan from Jerry’s Deli, Karl the Birdman, Sandy Bunz, www.sandybunz.com , Jenny Hendrix, Billy the Crystal
