A New Season

It's Thursday. Football season is right around the corner. You know what that means.

New York Giants at Washington Redskins
Sunday, 4:15 pm
FedEx Field
TV: Fox
Announcers: Joe Buck (play by play), Troy Aikman (color), Pam Oliver (sideline)
Projected Uniforms: Redskins-Burgundy helmets, burgundy jerseys, gold pants. Giants-Blue helmets, white jerseys, gray pants.
Breakdown: It's a new season. Last year's 6-10 odyssey is history, and anything can happen. The Redskins open the season with the same team they closed with last year-the New York Giants. It's a divisional test right off the bat.
Rex Grossman was named the Redskins starter for this season by coach Mike Shanahan, and he also started the final three games of last season, going 1-2 (each loss coming by 3 points). The Redskins have a new featured running back in Tim Hightower, who was acquired from Arizona during the offseason. The 4th-year man out of Richmond has more career rushing touchdowns (23) than the entire Redskins team does since Hightower entered the league (21). Ryan Torain is also expected to see significant carries too, though he was injured for much of the preseason. Santana Moss is back as the #1 receiver, and with a banged-up Giants secondary (Terrell Thomas and rookie Prince Amukamura are out) and pass rush (Osi Umenyiora is out with a knee injury, and Justin Tuck is listed as doubtful with neck trouble), who knows what might happen. The Redskins shipped defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon to Denver this offseason for Jabar Gaffney, who could emerge as a second option, as could third-round draft pick Leonard Hankerson. Chris Cooley and Fred Davis form a formidable tight end duo. The offensive line has solid continuity from last year, with Trent Williams, Kory Lichtensteiger, and Jammal Brown returning to their positions. The Redskins finally got rid of Casey Rabach, inserting former Virginia Tech standout Will Montogmery in the center position, and offseason free-agent signing Chris Chester at right guard is the only new member of the line.
On the other side of the ball, I think everyone's going to want to see how rookie linebacker Ryan Kerrigan fares. He forms a fearsome foursome at linebacker with Brian Orakpo, London Fletcher, and Lorenzo Alexander. The Redskins biggest defensive acquisition, nose tackle Barry Cofield, will go up against his former team with a revamped New York offensive line, so perhaps a sack-fest could be in the cards. He's joined by Adam Carriker and former Cowboy Stephen Bowen in Jim Haslett's 3-4 scheme. The secondary is anchored by DeAngelo Hall, who set a Redskins record for interceptions in a game with 4 in Chicago last year. The Redskins cut Carlos Rogers, and Philip Buchanon is suspended for the first four games, so either Kevin Barnes or former Baltimore Raven Josh Wilson will likely start opposite Hall at corner. Oshiomogho Atogwe, signed as a free agent, will make his Redskins debut as free safety, and with LaRon Landry out, Reed Doughty will cover the strong safety spot. The Giants still possess two dangerous running backs in Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, so the Redskins need to stop the run and make quarterback Eli Manning beat them in the air.
Graham Gano returns for his second full season as placekicker, and he didn't miss a field goal in preseason. The Redskins picked up former Australian Rules star Sav Rocca, who spent the last few seasons in Philadelphia, to be their punter, so it looks like a solid year for the special teamers too. Also back is diminuitive, lightning quick return man Brandon Banks, who took a punt back for a touchdown in the final preseason game against Tampa Bay.
Prediction: Redskins 20-17 with the home crowd behind them. Why not? It's a new season

*I'll get to my overview of my US Open trip soon. I've been sick this week and the Redskins are a more pressing matter