The Washington Redskins kick off the 2008 NFL season on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 7 PM as they take on the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants at the Meadowlands. The game will be televised nationally on NBC, as Jim Zorn makes his regular season debut as a head coach. The Redskins finished the preseason with a 3-2 record, but the two loses came after a 3-0 start and the team was outscored 71-6, and has quite a bit of the fan base worried. The Giants finished the preseason with a 2-2 record when they defeated the New England Patriots 19-14, in their final warm up for the 2008 season. This will be the 153rd meeting between these two NFC East opponents and the Giants lead the series 86-62-4. The Odds makers have the Giants favored by 31/2 points, that is only half-point more than what is normally awarded to the home team. Home field advantage hasn’t really worked for the Giants in recent years as they have finished 3-5 at home the last two seasons
News, Notes, and Quotes:
— With WR Malcolm Kelly out with a sore knee, that leaves the Redskins with just four receivers: Santana Moss, James Thrash and Randle El and rookie Devin Thomas.
— DE Demetric Evans is expected to start just his second game since 2005 in place of the injured Jason Taylor against the Giants. If Taylor is unable to play his consecutive games started streak will end.
— The players elected the following players offensive, defensive and special teams captains on Monday: Campbell and Chris Samuels (offense), London Fletcher and Cornelius Griffin (defense) and Rock Cartwright and Khary Campbell (special teams)
— Punter Derrick Frost, safety Vernon Fox, offensive tackle Todd Wade, defensive lineman Ryan Boschetti, fullback Nehemiah Broughton and receiver Anthony Mix were the only players released that actually took the field for the Redskins in 2007 when the team got down to the 53 man limit over the weekend.
— First year starters will battle each other as right tackle Stephon Heyer gets the starting nod over Jon Jansen and will line up across from Giants left defensive end Justin Tuck who will attempt to fill the void left when starting end Osi Umenyiora was lost for the season in the Giants third preseason game.
— “You get him on a roster, with enough time to learn a system to where he gets the ball in his hands in the game, all of a sudden he [is] going to make plays and making plays [is] going to make him money. I think this is really going to work out well for him.” – RB Clinton Portis responding to the news that RB Marcus Mason had been signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad.
— “I didn’t play very well against the Panthers, but neither did anybody else, Until then, I’ve had a lot people in the organization tell me I was having the best camp I’ve ever had. I was disappointed that I’m not going to be out there. It really doesn’t matter how I grade myself. They graded me as not the starting right tackle, so that his how it is.” — Backup RT Jon Jansen on being replaced this week as the starting RT.
— “I’m not in love with any of ’em. They’re all fine young men. I think they’ll all be good football players. The only thing, is I hope I don’t have to count on any of ’em right away.” — Coordinator Greg Blache on the four draft picks who made his defense.
Complete Tale of the Tapes (2008 Preseason):
Total Offense: Washington is ranked 21st with 287.8 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 18th with 300.2 ypg.
Rushing Offense: Washington is ranked 8th with 129.2 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 6th with 136.5 ypg.
Passing Offense: Washington is ranked 23rd with 158.6 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 22nd with 163.8 ypg.
Total Defense: Washington is ranked 26th, giving up 341.6 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 10th with 280.0 ypg.
Rushing Defense: Washington is ranked 16th, giving up 116.6 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 2nd with 74.0 ypg.
Passing Defense: Washington is ranked 30th, giving up 225.0 yards per game and The NY Giants ranks 24th with 206.0 ypg.
Injury Report:
Malcolm Kelly (Knee) is listed as Out
The Redskins do not expect to have Kelly on the field before Week 3
Khary Campbell (Thigh) is listed as Probable
Campbell is slowed by a nagging thigh injury
LaRon Landry (Hamstring) is listed as Probable
Landry did extra work and stretching after missing all of camp with a hamstring problem.
WR Antwaan Randle El (Hand) is listed as Probable
Randle El has a broken bone in his left hand and will wear a protective brace
Shawn Springs (Calf) is listed as Probable
Springs missed practice on Tuesday with a bruised
DE Jason Taylor (knee) is listed as questionable
Taylor was limited in practice for the second straight day Wednesday.
Injured Reserves:
The following players are done for the 2008 season:
DE Alex Buzbee (Achilles Injury)
DE Phillip Daniels (Knee Injury)
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Bernie Marshall