"Osi made a great play on the ball. It's something you have to understand as a quarterback you have to feel it more or slide up in the pocket." -- Jason Campbell, on Osi Umenyiora's sack, fumble recovery, and touchdown, Sept. 13, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP / TEAM STATS / INDIVIDUAL STATS

THE RESULT: The New York Giants controlled both lines of scrimmage, outrushing the Washington Redskins and putting constant pressure on quarterback Jason Campbell, and opened the 2009 season with a 23-17 win over a division rival before a sellout crowd in Giants Stadium, the last home opener in the big bowl in East Rutherford, NJ.

The Giants jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half and cruised home from there.

Eli Manning threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham and Lawrence Tynes added three field goals, including a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter that was set up by an offside penalty by newcomer Albert Haynesworth, who did little else in his Washington debut.

The game-changer was Umenyiora's second quarter TD. He beat Chris Samuels on an outside speed rush, knocked the ball from Campbell's hands and scooped it up, rumbling 37 yards for the score. Campbell held the ball too long on the play, one of the knacks against the embattled QB.

The Skins got a late TD on a 17-yard pass from Campbell to TE Chris Cooley with 1:30 left on the clock. Washington's other TD was a second quarter score from punter Hunter Smith, who took a fake field goal eight yards with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.

Shaun Suisham added a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY: Clinton Portis ran for 62 yards on just 16 carries, but the Skins had just five non-Portis carries, so it wasn't a shift in philosophy or anything. Washington just found themselves in a hole early, and threw quite a bit trying to catch up.

But New York dominated the time of possession, holding the ball over 12 minutes more than the Skins. The Giants outgained Washington 351 to 272. The Giants also sacked Campbell three times and pressured him all day.

THE GOOD: Chris Cooley. He had seven catches for 68 yards and score. He and Antwaan Randle El were Campbell's favorite targets all day, each finishing with seven grabs.

THE BAD: Jason Campbell. He finished 19-for-26 for 211 yards, one TD and one INT. But he looked indecisive all day, dumping the ball off to Cooley or Randle El, usually the safety valve. The offense could not take advantage of the Giants inexperience in the secondary, especially rookie free agent corner Bruce Johnson.

“I didn't hear, 'Bruce got beat,'” said DE Justin Tuck. “All I heard was him making tackles, him breaking up balls." Johnson had three tackles and a forced fumble.

THE UGLY: Antwaan Randle El's getting sacked on the end-around pass. On the second play of the game -- directly after Portis busted a 34-yard run to open things up, coach Jim Zorn got tricky and called for an end-around pass. Randle El got caught by Chase Blackburn and was pulled down for an 11-yard loss.

"I should have thrown it away," said Randle El. "You either have it or you don't."

He didn't.

NEXT GAME: The home opener at FedEx Field against the St. Louis Rams, who were embarrassed on the road in Seattle, 28-0. Game time is Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1:00 pm.

This is the first installment of my weekly game preview, which will come out Friday afternoons before every Redskins game. Please expect quite a bit of format tweaking as we go along, since I'm just kicking this thing off.

To start with, I plan on posting twice weekly until I really get in the hang of it: Fridays, as mentioned, with the game preview, then the day after the game with the review, analysis and commentary.

With that, here we go!
_________________________________________________

WASHINGTON REDSKINS
(8-8 in 2008; 4-4 on the road; 2-4 in division; 265 PF, 296 PA)

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

J. Campbell: 315/506; 62.3%--3245 yds--13 tds--6 ints--38 Sacks--84.3 rtg
C. Portis: 342 carries for 1487 yds--4.3 per--9 tds
C. Cooley: 83 catches for 849 yds--10.2 per--1 tds
S. Moss: 79 catches for 1044 yds--13.2 per--6 tds
A. Randle El: 53 catches for 593 yds--11.2--4 tds

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

L. Fletcher: 96 solo--37 assist--0 sack--1 fumb rec
R. McIntosh: 60 solo--27 assist--2 sacks--2 fumb rec--1 int
C. Horton: 57 solo--19 assist--1 sack--0 fumb rec--3 int
L. Landry: 49 solo--16 assist--0 sack--2 fumb rec--2 int
A. Haynesworth (TEN): 41 solo--10 assist--10 sacks--3 fumb rec

KICKING LEADERS

KICK: S. Suisham: 25/25 PAT; 26/36 FG; long of 50; 9 touchbacks
PUNT: H. Smith (IND): 53 for 2343; 44.2 ave; 23 inside 20; 2 touchbacks; 11 fair catch

RETURN LEADERS

KICK: R. Cartwright: 51 for 1307; 25.6 ave; 0 td
PUNT: A. Randle El: 39 for 254; 6.5 ave; 0 td
_________________________________________________

NEW YORK GIANTS
(12-4 in 2008; 7-1 at home; 4-2 in division; 427 PF, 294 PA)

NYG OFFENSIVE LEADERS

E. Manning: 289/479; 60.3%--3238 yds--21 tds--10 ints--27 sacks--86.4 rtg
Jacobs: 219 carries for 1089--5.0 per--15 tds
A. Bradshaw: 67 carries for 355--5.3 per--1 td
S. Smith: 57 catches for 574 yds--10.1 per--1 td
Hixon: 43 catches for 580 yds--13.9 per--2 tds

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

A. Pierce: 72 solo--23 assist--2 sacks--2 fumb rec--0 int
K. Phillips: 55 solo--12 assist--0 sacks--0 fumb rec--1 int
J. Tuck: 52 solo--15 assist--12 sacks--3 fumb rec--1 int
M. Kiwanuka: 34 solo--17 assist--8 sacks--2 fumb rec--0 int
O. Umeniyora: INJ

KICKING LEADERS

KICK: L. Tynes: 3/3 on PAT; 1/1 FG
PUNT: J. Feagles: 64 for 2814; 44.0 ave; 23 inside 20; 5 touchback; 13 fair catch

RETURN LEADERS

KICK: A. Bradshaw: 39 for 867; 22.2 ave; 0 td
PUNT: D. Hixon: 24 for 242; 10.1 ave; 0 td
_________________________________________________

PREVIEW:

This matchup is the very definition of rivalry. Separated by just a couple hours by car, there's plenty of emotions on both sides of the ball. New York can't help but feel cheated out of a chance at the Super Bowl last season, and they enter 2009 as one of the favorites in the division once again.

The Giants do have some soft spots that the Redskins should try to take advantage of. Starting corners Kevin Dockery and Aaron Ross are injured, and the G-Men are expected to play Corey Webster, Terrell Thomas, an second-year man from USC, and Bruce Johnson, an undrafted free agent rookie out of Miami (FL) at the corner spots.

The defensive line for the Giants will look to provide plenty of pressure on the Redskins up front. Mathias Kiwanuka, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, returning from injury, all really get after the passer and are adequate against the run as well.

At receiver, both Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer are gone, leaving Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith as primary targets for QB Eli Manning. Manning is solid, if not spectacular, but does have a propensity to leave a little too much air under the ball or force it in at times.

The Giants running game is as solid as they come. Brandon Jacobs is a horse--just ask Laron Landry after last season's opener. Ahmad Bradshaw is a quick change-of-pace back that will inherit many of the carries that went to Derrick Ward, who fairly split carries with Jacobs.

The Giants kicking game isn't much to write home about. Lawrence Tynes is a journeyman who did not play much last year, and punter Jeff Feagles is one of the oldest players in the league, but still serviceable.

Bradshaw and Hixon are both dangerous return men though, and can go all the way any time they touch the ball. But with both being asked to do more on offense this season, it may cut into their burst in the return game.

The Redskins game plan should be simple: attack the corners with quick hitters and soften them up the middle with heavy doses of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. The offensive line is still trying to gel, after a pre-season of inconsistency and sporadic scoring while the first team was on the field.

Keeping Jason Campbell upright is a key. If the embattled QB can control field position and take advantage of matchups with Santana Moss, Malcolm Kelly, Antwaan Randle El and especially Chris Cooley in the slots, the Skins should be able to stay in the game.

The defense should be a strength this season. They added Albert Haynesworth up front to clog up the middle and provide needed pressure from the middle of the line. He registered 10 sacks from the tackle position for Tennessee, despite constant double-teaming.

If the Skins can get to Manning two or three times, it'll make their day a lot easier. Manning tends to get "happy feet" when he feels the rush.

The other key addition is rookie Brain Orakpo, a stud OLB from Texas. He'll be active on the weak side, chasing down RBs and QBs alike. He joins London Fletcher and Rocky McIntosh at LB, and they will be busy all day Sunday shutting down Jacobs and Bradshaw.

In the backfield, Carlos Rogers is nursing a call injury, but is probable for the game. He'll join DeAngelo Hall and Fred Smoot covering the Giants inexperienced receivers. Landry and Chris Horton, the find of last season's draft, will provide plenty or necessary run support, as New York's tight ends are not much of a threat.

As for the kicking game, the Skins feel like they significantly upgraded their punter, signing Hunter "The Punter" Smith away from the Colts, but could not find anyone to unseat incumbent Shaun Suisham, one of the league's least-accurate kickers.

Rock Cartwright returns kicks once again; he'll do a solid job. But Randle El was disappointing returning punts last season--he seemed of fair catch punts 2-to-1 over returning, and when he did his average was near the bottom of the league. Neither men had a return TD last season.

WEATHER

The weather for Sunday couldn't be more perfect for an early September game. The 4:15 game time temperature should be in the mid-seventies and sunny, with just a trace chance of precipitation. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with scattered clouds, and as it gets dark, the temps should settle into the upper sixties.

PREDICTION

As most Skins-Giants games, I expect this one to be hard-hitting, tightly contested and concentrating on both teams' running games, with the passers being opportunistic. The Giants are traditionally very tough at home, and there's no reason to suspect a change in that for 2009.

If the Skins show and can get to Manning a couple times early, they could stick around and make things interesting in the fourth quarter. But I expect that Jacobs will eventually wear out the Skins and the Giants pull out a close one.

Let's say 20-16 Giants.