Last year's season opener vs. this year's season opener: Deja Vu?

[E-Dog Night]

Both games, as you all surely know, were against the Giants at the Meadowlands. Both times, the Giants were clearly the better team, and only a late TD in the 4th quarter made the score look respectable.

So the Redskins didn't do any better, right?

Well, let's take a look at some meaningful stats:

2008: Giants score 16 points, win by 9

2009: Giants score 23 points, win by 6

2008: Giants have 21 1st downs, Redskins 11

2009: Giants have 18 1st downs, Redskins 15

2008: Giants have 154 rushing yards, Redskins 84

2009: Giants have 103 rushing yards, Redskins 85

2008: Giants have 200 net passing yards, Redskins 125

2009: Giants have 248 net passing yards, Redskins 185

2008: Jason Campbell 15-27-133-1-0

2009: Jason Campbell 19-26-211-1-1

2008: Cooley had 1 catch

2009: Cooley had 7 catches

So, what I think I take from this is that the Redskins did a little bit better overall this season. It might not have seemed like it at times, but I thought I saw improvement in the passing game against a Giants defense that is pretty good, especially on the line after getting Osi back. They moved the ball better than last year in game one, which isn't saying much, but I did see improvement.

There are, however, 3 things that are of great concern.

1. The Giants had a very delpleated secondary, and yet, Campbell only managed to cross the 200 yard threshold on the last drive of the game
   
2. The Giants don't have Plaxico Burress, who caught 10 passes for 133 yards last year, but actually threw for more almost 50 more yards
   
3. When a crucial play presented itself, Jason Campbell did not deliver
   

So, based on this one game (and it's only one game, so take that into consideration) I'd say that the passing game has improved slightly but the pass defense has regressed equally as slightly (and while Jason Campbell's stats will likely improve this season, he continues to fold under pressure. And I don't know if there is any amount of coaching that will change that).

Conclusion: with the NFC East being as tough as it is, we can expect a nearly identical performance from this years' Redskins.

Deja Vu all over again.