In the child-like imaginations of Washington Redskins fans, there are monsters and behemoths out there. Gargantuan, menacing, all-powerful – the NFL is full of goliaths we have rarely been able to bruise, much less bring down, on Sunday.
We’ve certainly enjoyed photoshopping drunken pictures of Eli Manning, but it’s the New York Giants who’ve enjoyed our matchups. No other arch rival has dominated their nemesis as completely as the Giants have owned the Redskins. On the road, at home, the setting has mattered little. The Giants win…the Giants win.
The truth is a cold, hard, heartless bitch.
One of those clashes has stuck with me like a bad childhood memory. I was in New York October 30th, 2005 to cover the game for Extremeskins.com with Rick Walker. It was a surprisingly cold day – I remember Mark Brunell and the other Redskins warming up in sweats that looked all the world like 'jammies’. The Redskins were seemingly renewed, 4-2 in Joe Gibb’s 2nd season since his return, and things looked promising. Running around pre-game in their comfy flannel warm-ups, the Skins starters looked confident and self-assured. Lucky enough to run into Ron Jaworski (my favorite non-Redskin ever) in the Press Box before the game, I asked him if he had any predictions. 'I have a good feeling about the Redskins today. This is going to be their coming out party’. I expected a great day.
3 hours and 36 unanswered Giants points later, Jaws, Rick Walker, and I skulked humbly out of the Meadowlands.
Epic prediction fail.
That was one of the worst losses the Redskins have faced against the Giants in 10 years of painful submission. But there have been many others. Over the past decade, the Redskins have only managed to prevail 5 times out of 20. Recent history has been even more unkind with the Giants winning (often convincingly) 9 of the last 10 matchups.
Ouch.
The curse of the G-Men has, if not mortally, certainly wounded the psyche of Redskins fans. The Redskins enter their 2011 season opener against the dreaded Giants renewed, youthful, and optimistic. There are gaps on this team, most notably at quarterback, but fans across DC, Maryland, and Virginia are starting to believe that Bruce Allen and the Shanahan boys may well know what they are doing. But when it comes to predicting the outcome of the latest home clash against the G-Men, fans of the Burgundy and Gold seem to be downright 'sheepish’.
'The homer in me says 24-19 Redskins. The realist in me says 25-15 Giants’
'We lose 41-13’
'Yea, I hesitate to pick us against the Giants, for the simple fact that we've done far worse against them in recent years, than against our other 2 rivals. The Giants have owned us unlike any other team’
'I know I am going to hear it from some of the more optimistic of our crew, but I have finally been soured enough that I have removed the B&G glasses once and for all'Maybe we don't get beaten so badly, but I think they win convincingly’
' I think we put up a better fight against the Giants in Week 1 and put them on notice, but inexperience, lack of "winning know-how", and inefficiency in the redzone means we fall short in the end. Giants 20 Redskins 16'
'24-7 Giants. Bleh'
Like those sad little Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels, resignation and doubt seems to cling to Redskins fans. Against these Giants, we feel helpless and powerless.
We’re all doomed. It’ll never work.
Balderdash I say.
And for good reason. Modern Redskins fans carry a lot of baggage. We’re used to carrying it. But it’s a new day for our Burgundy and Gold. We’ve got a young team, capably lead by a young offensive coordinator and his Super Bowl-winning father. These guys don’t realize they have no chance. They don’t realize they’re David with nothing but a sling and a handful of stones to bring down Goliath.
Like Rocky, they think they can win.
All good things have to come to an end. And so too with bad things. Tomorrow, the New York Giants domination of the Washington Redskins becomes a thing of history. Our new look Redskins are ready to turn a page.
The little guys are about to rear their ugly heads.
Redskins 30-17.
We’ve certainly enjoyed photoshopping drunken pictures of Eli Manning, but it’s the New York Giants who’ve enjoyed our matchups. No other arch rival has dominated their nemesis as completely as the Giants have owned the Redskins. On the road, at home, the setting has mattered little. The Giants win…the Giants win.
The truth is a cold, hard, heartless bitch.
One of those clashes has stuck with me like a bad childhood memory. I was in New York October 30th, 2005 to cover the game for Extremeskins.com with Rick Walker. It was a surprisingly cold day – I remember Mark Brunell and the other Redskins warming up in sweats that looked all the world like 'jammies’. The Redskins were seemingly renewed, 4-2 in Joe Gibb’s 2nd season since his return, and things looked promising. Running around pre-game in their comfy flannel warm-ups, the Skins starters looked confident and self-assured. Lucky enough to run into Ron Jaworski (my favorite non-Redskin ever) in the Press Box before the game, I asked him if he had any predictions. 'I have a good feeling about the Redskins today. This is going to be their coming out party’. I expected a great day.
3 hours and 36 unanswered Giants points later, Jaws, Rick Walker, and I skulked humbly out of the Meadowlands.
Epic prediction fail.
That was one of the worst losses the Redskins have faced against the Giants in 10 years of painful submission. But there have been many others. Over the past decade, the Redskins have only managed to prevail 5 times out of 20. Recent history has been even more unkind with the Giants winning (often convincingly) 9 of the last 10 matchups.
Ouch.
The curse of the G-Men has, if not mortally, certainly wounded the psyche of Redskins fans. The Redskins enter their 2011 season opener against the dreaded Giants renewed, youthful, and optimistic. There are gaps on this team, most notably at quarterback, but fans across DC, Maryland, and Virginia are starting to believe that Bruce Allen and the Shanahan boys may well know what they are doing. But when it comes to predicting the outcome of the latest home clash against the G-Men, fans of the Burgundy and Gold seem to be downright 'sheepish’.
'The homer in me says 24-19 Redskins. The realist in me says 25-15 Giants’
'We lose 41-13’
'Yea, I hesitate to pick us against the Giants, for the simple fact that we've done far worse against them in recent years, than against our other 2 rivals. The Giants have owned us unlike any other team’
'I know I am going to hear it from some of the more optimistic of our crew, but I have finally been soured enough that I have removed the B&G glasses once and for all'Maybe we don't get beaten so badly, but I think they win convincingly’
' I think we put up a better fight against the Giants in Week 1 and put them on notice, but inexperience, lack of "winning know-how", and inefficiency in the redzone means we fall short in the end. Giants 20 Redskins 16'
'24-7 Giants. Bleh'
Like those sad little Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels, resignation and doubt seems to cling to Redskins fans. Against these Giants, we feel helpless and powerless.
We’re all doomed. It’ll never work.
Balderdash I say.
And for good reason. Modern Redskins fans carry a lot of baggage. We’re used to carrying it. But it’s a new day for our Burgundy and Gold. We’ve got a young team, capably lead by a young offensive coordinator and his Super Bowl-winning father. These guys don’t realize they have no chance. They don’t realize they’re David with nothing but a sling and a handful of stones to bring down Goliath.
Like Rocky, they think they can win.
All good things have to come to an end. And so too with bad things. Tomorrow, the New York Giants domination of the Washington Redskins becomes a thing of history. Our new look Redskins are ready to turn a page.
The little guys are about to rear their ugly heads.
Redskins 30-17.