An Early Impression Of Our Local Footballers

It was a banner day for the local football teams this afternoon as both the Giants and Jets opened their season with rousing victories.

In an odd twist, both teams led 17-0, and both games’ scores went to 17-7 on fluky touchdowns.

Houston scored on a fumble return and the Redskins got on the board with a fake field goal (is there anything worse than a punter carrying the ball?)

As for the rest of their respective games, the Jets defense dominated while the Giants struggled at times to put the Redskins away for good.

I know it’s just week one but Jet fans have to be psyched about Rex Ryan orchestrating this defense.

When was the last time you saw a Jet team pressure a QB the way this team did Matt Schaub today?

And Mark Sanchez…the kid seems unflappable.

He’s made in the same mold as last year’s rookie standouts Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. Seems like the Jets made the right decision in starting this Rook.

The Giants controlled nearly the entire game today but allowed the Redskins to hang in all the way to the end.

It was a strange game in that the G-Men played well on defense, managed the offense well, but just weren’t able to surge ahead.

Has to be a bit concerning for Tom Coughlin and company, and the head coach said as much afterwards.

It seems like Washington is the worst team in the NFC East this season, and if the competitiveness of today’s game was any indication, Big Blue is going to have to work on its killer instinct.

Giants fans also have to be thrilled to have Osi Umenyora back. How good is your defensive front line when Justin Tuck is your second best player?

The receivers?....they’ll come around. An impressive first day for Mario Manningham and Steve Smith continues to shine as a possession option.

It was tough to see Hakeem Nicks go down with an ankle sprain. It’s unknown how much time he’ll miss….if any….but I predict big things for him in Kevin Gilbride’s offense this season and the sooner he gets more comfortable with Eli the better.

Giant fans just have to hope those crutches he was rocking on the sideline were precautionary.

With all this said….bring on week 2!

That’s when it gets serious. Jets/Patriots and Giants/Cowboys.

Only 158 short hours away!

Matt Estreich for The Huddle