A different wake-up call because, well, I don't usually give one on game days. But with the Washington Redskins playing a Thursday night game against the New York Giants, it's not a typical game day. So here are three areas of interest:
I'll get into this more later in the day, but the Redskins absolutely need to win Thursday to avoid, well, avoid disaster. With an upcoming game against the Seattle Seahawks and then at the Arizona Cardinals, a 1-3 start could quickly turn into 1-5 real fast. This is not supposed to be a one-year fix -- the Redskins clearly did not finish finding all the parts they needed in one offseason. But if they can't go 2-2 against the teams they opened the season with, then that doesn't bode well.
Dan Graziano -- remember him? He used to own this space -- and I will preview the game in a post that will be up at 8 a.m. Graz will provide insight into the Giants' situation -- did they turn a corner last week, or are there still issues? He also has an interesting take on Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Both of us will have our predictions go live around 1 p.m. Eastern. I'm 2-1 this season with my predictions. Also on the docket Thurdsay: Game-day notes, with a nugget or two on last year's season finale, and a Redskins mailbag. Yes, I deliver on days other than Friday and Saturday. There will also be a SportsCenter appearance, or two, at 11 and noon.
It'll be interesting to see how many of the nine players listed as questionable are able to play Thursday. My guess is that most of them will. But the key is how many can finish? The Redskins need DeSean Jackson healthy. They need Jason Hatcher and Chris Baker to play a full game. Otherwise, a lot of what they want to do, and need to do, will be lost.
