The Giants won the right, via coin toss, to play the first regular season game at the new Meadowlands stadium, and Jets owner Woody Johnson is flipping out.

Almost immediately after the NFL announced that the Giants – via coin flip – would play the first regular-season game at the new Meadowlands stadium, Woody Johnson released a statement aimed at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, criticizing the coin toss process because it took place without a presence of a representative from either team.

“An NFL coin toss has a few fundamental elements that are missing here, most notably the presence of the teams involved”, said Johnson, whom one source described as “outraged” by the procedure. “That’s how it’s always done in the league, whether it’s determining the order of the draft or deciding who’s going to kick off the game”.

The funny thing is that Johnson claims it was his idea to use the coin toss, but the NFL initially rejected the idea. He said it was “the fairest way to resolve the issue”. Johnson said he was informed on Friday that the coin toss occurred at the NFL league office, and the Jets had lost.

“We rejected a process in which neither team was present”, he said. “The league departed from our time-honored tradition and declined that the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process.”

After the coin toss on Friday, the Jets posted a story on their website Saturday night, reporting the NFL had made plans for a coin flip. The story promoted the coin toss idea, saying the Jets wanted to make it a media event that their fans could witness. It appears the story was a ploy to put pressure on the NFL league office into a do-over.

According to sources, Goodell didn’t invite the teams to send reps to the coin flip because the Giants didn’t want to flip. To appease each team, Goodell’s plan was that the coin toss winner would open the stadium on Sunday and the loser would host the first Monday Night Football game the following day.

The Giants will play the Sunday afternoon game at the Meadowlands on opening day and the Jets will play the next day at 7:00 pm on Monday Night Football. The opponents for both games will be announced on Monday at the NFL meetings in Orlando, Florida.

I’m surprised that the usually mild-mannered Woody Johnson publicly released such a strong statement. Maybe the speaking style of Jets’ head coach, Rex Ryan, is rubbing off on him.

THE MATCHUP
Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) at Washington Redskins (2-4)
Monday, October 26, 2009 @ 8:30 PM ET
Fed Ex Field, Landover, MD

THE LINE
Eagles are the favorite, giving 7 1/2. The Under/Over is 37 1/2

THE RECORD
The Eagles are 3-2 Overall, 2-1 at Home and 1-1 Away.
They are 2-1 in the NFC and 0-0 in the NFC East
The Eagles have scored 136 points and given up 99.

The Redskins are 2-4 Overall, 2-1 at Home and 0-3 on the Road.
They are 2-3 in the NFC and 0-1 in the NFC East.
The Chargers have scored 79 points and given up 96.

2009 TRENDS AGAINST THE SPREAD (ATS)
The Eagles are 3-2 ATS.
The Eagles are 1-1 ATS away.
The Eagles are 1-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Eagles are 1-0 ATS as an away underdog.
The Redskins are 1-4 ATS.
The Redskins are 0-3 ATS at home.
The Redskins are 1-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Redskins have not been a home underdog.
PREGAME ANALYSIS
The key to this game is the Philadelphia passing offense. If they bounce back from their poor performance last week against the Raiders, and gain over 250 yards in the air with no interceptions the Eagles are 80% favorites. Statistically speaking, if the Redskins can hold the Eagles to under 220 yards passing, they have a chance of a big upset.

GAME PREDICTION
Philadelphia Eagles 24 Washington Redskins 10

The Giants loss to Arizona should have the Eagles ready to play. An Eagles win puts them a 1/2 game out in the NFC East.
The handing off of play calling duties from coach Jim Zorn to newcomer Sherm Lewis will not be enough for the Redskins to pull out a miracle.

THE MATCHUP
Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Oct 19, 2009 @ 8:30 PM
Qualcomm Stadium

THE LINE
Chargers are the favorite, giving 3. The Under/Over is 44

THE RECORD
The Denver Broncos are 5-0 Overall, 3-0 at Home and 2-0 Away. They are 1-0 in the Division and 4-0 in their Conference.
The Broncos have scored 99 points and given up only 43.

The San Diego Chargers are 2-2 Overall, 1-1 at Home and 1-1 on the Road.
They are 1-0 in their Division and 2-2 in their Conference.
The Chargers have scored 101 points and given up 102.

2009 TRENDS AGAINST THE SPREAD
The Broncos are 5-0 ATS.
The Broncos are 2-0 ATS away.
The Broncos are 4-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Broncos are 2-0 ATS as an away underdog.
The Chargers are 1-3 ATS.
The Chargers are 1-1 ATS at home.
The Chargers are 0-1 ATS as the underdog.
The Chargers have not been a home underdog.

PREGAME ANALYSIS
One of the keys to this MNF contest is the Denver Bronco defense. In their first five games, they have given up only 43 points while allowing only 3.3 yards per carry. If they can keep the Chargers to just under 4 ypc, they can still win, even if Phillip Rivers has a big game.

Another factor that could determine the outcome is that the Broncos are averaging 139 yard rushing and the Chargers are defense are giving up 151 yards per game – and wiith their star defensive tackle Jamal Williams (IR), the Chargers defense may be in for a long day.

GAME PREDICTION
Denver Broncos 24 San Diego Chargers 21

Denver’s new head coach, Josh McDaniel has fired up the Broncos and they have bought into his system. The Broncos defense will stop the Chargers ground game and give their offense multiple opportunities to score. In addition, the Chargers defense will overpursue on the run, opening up the passing game for Kyle Orton.

source: espn, foxsports