We may have all warmed up Thursday night with an overtime win by Danny Boy’s favorite cash cow, The Pittsburgh Steelers, but our local professional football club kicks off today against the hated New York Giants. Jim Zorn’s bunch travels to the Meadowlands today — not just a place, but a state of mind — for the late 4:15 kickoff against the reigning division champs.

Now, virtually no one likes the ‘Skins in this one. Of all ESPN’s “analysts”, only the perennially-wrong Chris Mortensen picks Washington. But while I’m not exactly brimming with confidence, this is a Giants team that in no way, shape, or form looks improved from last year, at least on paper. Gone are their best two wide receivers. Gone is ace defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, now head coach of the Redskins’ week 2’s opponent, St. Louis. Gone is tailback Derrick Ward, who many seem to forget was an essential ingredient of the dominant run game. Of course, what they do have left is potent: a mean, mean pass rush, and one hell of a backfield one-two punch with the lightning quick Ahmad Bradshaw and the bruising Brandon Jacobs.

Laron Landry can speak directly to Jacobs’ downhill running style — he infamously served as Jacobs’ tackling dummy in last year’s opener. It should be noted, however, that Landry still made the tackle. The Redskins defense could be even better than the 2008 unit that ranked 4th in the league. New additions abound: big-money big fella Albert Haynesworth joins #1 pick Brian Orakpo and the surprising rookie out of Kentucky, Jeremy Jarmon. Jarmon’s added welcome depth and youth to the line, while longtime backup lineman Chris Wilson showed flashes of promise during the preseason as a linebacker. I think there’s enough of an upgrade to slow the Giants running attack — but real progress will be if they get any kind of pass rush on Eli Manning, who no longer has the clutch playmakers to bail him out.

So here’s a cautiously optimistic prediction: It’ll be close. Very close. If the ‘Skins conjure a few turnovers and Santana Moss can exploit the absence of Giants corner Aaron Ross downfield, “it’s going to be bombs over Baghdad,” as the irreverent, ever-quotable Clinton Portis said yesterday. While I highly doubt that, for the past five years this has been a team that wins only when everyone says they can’t. So what the hell — ‘Skins stave off a late drive and hold out for a 20-16 win.