Brandon’s Big, But Albert’s Much Bigger

It’s the immoveable object vs. … the immovable object. Between Giants RB Brandon Jacobs and Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth, you’re talking about more than 600 pounds of humanity. This will be one of the key battles when the Giants open the 2009 season on Sunday at home against Washington.

While Jacobs made a little noise on Wednesday when he declared that Haynesworth is a “human being, he walks on two feet and he bleeds,” Haynesworth replied that he wasn’t all that intimidated by New York’s 264-pound battering ram.

“You just hav e to tackle him – that’s it, pretty much,” Haynesworth said. “There are no secrets or anything like that. You just have to hit him and wear him out. Just hit him as much as you possibly can.”

That’s a lot easier to say when you’re a 350-pounder that moves like a linebacker.

“This is what was amazing to me,” Washington Coach Jim Zorn said of Haynesworth. “He is (350) pounds. When he warms up, he runs like any other, say, linebacker would run. He can really move the (350). That is what is interesting about this guy. He is big and he likes to play. He loves to penetrate. He likes to be physical and those are things that are making him an outstanding defensive tackle in this league.”

While the Redskins finished eighth against the run last season, allowing only 95.4 ground yards per contest, New York shredded Washington’s interior line with 262 total yards in their two meetings. Hence Washington’s signing of Haynesworth.

“Albert is a tremendous player,” said Giants center Shaun O’Hara, who will share the task of blocking Haynesworth with left guard Rich Seubert. “(He is a) perennial Pro Bowler and I think in our eyes he was brought to the Washington Redskins to stop our run game. That’s the challenge ahead of us.”