I figured I'd play Devil's advocate first and talk about how/why the Eagles could win. This is also a conversation of my worst fears...here it goes:
1) The Eagles are the only team left in the playoff who have beaten the Giants this season. Really, if you block out the last game of the Giants regular season in which they didn't even play their regulars, they're the only team who qualified for the playoffs who had beaten the Giants this season. And, more importantly, they beat the Giants in the Meadowlands. This goes a long way. Many teams come into Giants stadium with the cold and the swirling wind and the Giants Superbowl banner hanging and probably know they're not going to have a chance. The Eagles will not feel that way. They've done it already this season. Overall, the Eagles are 10-7 against the Giants since 2001 including a last second victory against the Giants two season ago.
2) The Eagles are hot and the Giants have been sitting. It's been documented many times, but since McNabb's benching, this team is sizzling, including some big defeats over some pretty good teams. Teams that get hot going into the playoffs and continue through the wild card round seem to make lots of noise in the playoffs (see: Giants last year). McNabb is playing with confidence. The defense (especially the front 7) is playing extremely well, stopping both the run and the pass, blitzing like mad men, and creating lots of turnovers. Meanwhile, the Giants had a bye week last week and coasted through the Minnesota game the week before. The Giants have been historically awful after their bye week in the regular season and this could prove to be disastrous against a soaring Eagles team. The Giants have started slow in some of their games this season and a slow start in this one would cause Eli to throw more and come become devastating for the G-men. No Plaxico comes in huge here as the Giants will be without a big threat
3) Brian Westbrook. No Eagle kills the Giants more than Brian Westbrook. Westbrook, T.O. and Jeff Garcia are probably the three opponents who have killed the Giants the most in this decade. Westbrook torched the Giants in their late-season win and there's no reason to think he's done running. The most indelible, lasting (and horrific, in my mind) image from the loss for the Giants was Antonio Pierce one-on-one against Westbrook as the RB just ran past him for a HUGE run. The problem is not just stopping Westbrook...but if you decide to put 8 men in the box to stop him, McNabb now has confidence going downfield to his receivers. This will open things up for big plays for DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, LJ Smith, or Jason Avant (everyone's big bandwagon pick of the X-factor for this game) down the field.
4) Special Teams. DeSean Jackson returning punts is huge for the Eagles. He burned the Vikings with a huge punt return (on one of the most questionable punts in recent memory...how do you not go for it there, Brad Childress?????????) and has big-play capability. Sure the Giants have Jeff Feagles, but if the Eagles win the field position game, he'll have to kick a returnable one at some point. And watch out when he does. Also, while John Carney has been great on short distance FGs, he can't be trusted on kickoffs or long field goals. The Giants have been burned all season by giving up too much field position to the opposition on kickoffs which allow teams to get right back into it when the G-men score. On the other side, David Akers has been money in big spots...including that kick to beat the Giants in the postseason two years ago.
5) Because the Eagles have that "underdog that no one believed in" feeling among them. When they tied the Bengals earlier in the season, many pundits thought they were dead, McNabb was out in Philly and Andy Reid was going to get fired. It ends up that tie was the best thing that happened to them. Had they gone for a win and lost, they wouldn't have made the playoffs. The Giants rode this mantra to victory last season as did the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB playoffs this past season. Although they were favored in their Wild Card game, many experts, including the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, took the Tavaris Jackson-led Vikings over the Eagles. The Eagles are now underdogs in this game and given a second life on the season, should come in playing with nothing to lose. That attitude may allow them to sneak out of New Jersey with a win on Sunday...
(I'll come back later with 5 reason why the Giants could--and should--win)...
1) The Eagles are the only team left in the playoff who have beaten the Giants this season. Really, if you block out the last game of the Giants regular season in which they didn't even play their regulars, they're the only team who qualified for the playoffs who had beaten the Giants this season. And, more importantly, they beat the Giants in the Meadowlands. This goes a long way. Many teams come into Giants stadium with the cold and the swirling wind and the Giants Superbowl banner hanging and probably know they're not going to have a chance. The Eagles will not feel that way. They've done it already this season. Overall, the Eagles are 10-7 against the Giants since 2001 including a last second victory against the Giants two season ago.
2) The Eagles are hot and the Giants have been sitting. It's been documented many times, but since McNabb's benching, this team is sizzling, including some big defeats over some pretty good teams. Teams that get hot going into the playoffs and continue through the wild card round seem to make lots of noise in the playoffs (see: Giants last year). McNabb is playing with confidence. The defense (especially the front 7) is playing extremely well, stopping both the run and the pass, blitzing like mad men, and creating lots of turnovers. Meanwhile, the Giants had a bye week last week and coasted through the Minnesota game the week before. The Giants have been historically awful after their bye week in the regular season and this could prove to be disastrous against a soaring Eagles team. The Giants have started slow in some of their games this season and a slow start in this one would cause Eli to throw more and come become devastating for the G-men. No Plaxico comes in huge here as the Giants will be without a big threat
3) Brian Westbrook. No Eagle kills the Giants more than Brian Westbrook. Westbrook, T.O. and Jeff Garcia are probably the three opponents who have killed the Giants the most in this decade. Westbrook torched the Giants in their late-season win and there's no reason to think he's done running. The most indelible, lasting (and horrific, in my mind) image from the loss for the Giants was Antonio Pierce one-on-one against Westbrook as the RB just ran past him for a HUGE run. The problem is not just stopping Westbrook...but if you decide to put 8 men in the box to stop him, McNabb now has confidence going downfield to his receivers. This will open things up for big plays for DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, LJ Smith, or Jason Avant (everyone's big bandwagon pick of the X-factor for this game) down the field.
4) Special Teams. DeSean Jackson returning punts is huge for the Eagles. He burned the Vikings with a huge punt return (on one of the most questionable punts in recent memory...how do you not go for it there, Brad Childress?????????) and has big-play capability. Sure the Giants have Jeff Feagles, but if the Eagles win the field position game, he'll have to kick a returnable one at some point. And watch out when he does. Also, while John Carney has been great on short distance FGs, he can't be trusted on kickoffs or long field goals. The Giants have been burned all season by giving up too much field position to the opposition on kickoffs which allow teams to get right back into it when the G-men score. On the other side, David Akers has been money in big spots...including that kick to beat the Giants in the postseason two years ago.
5) Because the Eagles have that "underdog that no one believed in" feeling among them. When they tied the Bengals earlier in the season, many pundits thought they were dead, McNabb was out in Philly and Andy Reid was going to get fired. It ends up that tie was the best thing that happened to them. Had they gone for a win and lost, they wouldn't have made the playoffs. The Giants rode this mantra to victory last season as did the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB playoffs this past season. Although they were favored in their Wild Card game, many experts, including the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, took the Tavaris Jackson-led Vikings over the Eagles. The Eagles are now underdogs in this game and given a second life on the season, should come in playing with nothing to lose. That attitude may allow them to sneak out of New Jersey with a win on Sunday...
(I'll come back later with 5 reason why the Giants could--and should--win)...
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