A Look at the Giants: Giants Tested By Injuries Headed Into Eagles Matchup

The Giants had Steve Smith back for one catch. That catch ended his season. Before the most important game of the season, the Giants learned they were going to have to go without Steve Smith, their top 3rd down possession receiver for not only the upcoming game against the Eagles, but for the entire year. So the Giants, who have also lost wide receivers Ramses Barden, Victor Cruz, and Domenik Hixon to injured reserve and have Mario Manningham questionable for Sunday with a hip flexor will once again have to dip into the well to find replacements.

Manning will be without Steve Smith the rest of the season (ESPN)

It seems that's when the Giants perform best.

In 2007 the Giants lost Mathias Kiwanuka and Jeremy Shockey during the season and had Justin Tuck and Kevin Boss step up for them. This season they lost fullback Madison Hedgecock and had former tight end Bear Pascoe step into the role and perform brilliantly. They lost Kiwanuka again and Jason Pierre-Paul has emerged. When Smith and Manningham went down for a few weeks Derek Hagan came off his couch to play a huge role. Now they will have to find a way to adjust to the loss of Smith (and Clint Sintim who they also placed on injured reserve).

In 2008 the Giants lost Plaxico Burress and played the Eagles at home right after--but lost and never seemed to recover. The hope is that in 2010 they've learned from that and can find a way to win. The Giants still have two deep-play threats in Hakeem Nicks and Manningham and while winning that battle is what wins games, they will miss Smith as a third-down target. Hagan and Boss will certainly be looked at to help fill that role. You love to see a guy like Manningham playing through the pain and promising his teammates he'll be out there. That's what drives a team.

One huge positive for the Giants is that their patch-work offensive line is starting get healthy with Shaun O'Hara expected back soon. Although the backups played admirably, I think a rested veteran line down the stretch will be huge for the Giants--especially as they've just gotten then run game really going. On Monday night both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw topped 100 yards for the first time since...2007 (sense the theme?).

The one part of the Giants offensive game that needs some work is their quarterback, Eli Manning, whose stock is falling. Earlier in the season Manning looked as on as he'd been at any point in his career but his interceptions were up because his receivers were tipping balls. Now he's just throwing the ball right to the other team. Part of the problem was not having Nicks or Smith healthy and in sync. But he's also making some horrible judgment calls something that could kill the Giants chances of making--or going far in--the playoffs.

The one thing that could really propel this Giants team is the play of the defense. I agree that the Giants' defensive line is playing as well as it has the entire season and that has given the team a little swagger going into this huge NFC showdown. I know that the quarterback situation wasn't great for the Vikings but they constantly stuffed Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson on Monday. All of this seems to stem from renewed confidence following keeping Michael Vick in check a few weeks back.

Osi Umenyiora is back in the sack race, Pierre-Paul and Tuck are frightening quarterbacks, Barry Cofield has been an underrated beast and Dave Tollefson seems to make one big play a game. One of the keys to the game will be getting pressure up the middle against Michael Vick and the Giants have the personnel to do so. Like he was in the first match-up, look for safety Antrel Rolle to be used heavily in blitz packages. After the Giants added another QB to their personal injury firm (Tavaris Jackson is on season-ending IR), they would love to do the same to Vick and bring down the Eagles' season.

And to truly be a Super Bowl sleeper as they've been dubbed, the Giants will have to take down the Eagles. The Giants can get into the playoffs with wins in their last two games (and some help) even if they don't win this week, but the division will seemingly be out of reach. The Giants need to stop the turnovers--a problem that killed them during the first match-up between these two teams. This is the time of year that Super Bowl-quality teams make a statement and I think it would be a huge one for the Giants to make to play through their injuries and quiet the Eagles. We'll find out a lot about these G-Men on Sunday.