Jan 12 Giants lose to the Eagles 23-11  |  GAME PHOTOS      GAME PHOTOS

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On The Game: Game 17 Recap Gamegirl... "... The game started great with Ahmad Bradshaw returning the kickoff 65 yards, and maybe last year's playoff Giants would have come away with a 7-0 lead, but this year's offense never really got it going today and they settled for 3 points on a field goal. It looked like Eli Manning wasn't on his game for the first half and it never got any better after that..." Mikefan.... "...Tom Coughlin decided to have the Giants start off this game going into the wind on offense. It didn't work out all that well for Eli Manning, but I can't get too down on Coughlin, because let's face it, Eli just didn't have it today... Maybe the Giants should have built a dome over the new stadium if they plan to win with his arm and with no no long armed receiving threats on these bad weather games at home...."

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ESPN - Eagles win, will face Cards in NFC title game.
Giants.com - Giants fall to Eagles, 23-11.
Giants.com - Postgame Notes.
StarLedger - Eagles' defense leads the way in win over Giants.
StarLedger - Did New York Giants miss Plaxico Burress against Eagles? Jerry Reese seems to think so.
StarLedger - Plays that proved costly for the New York Giants vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
StarLedger - New York Giants can't find pass rush in 23-11 loss to Philadelphia Eagles.
Newsday - Top-seeded Giants fall to Eagles, 23-11.
Newsday - Eli, we believed in you! What happened?
Newsday - First-round exit against Eagles depresses Giants.
Newsday - Coughlin's questionable decisions hurt Giants.
Newsday - Without Plax, Giants had no shot.
Newsday - Dreadful effort by Eli.
Newsday - Giants 'D' gets an 'F' on pass rush.
Newsday - Q&A: No thought to use Tynes until 50 yards or more.
Newsday - What's next for the Giants?
NYDailyNews - Giants' quest to repeat as Super Bowl champs ends with 23-11 loss to Eagles.
NYDailyNews - For Giants, time to put last year in past as Eagles soar.
NYDailyNews - Laid-back Eli Manning is far from Super against Eagles.
NYDailyNews - Eagles eye Plaxico Burress' absence as factor in Giant loss.
NYDailyNews - Failed fourth down attempts sink Brandon Jacobs, Giants against Eagles.
NYDailyNews - Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw face Giant breakup.
NYDailyNews - Tom Coughlin's calls against Eagles turn Giants from champions to also-rans.
NYPost - Title defense ends as Eli offense fall short.
NYPost - No Plax bumbling game plan shoots down repeat.
NYPost - Eagles 2 key stops are killers for Giants.
NYPost - WRs catch only blame in ugly loss.
NYPost - GM wont nix Burress return.
NYPost - Dud day likely end for Carney.
NYPost - What a difference a year makes.
NYPost - Redemption for Mcnabb.
Record - Oh, Mann: Eli and mates give Giants' fans a Super downer.
Record - Man down: No encore for MVP QB.
Record - Numbers don't lie: Giants couldn't offset loss of Plax.

Game 17 Preview - Giants (12-4) vs Eagles (10-6-1).
The Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, 26-14, in the wildcard round of the playoffs, and that means they'll meet up with the Giants for the third time this season. Unlike their earlier two matchups which they split, the stakes are much higher now. The loser is done for the season, and the winner goes on to play the following Sunday in a fight for the NFC Championship. Minnesota saw their hopes vanish last week when with less than seven minutes left to play Brian Westbrook took a Donovan McNabb's screen pass 71 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings had been down just 2 points and now they had too much to cover. The Giants lost a 20-19 game to Minnesota just the week before and were on a bye last week.
The state of the Eagles - Offense. They came up with four wins in their last five regular season games to get into the playoffs, and one of those wins was against the Giants. Brian Westbrook rushed for 131 yards and become the first running back in 14 games to break the Giants defense for more than 100 yards. Donovan McNabb was elusive as ever keeping plays alive until his receiving crew had time to break free. He and Westbrook will be facing a somewhat healthier Giants defense this time, but the truth is in the two games played this season they haven't sacked Donovan McNabb once and the Eagles came up with 31 points in the game they lost even though Westbrook was held to 26 yards on 13 carries. It seems strange at times that Donovan McNabb is sometimes held in higher regard by fans of teams other than his own. That said, it should be noted that there will be no ties for this game.

Jan 11 The hunt for the first back-to-back championships in the 84-year history of the Giants franchise begins at the Meadowlands Sunday. The first prey for the top-seeded Giants (12-4) are the red-hot, sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles (10-6-1), who enter Giants Stadium this afternoon having won five of their last six. The winner of Sunday's game will meet the Cardinals -- who beat the Panthers Saturday, 33-13 -- in next week's NFC Championship Game. The Eagles, of course, are also the only team to beat the Giants at the Meadowlands this season, 20-14, on Dec. 7.
Today's game between the Giants and Eagles will have as much intrigue on the sidelines as it does between the lines. The teams are so familiar with each other after playing twice already this season that it will be up to their respective coordinators to concoct a game plan if they want to advance in the playoffs.
Defense of the Super Bowl title they won February in Arizona really begins today in the NFC divisional playoff game against the Eagles. The Giants are two steps away from returning to the big game, but one slip-up on those two steps could return them to that massive group of NFL also-rans.

More than anything, what the Eagles will have to contend with, aside from the Pamplona rushes of Brandon Jacobs, is the pride of the Giants, obsessed with silencing naysayers who, from the time they Tyree'd the 18-0 Patriots last Feb. 3, have labeled them one-hit wonders. To which the Giants rage: Fluke you.
This is uncharted territory for the Giants' franchise, which has never won back-to-back titles in its 83-year history. The team had three Super Bowl dates prior to February's upset of the New England Patriots in XLII. In each case, the ensuing season proved disastrous, not even resulting in a playoff appearance.

The Eagles have outscored the Giants by a combined 51-50 in their two meetings this season, but since Coughlin arrived in 2004, the Giants have outscored the Eagles 233-231. They're that close. Seven of the 11 games in that span have been decided by a touchdown or less. Three have come down to a field goal.
There are always plays after a loss that irritate a coach. Plays that could have easily swung the game in their team's direction. After the loss to the Eagles last month, there was a lot of talk from the Giants about such plays and about how close they were to making them. A block here, a cutback there and they would have been playing from ahead.

As much as the Giants yearn to win today's divisional playoff game and move on, there's another factor motivating them almost as passionately: They cannot fathom getting ousted by the Eagles. Not them. It would be too much to take.
They know how to win these single-elimination games. They won four of them last year. They also know what to expect from the red-hot Eagles Sunday afternoon. A four-quarter fistfight. "It's going to be as intense as the Super Bowl," Justin Tuck said. "We know it's going to be a battle. I'm sure they do, too."

There have been 151 games in the long history of the Giants-Eagles rivalry, one that dates all the way back to a memorable 56-0 Giants win on Oct. 15, 1933. In more recent years, which have included three playoff games, the battles have been intense. Together, the Giants and Eagles have produced a string of heart-wrenching, jaw-dropping (and pants-dropping) moments - from The Fumble to The Return to the final game of Tiki Barber's career. Now, as the two Turnpike rivals get ready to kick off their fourth postseason meeting this afternoon, we're reminded that any moment can be a great moment. Here are 10 of the best.
These Giants aren't a perfect team, and are less perfect now than they were a year ago. Again and again: We will begin to find out against the Eagles just how much they miss Umenyiora and Plaxico Burress -- who caught that last-minute touchdown pass, who played one of the great games in Giants history in the NFC Championship Game against the Packers -- and the retired Michael Strahan and even a magic act named David Tyree, also injured this season.

Winning takes talent. The Giants know they are a very good football team -- they proved it in Glendale, Ariz., last winter, and just in case anybody was convinced that Super Bowl XLII victory was a fluke, they kept proving it through most of this season. Starting Sunday, we find out if they have something more. We find out if they have the mettle that separates the very best championship teams from the rest, if they can do what more than 80 percent of Super Bowl winners have failed to do. To repeat takes character.
Coach Tom Coughlin tweaked his approach entering last season, did a superb job and snagged the brass ring. You could have caught 20-1 going into this season against Coughlin extracting another rabbit, but the veteran coach has been no less masterful this time around, pacing this team after storming out of the gate 11-1.
It's game day, and Tom Coughlin is getting butterflies. "You'd better," the Giants' coach said of the anxious feelings the morning before a game in the NFL. "I've read from other coaches in other situations at times say that if you lose that part of it, you probably ought to be thinking about doing something else. It's there. It doesn't matter how many times you do it."

Eli Manning refuses to say he's any more confident in his ability to succeed in the wake of his stunning performance in Super Bowl XLII, but his work this season suggests otherwise. After leading the Giants past the previously undefeated New England Patriots last year in Arizona, Manning has morphed into one of the league's most efficient quarterbacks. Look no further than his total of 10 incerceptions this season, half as many as he threw during the regular season in 2007.
He is never going to have Peyton's numbers, because by the time Peyton Manning is through throwing footballs around, he is going to have the best numbers in pro football history. And it doesn't matter. The conversation about the brothers is about as relevant now as the conversation about Roethisberger and Rivers, even if Eli ends up facing one of them in Tampa in Super Bowl XLIII.
Instead of being compared with quarterbacks who failed to live up to grand expectations, Manning is looking to win three more games and join a select group that includes Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, John Elway and Tom Brady. All have multiple Super Bowl wins.

Yes, there are stadiums where the wind is colder, such as in Buffalo and Green Bay. And there are stadiums on the lake where the wind is stronger, such as in Chicago and Cleveland. But there is no place where the wind is as unpredictable and annoying as it is at Giants Stadium. "Weird things happen there," said Landeta (the man who whiffed on a punt because of a wind gust 23 years ago in a playoff game in Chicago, giving the Bears a 5-yard return for a touchdown).
Even the fiercest rivalries are merely superficial skirmishes to the athletes who actually act in the play. For you, it's deeper than that. For you, it's stronger than that. Today is a playoff game, and that alone is worth all the nonsense you absorb as a fan. But it's a playoff game against a rival.What could be better than that? Especially if all goes well.

In the case of Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, it has been said for two seasons now that he runs an Eagles-style defense because he was a pupil of Philly's defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. But the truth is, Spagnuolo's defense has evolved to become much of his own scheme.

Steve Smith. Kevin Boss. Aaron Ross. Ahmad Bradshaw. All of them were important pieces as rookies in the Giants' Super Bowl run a year ago. So what is this season's crop of first-timers looking to accomplish when they get their first taste of the playoffs today? "I'm just trying to get ready for it and trying not to be that rookie who makes mistakes," cornerback Terrell Thomas said.
We all know who the big names are, the principal players for the Giants today. Eli Manning has to be the Eli of last season's glorious Super Bowl run, Brandon Jacobs has to be fiery but controlled, Domenik Hixon has to be somewhat more Plaxico Burress-like, Justin Tuck has to get to the quarterback. You know those guys and what they must do. There are five Giants who live further outside the spotlight but could have a tremendous impact.

Being a backup running back, wide receiver or defensive back is a pretty neat NFL job. You have a decent chance of getting into a game at some point in the season. But being a backup kicker stinks. Just ask the Giants' Lawrence Tynes, who booted the team into the Super Bowl last season and then lost his job in August. Tynes had knee surgery and John Carney unexpectedly kicked his way to the Pro Bowl at the age of 44.

The Post's Steve Serby chatted with the longest-tenured current Giant in the lead up to today's playoff battle with the Eagles. Q: This is an Amani Toomer quote: "I think we'll need to repeat to gain the respect of the rest of the country." Why is that?

While Philadelphia fans have had their dysfunctional love-hate thing going on with Donovan McNabb, they practically worship Dawkins for his fearless and emotional play. Dawkins gets almost all of his Wolverine paraphernalia from fans. "Does he think of himself as a superhero?" Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown asks with a smile. "Yeah, I think he does. Some of the stuff he does ... like a normal tackle he can make but instead he will go fly and do that (thing he does with his arms spread out)."

Former Giants
Mark Bavaro was a man of few words during his stellar career as a tight end so the several thousand he pounded out for his first novel serve as a fitting paradox.
Mark Ingram, back in 1991, was the David Tyree of his time - the wide receiver whose improbable, inspiring, iconic catch helped Big Blue win the Super Bowl.

NFL News
Cardinals stun Panthers 33-13, one win from first Super Bowl. Kurt Warner is one win away from returning to the Super Bowl - and that game could come against the team that threw him out the door. The 37-year-old Warner, the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV who was displaced as the Giants' starting QB by Eli Manning four years ago, threw for 220 yards and two TDs to lead the underestimated Cardinals to a stunning 33-13 upset of the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium last night.
Ravens edge Titans, 13-10. On a third-and-9 from the Tennessee 33, Flacco hit receiver Mark Clayton on an 8-yard pass. It was enough to set up Matt Stover's 43-yard field goal with 57 seconds to play that gave Baltimore a 13-10 win and moved the Ravens into next Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the winner of today's Pittsburgh-San Diego matchup.

Jan 10 Philly has snowball's chance in hell. In the bone-chilling cold and blustery blast of January, the defending Super Bowl champions are ready to blow the hated Eagles away. They will do it with such a gale force of bone-crunching fury and iron-will that by 4 o'clock the Eagles will surrender to the realization that they no longer have even a snowball's chance in hell.
At least 300 workers will be ready to start shoveling the Giants Stadium parking lots tonight at 7 o’clock, a spokesman for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority said Friday. A storm is expected to drop about 5 to 8 inches of snow in East Rutherford starting about midday today, although some areas of North Jersey may get more snow than that.

Steve Smith has played in worse weather conditions than what is expected for Sunday in East Rutherford. Last year's NFC Championship Game in Green Bay, for one, was some of the worst weather the Giants wide receiver has ever played in. But that won't make it any easier getting ready for Sunday's cold temperatures.
What's an NFC East battle without some NFC East weather? Forecasters are calling for several inches to a foot of snow to fall on Giants Stadium beginning Saturday afternoon and ending sometime Sunday morning, but by the time the players take the field, most of it should be pushed to the side. The wind, however, is expected to gust at nearly 25 miles per hour, and with temperatures not getting above the freezing mark, the elements could have an effect on the game.

Justin Tuck yesterday learned he was selected to The Associated Press 2008 NFL All-Pro Team, voted in as one of the two defensive ends, along with Jared Allen of the Vikings. It's quite an honor, but he knows he hasn't played at that high level in quite some time. He has been laboring with issues with his knee and lower leg, and hoped the two weeks between games would help calm down the discomfort. It has, but not enough for Tuck to state he's going to be just fine when he lines up for a playoff battle with the Eagles. Tuck, listed as probable, admits he is not close to full strength, but he's trying not to dwell on it.
Whenever Jamaal Jackson, Jon Runyan or any of the Eagles offensive linemen are feeling a little too good about themselves, they reach for the tape that cut them down to size last year. Nearly 16 months after the Giants had an NFL record-tying 12 sacks against the Eagles in prime time, Jackson & Co. still use that game as a teaching tool. "That was bad. Of course, we'll never forget that game," the Eagles center said. "That's one of our focal points when we go and watch film. We always go back to that film and just try to correct our mistakes."

Anything for an edge in the battle of the pain thresholds. Much as he may be hurting, Jon Runyan will be telling himself tomorrow that Justin Tuck has to be hurting more. "I think it's a little easier for me to play my position injured than it is to play his," the Eagles' offensive tackle said. Maybe it's logic. Perhaps it's gamesmanship. Probably, after 13 years, Runyan has played in pain for so long, he has gotten good at it. "I hate needles," he said yesterday. "Got my second one this week already."
Zero. As in none. Nada. Zilch. It is rare when "nothing" elicits such disgust, but for the players on the Giants who get paid to get after the quarterback, the empty set represents their sack production in two games against the Eagles. Donovan McNabb threw 66 passes and the Giants did not sack him. Not once. And how does that make the Giants feel? "Anger," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "You get angry.
Justin Tuck led the Giants with 12 sacks this season as the team finished sixth in the league with 42, down from 53 a year ago. Losing Michael Strahan to retirement and Osi Umenyiora (who had half the sacks in that 12-sack game) to a knee injury took some oomph out of the pass rush. But that's no excuse, the Giants say, for not being able to drop McNabb in the 36-31 win in Philadelphia or the 20-14 loss at Giants Stadium.

The windy conditions expected Sunday at Giants Stadium, plus the healthy condition of his squad could mean Giants coach Tom Coughlin decided to dress both of his kickers in Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game against the Eagles. John Carney would handle the bulk of the field goals while Lawrence Tynes would do the kickoffs and long field goals. Without needing extra position players active to protect against hobbled starters, Coughlin could find eight players to deactivate and allow Tynes to join Carney on the game roster for a second time. "I would like to know today," Tynes said after Friday's practice. "But I won't know until 10:30 or so Sunday morning."
With the threat of speedy Eagles punt returner DeSean Jackson waiting on the opposite end of the field Sunday afternoon, Giants punter Jeff Feagles will be charged with doing one thing. Playing a high-stakes game of keep-away. "That's our intent," Feagles said Friday. "My intent is to keep the ball away from all of their returners. Whether it's DeSean Jackson or any of those guys. Because field position is a huge factor in playoff games." It has also been one of the Giants' few weak points this season.

Less than two months ago, the Philly sports radio call-in shows were filled with calls for McNabb and Reid to be put on the same bus out of town. The team had fallen to 5-5-1 and it looked as if a second straight season of missing the playoffs was on the horizon. A late-season surge, some unexpected help on the final weekend of the regular season and a 44-6 victory over the hated Dallas Cowboys earned them the final spot in the NFC playoff field.

Brian Westbrook walked gingerly through the Eagles' locker room early this week, his swollen left knee and sprained right ankle slowing him to a senior citizen pace. By Sunday afternoon, the Giants are certain Westbrook will be back to his spry, sprinting self. As is the case whenever the Giants and Eagles meet, which they will do Sunday for the right to advance to the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles' running back seems to hold the key to both team's fortunes.

The Eagles' true strength comes with their big play capability on defense. It all starts with their ability to rush the quarterback. Those 48 sacks and the pressure that comes with it force fumbles, interceptions and defensive scores. The Eagles had two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns this season, a safety, and have recovered 14 fumbles, good for 5th in the league. Special teams are also a weapon, with two blocked field goals and a kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Giants seized the top seed in the NFC thanks in large part to their 7-1 record in Giants Stadium, but the 33-year-old structure out in East Rutherford has been more a house of horrors for its inhabitants over the last decade, rather than one for any visitors.

Former Giants
Ottis Anderson and Rodney Hampton formed a two-headed running back tandem during that 1990 season. Anderson ran for 784 yards on 225 carries while Hampton gained 455 yards on 109 touches in his rookie year. Whenever Hampton runs into Anderson these days, Hampton said he always jokingly reminds Anderson of the reason why Anderson was in position to be MVP of Super Bowl XXV. Because Hampton was hurt and couldn't play. Laughing at the memory of these conversations, Hampton says he tells Anderson, "When you do your appearances, you've got to remember why you're there. I let you win that Super Bowl MVP."

Jan 9 The Giants' divisional playoff game against Philadelphia at Giants Stadium on Sunday won't be for the squeamish. There will be pain, there will be agony and there will be mental and physical bruises. And it will seem much worse for the loser, because there will be no escape from the humiliation - it will have to face the team that ended its season twice again next year.
Every one of these players can recite these matchups on memory, as familiarity breeds not only contempt but also, well, familiarity. This will be the eighth time in the last three seasons the Giants and Eagles have tangled, and it's never for the faint of heart. Add in the raised stakes of the playoffs and the intensity in this backyard brawl rises to unmatched heights.

The high-flying Eagles could be the perfect playoff opponent for the Giants on Sunday. At first glance, that would not appear to be the case. The Eagles, winners of five of their last six games, were the only team to beat the Giants at the Meadowlands this season - 20-14 on Dec. 7. But that just might give the Giants the necessary fodder to downplay the fact they are the favorites to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The Giants are trying to become the ninth team to win the Super Bowl back-to-back. That's eight repeat winners out of the first 41 champions, or 19.5%. Being successful one out of five times in just about anything you do is not so great unless it's hitting the lottery. "That just tells you how difficult it is," says former Giants linebacker Carl Banks, who was a member of the Giants' first two Super Bowl winners, who didn't come close to repeating.

Troy Aikman was not a Marino-esque numbers guy during his career, never exceeding 3,500 passing yards or a 100 passer rating, and only once throwing for more than 20 touchdowns. The reason he is in the Hall of Fame is this: three Super Bowl rings. That is why the former Cowboys quarterback and current Fox analyst feels a special kinship with Eli Manning. "I've always thought that I probably had a much better appreciation for Eli than most people because I get it; I understand what he's about, what his role is within that team," Aikman said Wednesday.
Eli Manning, better than Phil Simms? Better than Y.A. Tittle, Charlie Conerly, Fran Tarkenton? Better, even, than Broadway Joe himself? All he needs to do is play three solid football games in the next four weekends. Not spectacular football games; not even the most blindly loyal Giants fan would be silly enough to expect that. Just three of what have become to be accepted as Eli Manning-type games: well managed, with a minimum of disastrous mistakes and a well-placed throw or two at the right time.
The job of the quarterback, the day after a loss, is to listen to everyone's questions like they're brilliant, answer them as if he's relaying critical information, lightly joke with reporters like they're old pals, take every single question no matter how long you're standing there and, most of all, and this is key ... don't say anything interesting. Eli is the master of this. After about half an hour of answering questions for the reporting gaggle, the crowd disperses, and all that's left are the Post's Steve Serby and me. Serby talks with Eli for another fifteen minutes while I stand idly behind him. I don't really have anything compelling to ask Eli that hasn't already been asked. I just want to test his superhuman tolerance for banality.

Your Giants won't get to the Super Bowl this time as Road Warriors. They will get there at home, sweet, home, with you as their 12th Man. "I think this team will repeat," honorary captain Harry Carson said yesterday. No Giants Stadium crowd has gotten to welcome defending champions back for another Super Bowl run. The 1987 Giants were sabotaged by a banquet circuit offseason and replacement players and the '90 Giants by Ray Handley.

Domenik Hixon has taken over Plaxico Burress' spot as a starting wide receiver. But he'd still like to have some of his old job. Last year Hixon was a special-teams whiz. After returning kickoffs sparingly during the regular season, he took over the job in the postseason, then had 12 returns for 290 yards and a touchdown. This year, because of Hixon's expanded role in the offense, the Giants haven't used him very much. That could change Sunday. "If I'm called upon to do it," he said, "I feel like I can.
Domenik Hixon has tried to fill the void left by the suspension of Plaxico Burress, who will be missed more than usual on Sunday against the Eagles. Burress has torched Philadelphia for over 100 yards receiving four times, while Hixon's most memorable moment against the Giants New York Giants ' divisional playoff opponent was a huge dropped pass in his first start in Burress' place. "We're two different players with different strengths," Hixon said yesterday. One of Hixon's strengths is in the return game, which has been dreadful for the Giants at times this season.

Given the task of refusing yards to Brandon Jacobs, Jim Johnson isn't denying the obvious. This honest guy, who has run the sneakiest defense this decade, also knows that task will be easier because the Giants without Plaxico Burress are an easier team to defend. "We'll still mix up our coverages and fronts, but it makes a difference without Plaxico, no question about it," the Eagles defensive coordinator said yesterday.

Derrick Ward and Mathias Kiwanuka have Super Bowl rings. As the Giants begin their Super Bowl defense Sunday at home against the Eagles, no two players are hungrier for a repeat than Kiwanuka and Ward, both forced by injury to sit out last season's amazing championship run. While Kiwanuka was at least on site, having recovered enough from a broken leg that he could be with the Giants in Arizona, Ward sat at home during the playoffs rehabbing his broken leg. Both players realize that as much as they contributed on the season, they couldn't be out there when they wanted to most.

In many ways, Kevin Boss is the anti-Shockey: He doesn't have biceps covered with colorful tattoos, he doesn't point fingers at coaches and he isn't regularly photographed out on the town with starlets and Playboy bunnies. A big night for Boss means eating fajitas and watching television in the two-bedroom apartment he shares with his fiancee, Bree Ramsey, and brother Terry. Talk about wholesome: Ramsey, Boss' college sweetheart, recently finished nursing school. They are planning a wedding for July.

An optimist might say that the Giants have averaged 33/4 sacks in their last four games against the Eagles. Hey, that's pretty good. But the guys up front for the Giants know better. And so do the Eagles. Because in the last two games - both this season - the Giants have had zero sacks against Donovan McNabb. Zero.
"All credit to McNabb and the offensive line with the scheme they had, but our job is to generate pressure, harass the quarterback a little bit, sack him and frustrate him a little bit, and we haven't done that in two games," defensive tackle Fred Robbins said. "When you don't get to the quarterback it gives him confidence when he's not rattled and not getting hit a lot.
Despite being one win away from his fifth NFC Championship Game appearance in eight years, McNabb, 32, may be feeling underappreciated not just by the title-starved Philadelphia fans, who have a dysfunctional love-hate relationship with the quarterback, but by his head coach as well. There was speculation weeks ago when McNabb was benched that this could be his final season in Philadelphia even though he has two years remaining on his contract.

Shut him down, shut him up. Those are the marching orders for the Giants defense, a proud unit that was sickened by the way Brian Westbrook ran through and around it the last time it tangled with the Eagles. Westbrook is a hard guy to corral, but the Giants insist the best way to slow the Philadelphia running back is to hit him. And then hit him again.
Kenny Phillips has played a lot less than he expected to this season. On Sunday, he'll be looking to transfer some of that angst to Brian Westbrook. "You have to frustrate him," Phillips said of the Eagles' multidimensional running back. "If he gets confident, if he gets to feeling himself, it's going to be a long night. You have to get in his face even when he doesn't have the ball. Just irritate him." Westbrook missed a second straight day of practice yesterday with ankle and knee injuries.
Antonio Pierce set the ground rules early this week. He wasn't going to discuss the two big touchdowns by Brian Westbrook that settled the Giants' last game against the Eagles. Even after Westbrook said it's part of the Eagles' game plan to isolate him on Pierce, the middle linebacker said Thursday he wasn't taking it as a challenge. "No. We'll find out Sunday," he said.

The Giants' rubber match with the Eagles may come down to the player who never thought he'd dress for the game. "Every game is decided - many of them - by the last snap," Tom Coughlin said of the longtime rivalry with Philadelphia. If that's the case Sunday, John Carney could be called on to make a field goal he never could have imagined when the Giants pulled him off the unemployment line to fill in for an injured Lawrence Tynes.

The night the Giants won the Super Bowl, Umenyiora and Strahan were part of one of the great front-four performances in all of Super Bowl history. "I told Michael before that game," Osi Umenyiora said Thursday, "that if we don't put pressure on them, we can't play with them." Up to now the Giants have done just fine without Burress and Tyree, Osi and Strahan. They lost three games in December and still ended up 12-4.
Michael Strahan, 37, joked with many of his former teammates yesterday as he visited in an official capacity as a Fox commentator. Some of them playfully suggested he could rejoin the team for the playoffs; when one player said Strahan probably couldn't agree on financial terms, he quipped, "Everyone plays for the same money in the playoffs. Why not?" Won't happen. Strahan may feel in his heart that he still can go out and play the Eagles, but in his head, he realizes it might not be the best idea.

The Eagles don't just send players to terrorize the quarterback. They love blitzing on run downs, too, looking to plug holes and potential cutback lanes. The key for Hedgecock is to not only pick up the blitz to open up the Giants' running game and protect Eli Manning but to properly figure out the correct blitzing player to block. "Big plays happen one way or another because of the blitz," Hedgecock said yesterday. "We have to do a good job as an offense of intercepting the blitz and handling.

Does it surprise anyone that with all the winning the Giants have done in the last year, other teams are trying to get a little bit of that shine for themselves? It's times like this when the National Football League becomes more like Clone Wars. Every team with a head-coaching vacancy has expressed an interest in Giants coordinators in the last two weeks. While most were trying to lure defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the Raiders interviewed offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.
Little is known about offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride's conversation with Raiders owner Al Davis last weekend. When Gilbride addressed the media Thursday -- three days before the Giants meet the Eagles in their divisional playoff game -- he was asked about the phone interview. "It wasn't an interview, per se," Raiders senior executive John Herrera told the Sacramento Bee. "It was a 90-minute conversation." Gilbride was given an opportunity to counter the Raiders' comments.

Jan 8 After the Eagles beat the Giants at the Meadowlands last month, many were saying the home team missed Plaxico Burress. But maybe the Giants missed Fred Robbins more than their top wide receiver. Sure, Robbins was in uniform and on the field that day. He just wasn't himself because of an injured shoulder that had kept him out the week before and would sideline him for the team's next game.
There is no way to ignore the number on the stat sheet, to say that it's irrelevant or misleading. Zero sacks. That's what the fearsome Giants pass rush has against the Eagles in two games, a year after Big Blue tied an NFL record with 12 in one night's work. It's a point of emphasis as the Giants prepare for Sunday's playoff showdown. Donovan McNabb is a marked man.

The Giants have to go back to beating people up on Sunday against the Eagles, who beat the Giants up the last time the two teams played at Giants Stadium. "(The Eagles) had the ball, they had time of possession, they had everything," Tom Coughlin said in the interview room at Giants Stadium Wednesday, pretty much saying the same things he'd said after the Eagles game in December. "We didn't run, we didn't pass, we didn't have that many snaps."
Any playoff game is enough to get the blood flowing, but a postseason game against a fierce division rival is cause for emotions to go into overdrive. The Giants New York Giants and the Eagles meeting in the playoffs is not going to be a friendly affair. "There's a strong dislike for one another," guard Chris Snee Chris Snee said. "Any time you get a chance to knock out a divisional opponent, one you don't like, you get geeked up for these challenges."

Brandon Jacobs' emotions are fueling him this week as the Giants prepare for Sunday's game against the Eagles. The pain he has felt in his injured knee all season long, the disappointment of missing two games after aggravating the injury in the loss to Philly, the helpless feeling of not being there for his teammates, the doubters who are treating the Giants as underdogs this week -- all of it has Jacobs so fired-up, even the folks in blue are worried. "He's pretty darn excited," coach Tom Coughlin said. "I had to remind him the game is Sunday."
Brandon Jacobs is ready to go. Like, right now. "He's pretty darn excited," Tom Coughlin said of his running back yesterday. "I had to remind him that the game is on Sunday." And he's not the only one who passed along advice pertaining to days of the week. "He came in here Monday and he was rip-roaring and yelling," guard Chris Snee said. "I said to Brandon, 'We don't play until Sunday at 1,' and he looked at me like I was crazy. He's fired up and I love it."
Even if you were blindfolded Wednesday you could tell Brandon Jacobs had returned full time to the Giants' practice field. "You can hear him, he's very vocal," explained guard Chris Snee. "He's fired up and I love it." "He's excited," said fellow running back Derrick Ward. "He's always excited, but today even in the meeting room he couldn't sit still. He's ready to go." The return of the 264-pound running back couldn't have come at a better time for the Giants. He could be a difference-maker Sunday when they play the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC divisional playoff game at Giants Stadium.

After sitting out two of the final four games of the regular season - and having not played since Dec.21 - Jacobs said Wednesday his injured left knee now feels as good as it has since he first hurt it on Oct.5. He was a full participant in the Giants' full-speed practice and he absolutely expects to be in the starting lineup against the Eagles on Sunday.
Jacobs hit the practice field, cut on a dime and ran with speed and power and without any restrictions. The pain in his left knee is gone. "I feel real good, I feel real good about our situation," Jacobs said. "I just can't wait until the game gets here." That energy is pent up in the tank-like body Jacobs uses to slam into opponents and set to burst out on Sunday, when the battering-ram running back, finally healthy, gets to unleash his full fury on the Eagles in an NFC divisional playoff game that's more akin to a venomous grudge match.

Christian Okoye watches the Giants all the time now just to watch Jacobs, and sees himself every time No. 27 initiates contact. And this is where the Giants should be worried: He sees all the hits Jacobs gives -- and takes -- and wonders how long can he keep going. "When you're playing, you don't think about (injuries)," Okoye said this week from his home in California. "I didn't notice it then, but people were telling me, 'Hey, you're taking too many hits, take it easy if you want to have a longer career.' I was young in the game and that's all I wanted to do. I wanted to run the ball. I wanted to knock people over. "It takes something away from your game," he said. "It happened to me. It happened to Shaun Alexander. It happened to Priest Holmes. It happened to a lot of guys like that." Will it happen to Jacobs? Is it happening already?

Justin Tuck didn't hesitate. Asked how he was feeling after sitting out yesterday's practice with a lower leg injury, Tuck quickly responded: "I'm beat up. What's new? Everybody's beat up." Yes, but everybody else practiced. Or at least most of them did. Linebacker and long snapper Zak DeOssie was the only other sidelined player yesterday as he nurses back soreness. But the consensus was that even without Tuck on the field, the Giants took advantage of the bye to get healthy.
The Giants could certainly use a healthy Tuck, considering they haven't been able to sack Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb in either of their two games against Philly this season. But they're not likely to get Tuck - who has 11-1/2 sacks this season, but just one half-sack in the last four games - at anywhere near full strength. "I'll be out there Sunday," Tuck said. "If I'm out there with one leg, I'll be out there."
Short of a Super Bowl victory, there's not much that's better than advancing in the playoffs at the expense of a despised NFC East foe. "I don't know if I can put it on the level with the Cowboys," said defensive end Justin Tuck, who famously said last summer that he felt "hate" for Dallas. "But there isn't going to be any love lost when we kick it off on Sunday, I can tell you that."

The three quarterbacks came into the league together in 2004, amid a flurry of talk and a barrage of transactions. In the end, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger all went to teams that thought they'd made the steal of that draft, and none of those clubs would feel cheated today. All three are playing in January, along with a couple of ex-Giants who made way for Manning - Kerry Collins and Kurt Warner.
Here is the funny thing about the evolution of Eli Manning from wearisome and worrisome enigma to cool and confident bedrock: We are correct when we marvel at his ability to protect the ball while also directing a dynamic offense, even in its present Plax-free state, and we are right to ponder just how good he may ultimately become. But we were right back then, too. "What you're seeing," Tom Coughlin said yesterday, "is simply the development of a young player in the NFL, one who happens to play the position of quarterback."

The understudy is still adjusting to the spotlight. Domenik Hixon, who has started in place of Plaxico Burress the past five weeks, could only marvel at the attention - and the scrutiny - he received Wednesday as reporters swarmed his locker after practice. Not too long ago, he was just another special teams player looking for a little room to get dressed in the shadow of Amani Toomer's locker, two down from his. But now Hixon is in the middle of it all, feeling the pressure that comes with replacing the hero of Super Bowl XLII.
Pro athletes are trained not to entertain thoughts of losing, especially before an elimination game. But Amani Toomer admitted yesterday there have been times when he has wondered what will happen to him if the Giants lose Sunday. Might this be his final game here? "You think about that," Toomer said, "but there have been three or four years that I went through the same thought process in my head, so it is not something I am not used to. If you play in this league long enough, you are going to have to kind of get used to that feeling."

Osi Umenyiora will be in Giants Stadium Sunday to see his team face the Eagles. He also has plans to be in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Feb. 1 to see his team there, too. "The Giants will make it, so I'll definitely go," Umenyiora told Newsday by phone from his Atlanta home last night. He wouldn't make any Super Bowl guarantees, but added: "I think they have what it takes. Spags [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] is a genius, and the offense is complementing the defense well. They're doing great without me."

Tom Coughlin will tell you how this is gonna go, Okay? Yesterday, Giants coach Tom Coughlin was asked about his team's loss to the Eagles last month, a failure many pinned on the team's unpreparedness to deal with Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia's nettlesome running back. (He has caused the Giants considerable pain over the last few years.) Was the loss due to the Giants not being ready? The relatively slow Antonio Pierce covering Westbrook? Or the versatile Westbrook's simply overwhelming everyone? Coughlin was not playing this game.

Brian Westbrook may not practice at all this week with a swollen left knee and a sprained right ankle. But he still will start and be the most dangerous man on the field against the Giants. Westbrook has been tirelessly rehabbing to be ready for Sunday, and that is bad news for the Giants, who must find a way to contain the explosive running back in order to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

First, Donovan McNabb didn't know that NFL games can end in a tie, then he forgot how to win. As a November deadlock in Cincinnati morphed into a miserable 36-7 loss at Baltimore, this appeared to leave losing as the only, inevitable alternative. McNabb had, after 10 seasons with the Eagles, come to the fork in the road. Half of Philadelphia wanted him to take the turn out of town, never mind his four trips to NFC title games and one to a Super Bowl. Indeed, it seemed McNabb's bags were packed when he turned the ball over three times by halftime in Baltimore and was benched by Andy Reid in favor of Kevin Kolb, the presumed future.
Kevin Dockery knows what's different about Donovan McNabb from earlier in the year. "He's got his swagger back," the cornerback said yesterday at Giants Stadium, where Big Blue will have to deal with the rejuvenated Philadelphia QB on Sunday. "You can tell he's having fun again. Ever since his coach snatched him out of the game, he's been great, like he's got something to prove."
So much is made of the Giants having to stop Brian Westbrook in Sunday's divisional round playoff game, but McNabb is still the key to everything the Eagles do. Peyton Manning has never been benched. Neither has Eli Manning. Or Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger. It's happened to Kurt Warner and Kerry Collins, who are also starting this weekend. McNabb went from being benched and on his way out of Philadelphia one week to taking his game to where it was in the Super Bowl season of 2004, when the Eagles lost by three points to the Patriots, and being embraced again by the tough Eagles fans. For now.

Of all the positions on the Eagles roster, the linebackers have been notably overhauled since last season. Now the most experienced is Gocong, a second-year starter who played alongside Spikes and Omar Gaither for most of the 2007 season. Entering this fall, Bradley had just one start before taking over the signal-calling duties at middle linebacker. Jordan, who was promoted from the practice squad midway through last season, supplanted Gaither in the starting lineup in Week 12 this season.

Jan 7 Any Tom, Dick or Brad Johnson can win one Super Bowl -- all it takes is a hot streak at the right time, or a dominant defense, or a few good breaks. Or, in the case of the 2007 Giants, all of the above. Manning is already on that list, and nobody can take that from him. But quarterbacking two teams to a Super Bowl championship is a feat that belongs exclusively to elite players. There are no Mark Rypiens on this list, no Trent Dilfers allowed in the room. Terry Bradshaw. Jim Plunkett. Joe Montana. This is the opportunity facing Manning in the next four weeks.

Of all the bizarre things that have happened to the Giants in the past year, Eli Manning's emergence as one of the league's most consistent -- if not flashy -- quarterbacks has understandably flown well under the radar. But considering what Giants fans thought of Manning a year ago, his transformation into a modern-day Phil Simms this season has been nearly as impressive as it has been shocking. In truth it wasn't too long ago when Giants fans were booing this guy, calling talk radio stations to blast the 2004 draft-day trade and then posting on message boards that it was time to look elsewhere. Don't deny it, fans.

Sooner or later Eli Manning and his wide receivers will be called upon to make some plays to keep the Eagles' defense from completely ganging up on the running game. In their one game against the Eagles without Burress -- the 20-14 loss Dec. 7 at Giants Stadium -- the wideouts caught 10 passes for a modest 115 yards and no touchdowns. That was part of the team's worst offensive output (211 yards) of the season. One of those wideouts, Domenik Hixon, was involved in one of the big plays of the afternoon.

THESE Giants are not THOSE Giants because nothing ever stays the same and no two teams from year to year are exact replicas, but THIS group is not about to get picked off this soon in the playoffs by a bunch of frisky birds from Philly. Let it be a battle and a street brawl, but at the end of the day on Sunday the Giants aren't packing up for the season and the Eagles aren't headed anywhere other than into another long offseason. This isn't about momentum, the same as last year wasn't about fate. The Eagles are hot and the Giants are not, but that can and will change after three hours of mayhem at Giants Stadium.

Brian Westbrook could very well be the biggest problem for the Giants on Sunday. But there's a white-haired, 67-year-old grandfather who may give the Giants the most headaches. Jim Johnson gets a lot of credit for designing blitzes and instilling the sort of attacking defense that has been the Eagles' signature since he arrived with Andy Reid a decade ago. But Johnson's real genius is his ability to change things up. Everyone simply assumes the Eagles just blitz and blitz and blitz, and sometimes, that's true. In the Eagles' playoff-clinching demolition of the Cowboys on Dec. 28, Johnson smelled fear and confusion coming from the other side of the line when Dallas had the ball, and his guys just kept coming.

It's fitting the Giants and Eagles split the regular-season series because both games were the close matchups typical of this divisional rivalry. The Giants won, 36-31, at Philly in Week 10, and lost, 20-14, at home in Week 14. Either team could have easily swept this series if a play or two had gone their way instead of the other way. So as the teams prepare for the rubber match in Sunday's playoff game at Giants Stadium, here's a look at five plays that could have swung this series in a different direction.

Antonio Pierce plays with an anger fitting for a man who was considered too small to be an NFL linebacker. The Redskins signed him as an undrafted free agent out of college, and he immediately drew plaudits for his intensity, though didn't get much playing time until starting linebacker Michael Barrow went out for the season with an injury. Pierce filled in and established himself as the type of guy who could lift a defense emotionally even more than physically. In a huddle, Pierce commands respect and, yes, fear, which is what the Giants needed when they signed him in 2005. He might not be the freak specimen that Lawrence Taylor was, but he's just as scary to talk to.

Jan 6 Special Report - The other shoe dropped. Now the Giants have to make sure they don't step in it. They'll play the team they least wanted, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Sunday (1 p.m. ET) in Giants Stadium. It will be their first playoff game, while the NFC East rivals will be coming in fresh off a victory over the Minnesota Vikings -- the team that beat the Giants in the season finale. And yet that fact also holds out hope, since the Eagles did not look especially good beating the offense-challenged Vikings, winning on, among other things, a long interception returned for a touchdown by cornerback Asante Samuel. He tasted the Giants' power last February, you might remember, before he left New England to sign with the Eagles.

There is no doubt the Giants took their feet off the accelerators after playing 13 consecutive games and admittedly were borderline exhausted down the stretch. "You heard me say that I thought the bye was good for our team," coach Tom Coughlin said of having last week off. "I don't know that I would necessarily say that every year. In this case, I thought it was." The Giants practiced only twice last week; mostly, they healed up. Pierce said he thought having the bye week was "critical" for the Giants. "I won't be sitting here lying to you . . . we faced some very physical and tough opponents who are all in the playoffs and we needed the rest," Pierce said.
Whether watching it live from a comfy chair Sunday evening or in a meeting room at Giants Stadium yesterday, it's not hard to imagine the Giants' reaction when Brian Westbrook turned a screen pass into a 71-yard touchdown against the Vikings. As Westbrook lined up his blockers, weaved around tackles and sprinted past defenders, the Giants undoubtedly relived their own Westbrook nightmares of last month, when the Eagles running back beat them with a 30-yard run and a 40-yard catch.

When the Giants last hosted Philadelphia on Dec. 7, linebacker Antonio Pierce took much of the heat for Brian Westbrook's dominant performance and shouldered much of the blame for Big Blue's 20-14 loss. With Big Blue hosting Philadelphia in Sunday's NFC Divisional playoffs, Pierce said that December defeat is as irrelevant as 2008's late-season funk or 2007's Super Bowl win. He insists all that matters is the Giants getting the chip back on their shoulders and their focus on the task at hand: Beating the Eagles.
Yesterday, as ESPN's Merril Hoge was breaking down the upcoming divisional-round game, he mentioned Antonio Pierce gave up a few big plays to Brian Westbrook and suggested he could be targeted again. The truth is, Pierce was 1/11th of the blame for Westbrook's big day. As coordinator Steve Spagnuolo says before each matchup with the Eagles, the defense must have "22 eyes on No. 36." And if the Giants are to avoid the upset in what will likely be a closely contested matchup on Sunday, they'll need all of those eyes on Westbrook -- not just the ones behind Pierce's visor.

The Giants have lost three of their last four games, and they are three weeks removed from their feel-good win over the Carolina Panthers. So, with the red-hot Philadelphia Eagles flying into Giants Stadium on Sunday having won five of their last six games, including one against Big Blue, can the Giants (12-4) just turn on that momentum and confidence and let it carry them again?
The feeling for the Giants is as deep as anything we have in sports here, and that includes the Yankees. Now as the Giants get ready to play their first playoff game this season against the Eagles on Sunday, John Mara and the rest of us get ready to see if the Giants really do have enough game to do it again.

The Eagles may be a wonderful story, they and the Chargers have no doubt brought a smile to Pete Rozelle's face in a smoking room somewhere in the Hereafter for ratifying his wish that all teams at all times should have an opportunity to dream big dreams. But the Eagles are also a team that tied the Bengals this year. The Eagles are a team that scored three points against the playing-out-the-string Redskins in an everything game just 16 days ago. And the Giants are a team, the only team, with history in its gaze.

The Eagles (10-6-1) weren't even supposed to make the playoffs, let alone be one win away from reaching their fifth NFC championship game in eight years. Just a half-hour before they kicked off in Week 17, it seemed the Eagles would be eliminated. But lowly Oakland rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Tampa Bay, and Houston held off Chicago to keep Philly alive. The Eagles then trounced Dallas in a do-or-die game to secure the No. 6 seed. That meant they would have to win three road games just to get to the Super Bowl. Daunting? Certainly. Impossible? The New York Giants did it last year and Pittsburgh did it in 2005. Both teams not only reached the big game, they won it.

They barely got into the playoffs as a wild card. Every playoff game will have to be on the road. The quarterback has recovered from a horrid late-season performance to get on a roll and stay on it in the playoffs. There were calls for the coach's ouster. They're up against the No. 1 seed in the second round. The 2007 Giants, right? Well, yes. There's no denying that. But it's also the 2008 Eagles, who at this stage bear a striking resemblance to last year's eventual Super Bowl winners.

The Eagles, Sunday's visitors to Giants Stadium, are a team Plaxico Burress usually beats up. The Giants are 6-1 against Philadelphia in regular-season games he's worked since he signed in 2005. They lost a playoff game against his pigeons in 2006 but not because he didn't try - two TDs, five catches. The Giants refuse to sound anything close to edgy about Burress' absence. The party line, right now, is a stubborn so what. "I don't think anybody on this team is concerned with, 'Hey, can I make the same plays Plaxico made?'" said Shaun O'Hara. "He always has big games against the Eagles, (but) I don't think anybody is going to say, 'I have to do this because Plaxico did that.'"
The loss of Plaxico didn't affect the team in the locker room, but it certainly caused some issues on the field. Though 2008 wasn't one of his best seasons, his absence paralyzed the Giants' passing game, depriving it of his height and downfield presence. Eli Manning is not exactly the most precise deep thrower, and Plaxico's "length," as they call it, saved him some ugly mistakes. The Giants struggled in their first few games after the suspension, and as nicely as Domenic Hixon as been as a fill-in, he's not Plaxico. The Giants can't score as quickly, and they're going to have more trouble if they fall behind. As much as you might like to forget Plaxico, you can't.

The Eagles' line took another hit Sunday when backup guard Mike McGlynn tore his hamstring. In the meantime, the Eagles' coaches went straight to work as soon as the team's flight back from Minneapolis landed on Sunday night, breaking down Giants film through the wee hours. Reid believes it doesn't matter how well the teams know each other, that preparation will be key this week. "I think they will be as good as ever this weekend," he said of the Giants. "I would expect a knock-down-drag-out NFC East brawl. And they will be ready and we'll be ready.
These two teams play each other so frequently and know each other so well, history becomes immaterial. There are no secrets, and there are few things offensively or defensively one team hasn't seen from the other. All that matters is how well they play when the whistle blows. The Giants were 1-1 against the Eagles this season, winning on Nov. 9 in Lincoln Financial Field, 36-31, but losing the rematch at home, 20-14, on Dec. 7. That was the only home defeat the Giants suffered this season.

Jan 5 Giants vs. Eagles: A look ahead to the NFC divisional playoffs.
Three reasons it's a good matchup for the Giants:
1. You again? 2. The big guy's back. 3. Hitting the wall.
Three reasons it isn't:
1. No fear. 2. Public enemy No 1. 3. In no rush.

Giants vs. Eagles: The Season recap:
GIANTS 36, EAGLES 31 -- Nov. 9 at Philadelphia.
EAGLES 20, GIANTS 14 -- Dec. 7 at Giants Stadium.

With the top spot in the NFC playoffs, the Giants were supposed to host the lowest remaining seed in Sunday's divisional game. And they will when the No. 6 Eagles arrive. But the numbers belie a stark reality. The Eagles, who beat the Vikings, 26-14, in Minnesota last night, pose perhaps the greatest threat to a Super Bowl defense. They've already won at Giants Stadium this season, they won't be shackled by any winter weather the Northeast can throw at them, and they are as familiar with the Giants as any NFL team is. Had the Eagles lost to the Vikings, the Giants would have hosted the Cardinals, for whom none of the above applies.
The Eagles have been playing extremely well for the last month-and-a-half, which the Giants learned when the Eagles pounded them at the Meadowlands back on Dec. 7. The final score was only 20-14, but Brian Westbrook (203 yards) nearly outgained the entire Giants team (211) and the Eagles defense frustrated Eli Manning, who was just 7-of-21 for 66 yards until a garbage-time touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. "I think the Eagles are the hottest team in the NFL right now," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "They may be the sixth seed, but they sure aren't playing like it."

Get ready for a full week of "this year's Eagles are last year's Giants" coming out of Philadelphia. The similarities, thus far, are compelling. The Eagles completed a turbulent regular season by squeezing into the playoffs, surviving uncomfortable and, at times, harsh critiques of their head coach, Andy Reid, and quarterback, Donovan McNabb. Sound familiar? There's more. The Eagles went on the road for their first playoff game and did the expected (as the Giants accomplished a year ago in Tampa) by disposing of the Vikings yesterday, 26-14, at the Metrodome. Up next is the real test of the Eagles' mettle to see if they can keep the comparisons going.
Maybe, down deep, the Eagles know that they should be swallowed whole by Giants Stadium next week, when they face the defending champions in a division-round game. Maybe, in their heart of hearts, the Eagles understand that their win at Giants Stadium early last month won't mean as much as it otherwise might, since it was the first full week the Giants worked without Plaxico Burress Plaxico Burress , since Brandon Jacobs Brandon Jacobs was out, since the Giants already were playing for nothing substantial while the Eagles were already playing for everything.

NFL News
Miami Dolphins' season ends at hands of Baltimore Ravens. Eventually, the time will come when the sting of Miami's 27-9 loss Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens will be diluted by the magic of the 16 games that came before it, when a celebration will be warranted and a level of pride in all that was accomplished in 2008 won't be foiled by one game in 2009. Just not now. Not after this.
Eagles win ugly, but they win. There were plenty of warts on this homely toad of a football game, but in January in the NFL there is no award for style points. By beating the Minnesota Vikings, 26-14, in the wild-card round of the playoffs, the Eagles earned a third meeting with the New York Giants. That will arrive at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Meadowlands, and the Eagles will need to play a lot better if they want to make a habit of the surviving-and-moving-on thing.

Jan 4 Right now, the Eagles sure look like the biggest threat to the Giants' dreams of a second straight Super Bowl appearance - even if the Giants don't see it that way. "I'm not too concerned about who we play, to be honest with you," said receiver Amani Toomer. "We've got a solid shot against anybody." "It's the playoffs, so there's no easy wins, there's no easy teams," added center Shaun O'Hara. "I don't think anybody's sitting here saying, 'Hey, we'd like to play this team and not that team.' Anything can happen in the playoffs. We proved that last year."

The good news for the Giants is that no team in the league was more adept at driving the ball down the field; their 69 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line was tops in the NFL. The bad news is they scored touchdowns just 35 times, a frequency of 50.7 percent that ranked 20th in the league. Settling for field goals is going to get the Giants beat.

Steve Spagnuolo is the presumed front-runner for the job - he impressed team officials with his interview - but the Jets could find themselves in a bidding war with the Broncos, who fired Mike Shanahan last week. A contingent of Broncos officials arrived in New York and were scheduled to have dinner last night with Spagnuolo, arguably the hottest candidate on the market. A second Spagnuolo interview may take awhile. Because Spagnuolo is in the playoffs, the Jets can't talk to him again until the Giants are eliminated or until the bye week before the Super Bowl.

Raiders managing general partner Al Davis interviewed New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride on Saturday, according to an NFL Network report. Raiders officials said they knew of the report but were unaware of any such interview. Earlier last week, Raiders senior executive John Herrera said the Raiders had not requested permission from the Giants to interview Gilbride. Gilbride's attraction to the Raiders comes from the wonders he has worked with the Giants offense in his two seasons there. The Giants offense ranked seventh this season at an average of 355.9 yards per game. Also, his offense tied for third in averaging of 26.7 points.

Derrick Ward is two weeks removed from rushing for a career-high 215 yards. He's one week from playing in his first career postseason game. And as long as he makes it through the playoffs healthy, the free-agent-to-be is two months away from the biggest payday of his life. "It's a great time," Ward said with, of course, a smile on Friday as the Giants' players scattered for their first-round bye weekend. "I'm like a little kid right now." And lately, he has placed his name alongside some of the best running backs from when he was a kid -- and before he was born.

Eli Manning turns career around to become News' Sportsperson of 2008. The miracle that occurred last February in the middle of the Arizona desert wasn't really much of a miracle at all. It was exactly what Ernie Accorsi and John Mara had envisioned four years earlier. It's the way things were always supposed to work out. That's why they brought Eli Manning to New York in the first place, to be a Super Bowl hero, to put the Giants on his shoulders and lead them down the field with the championship on the line.

The Giants have proven over the past few years how important the draft can be. One of the factors that have led to the Giants success has been the depth they've had at each position. That begins with the scouting and drafting of player's they believe with their system. It ends with the ability of the coaching staff to mold the athletes into the players they want them to be.

The Record's all-time Big Blue List. Grandfather goes back to the days of Mel Hein and Charlie Conerly. Father talks about Y.A. Tittle, Frank Gifford and Alex Webster. Son goes on about Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms. And his son has Michael Strahan and Eli Manning to boast about. So, as the Giants rest this weekend for another run at a Super Bowl title, we do the seemingly impossible: select an all-time Giants team that reflects all eras.

NFL News
Cardinals Kurt Warner opened with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald and connected with Anquan Boldin on a 71-yard scoring play as the Cardinals beat Atlanta 30-24 Saturday before a raucous, white towel-waving crowd in their first home playoff game in 61 years.
Chargers beat Colts 23-17 in OT. For the second straight year, Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts were eliminated by the Chargers as Darren Sproles scored on a 22-yard run 6:20 into overtime Saturday night to lift San Diego over Indy, 23-17 in their AFC wild-card game.

Jan 3 For the first time since the end of September, the Giants have a chance to sit back and just watch football. Like the rest of the sports-viewing world, many of them will be tuned in Saturday and Sunday. Some will watch as fans, others with an eye on potential matchups. But the most important thing for the Giants is that other teams are playing and they are not. That's the benefit of being the top seed in the NFC and having a first-round bye. "I'll watch all of the games," Tom Coughlin said. "This is it. This is what it's all about. I'm not going to miss these games."

After playing 13 weeks in a row, the Giants needed time off in order to get the likes of Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck a little healthier. They also had extra time this week to correct some of the flaws that became apparent over the final weeks. It's a luxury they didn't have a year ago. "Any time you get the opportunity to get work in and get healthy at the same time, I think it's a great thing," Tuck said. "Hopefully we can take full advantage of it."

The playoff debut for Kenny Phillips, Terrell Thomas and Bryan Kehl is next weekend. They're the three most important Giants rookies, and next week's postseason inauguration is the start of their chance to capture a Super Bowl title, like last year's Giant rookie class did. In a way, Thomas wants to exceed even his predecessors' performance. "Yes and no. If anything, we want to outdo 'em," Thomas said when asked whether he viewed it as the rookies' turn to do the same kind of thing as last year's group.

Now that Bill Cowher has removed himself from the Jets derby, Spagnuolo is the best fit for the Jets. It's always hard to predict how a first-time head coach will do, but Spagnuolo gives every indication he will be able to make a seamless transition. He's had success in the biggest market in the country. Although the Jets have decided to no longer consider Mike Shanahan, they are better off with Spagnuolo anyway. Shanahan did win two Super Bowls, but that was a lifetime ago. In the last 10 years, he is 1-4 in the playoffs.
With two outstanding years running the Giants' defense on his resume, everyone around the NFL has Spagnuolo tabbed as the next great head coach. The 49-year-old appears to be the perfect fit. The Giants made him the highest paid defensive coordinator in the NFL after last season to keep him away from the Redskins' head coaching job. Spagnuolo's $2 million salary is more than the $1.75 million Mangini made as Jets head coach. Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum will find the money if Spagnuolo wants the job.

For now, the defense would prefer not to think about Spagnuolo leaving. But if he does get hired elsewhere, the Giants can fill his spot either from outside the organization or from their own ranks. The players see a lot of positives in the latter option. "Some guy that you know, and he knows the system, and you know how he goes about things -- obviously," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "It's a certain level of confidence that would allow you to have."
Coach Tom Coughlin said Spagnuolo knows he is "very, very well thought of by our organization," and it is no secret the Giants would like him to stay, as he did after flirting with Washington last season. And as far as Spagnuolo creating any distraction with his interviews, Coughlin said, "No, not at all; not at all. He doesn't miss a beat." "That's a testament to him," Clark said. "Despite all the speculation, he's going to gear down and do his job."

Former Giants
Mark Ingram's brilliant catch and run on a key third-and-13 play helped boost the Giants past the Buffalo Bills in Big Blue's 20-19 Super Bowl victory in 1991. It was the highlight of his 10-year career. Federal marshals Friday night arrested fugitive Mark Ingram, who had failed to show up to start a prison term last month. Federal prosecutor Richard Donoghue said, "In the game of life, Mr. Ingram apparently has fumbled, and the government is now in possession."

NFL News
The Atlanta Falcons vs. the Arizona Cardinals was not exactly a predictable playoff pairing when the season began. Their wild-card matchup today is yet another example of the parity that prevails in the NFL.
Peyton Manning, voted NFL MVP for a record-tying third time, and his Indianapolis Colts face Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers for the fourth time in two seasons Saturday night.
Peyton Manning took a different approach to earning a record-tying third Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback got hurt, struggled when he came back, then lost a bunch of games. Hardly vintage Manning. But when he rediscovered the touch that has made him one of football's dominant players, Manning and the Colts were virtually unstoppable.

Jan 2 Two down, two to go for Steve Spagnuolo. The Giants' defensive coordinator met yesterday with representatives from the Browns and the Lions to interview for their head-coaching vacancies. Spagnuolo is scheduled to meet with the Jets tomorrow and, later in the day, have dinner and an informal conversation with Broncos officials, according to reports. Those likely will be the final interviews for Spagnuolo until the Giants' season is completed. The window on teams interviewing assistants from teams with a bye week ends Sunday. Spagnuolo cannot be officially offered a job until the Giants have finished their playoff run.
It's not clear how high Spagnuolo ranks on the wish lists of Detroit, Cleveland and Denver. However, now that Bill Cowher has pulled out of the running, Spagnuolo has begun to emerge as one of the favorites to replace the fired Eric Mangini as the Jets' coach. And since Spagnuolo has East Coast roots - he's from Massachusetts and his wife is from Philadelphia - he is believed to be very interested in the Jets' job.
The 49-year-old is expected to interview with the Jets tomorrow - but Gang Green has plenty of competition for his services. "You can't argue with what the Giants have done defensively under Steve Spagnuolo," said former Jet quarterback Boomer Esiason, now a CBS football analyst. "I could see how Jets fans could say that would be a hell of a head coach." That's what Jet management is banking on. Dealing with an angry fan base and with PSLs to sell, the Jets need this hire to go over well with their fans.

Mike Shanahan's successor in Denver will inherit an explosive offense that might be one healthy running back away from greatness. He'll also take over a dreadful defense that needs yet another overhaul. Shanahan's 14-year tenure as Broncos coach ended with the franchise mired in mediocrity: a 24-24 record over the last three seasons, largely the result of too many personnel mistakes and decrepit drafts that failed to stock the defense. The defense, on the other hand, ranked 29th, allowed an NFL-high 448 points and managed a measly 13 takeaways under Bob Slowik, Denver's third defensive boss in three years.

When Mathias Kiwanuka and Derrick Ward think about the upcoming playoffs, the stress is on the first syllable: play. That's something they weren't able to do last year. While their team was running through the postseason, they were learning how to walk. Both had their seasons cut short by leg injuries. Kiwanuka fractured his left fibula in Week 11 against the Lions and Ward fractured his left fibula two weeks later against the Bears, so they had to watch rather than help the Giants win a Super Bowl. The broken bones healed. The broken hearts have not. Not yet.

Kevin Boss hasn't wasted any time making Giants fans forget Jeremy Shockey. Thrust into a starting role when the Super Bowl champions traded the disgruntled tight end to New Orleans on the eve of training camp, Boss has made the deal that sent Shockey to the Saints look like a steal for general manager Jerry Reese. New York will get the Saints' second- and fifth-round draft picks this year for Shockey, the four-time Pro Bowl selection who had 50 catches for 483 yards and no touchdowns playing 12 games with New Orleans, including one that featured a confrontation with quarterback Drew Brees.

Domenik Hixon recognized opportunity while taking snap after snap in training camp while a majority of the receiving corps was standing on the sideline waiting for various ailments to improve. He took full advantage when Plaxico Burress lost track of reality. "Some things have been going well," Hixon said. "I'm still working on a lot of things in order to get where I want to get, but every practice, every game, is an opportunity. I didn't want it to happen this way, but it's an opportunity nonetheless." He is no longer just a special-teams player. When the Giants throw down the field in the upcoming playoffs, Hixon will be the most likely target. He caught 43 passes for a team-leading 596 yards. Nobody predicted that kind of success. "Would you have?" said Amani Toomer, who is the Giants' all-time leading receiver. Probably not.

While watching the Giants win Super Bowl XLII from his home in San Diego, John Carney thought of how especially great it was for punter Jeff Feagles to finally win the big game at the age of 41. Here is Carney, age 44, not only teammates with Feagles, but three wins away from no longer having to ask the punter how it feels to win it all. Carney kicked in a losing Super Bowl for the 1994 Chargers, and in a losing NFC title game for the Saints in 2006, his only sniffs at the grand prize in 22 seasons.

The Giants will not know until Sunday the identity of their opponent for the NFC Divisional Playoff Game to be played in Giants Stadium on Jan. 11. It will be NFC East rival Philadelphia if the Eagles win in Minnesota on Sunday. If the Vikings come out on top, the Giants will face the winner of Saturday's Arizona-Atlanta game.

  --   Happy New Year from Everyone at TeamGiants.com     --

Jan 1 Steve Spagnuolo will routinely ask the injured players on the Giants defense, "Are we going to have you this week?" It's equal parts inquisition and encouragement to make sure the players know their defensive coordinator wants them on the field. Wednesday, Spagnuolo was on the receiving end of such a question. "I reversed it and was like, 'Are we going to have you next year?'" defensive end Justin Tuck said. "He just smiled and walked away." Truth is, at this point, no one knows the answer to that question. Not even Spagnuolo, who's a hot commodity on the head-coaching market.
The news that Spagnuolo is a top candidate for the Jets' head coaching job, and that he would also be interviewing with the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, drew mixed reactions from his players as they practiced during their bye week Wednesday. The defensive coordinator is well-liked and respected among his players, who seem genuinely happy he's getting some overdue recognition. But they also know that Spagnuolo is the biggest reason why the Giants' defense has been among the NFL's best for the last two seasons, and they don't want him to leave.
Asked if he was flattered that his top defensive assistant is such a strong candidate, Tom Coughlin said, "I don't know about the word 'flattering.' Am I surprised by it? Of course not. Not at all. So we will see where that goes. Steve is very, very well thought of by our organization and he knows that." Is Coughlin fearful that Spagnuolo will be distracted by all this as the Giants gear up for their Jan. 11 playoff game? "No, not at all," he said. "He doesn't miss a beat." Out of respect, players have not broached the subject with Spagnuolo. "He's a professional, and at the end of the day, he's the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants," linebacker Danny Clark said.

Ever since the grand upset victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Toomer has seen many of his teammates receive lucrative contract extensions. There have been no talks at all with Toomer, which is telling, and he admits at times he has wondered, "What about me?" "You always think that, but it's something you can't really focus on those type things just because of the fact we've still got a couple of games to play, hopefully, and we'll see what happens," Toomer said. He makes $3.1 million this season and has never before played out his contract. He will this year and really has no idea if there's any interest from the Giants.
For the past 13 seasons, he's earned a citizenship badge as one of the Giants' quiet, focused leaders. This season he was named a team captain. He's the only player on the team who was around the last time the Giants had the top seed in the playoffs, the same year they went to Super Bowl XXXV and lost to the Ravens. He's also the most productive receiver in the team's history.
That subject, and the fact that Toomer will be an unrestricted free agent in March, isn't one the 34-year-old is comfortable discussing. But now that his next game could be his last in a Giants uniform, the team's unwillingness to offer him a contract extension has clearly been on his mind. Toomer has been left to approach free agency coming off his least productive full season in 10 years. Toomer has been left to approach free agency coming off his least productive full season in 10 years. One thing is certain. Coming off a season in which he had only 48 catches for 580 yards and four touchdowns, his bargaining position won't be strong. Although if that comes up in contract talks, Toomer said "I'd say 'Turn on the film.'"
Second-year pro Steve Smith led the team with 57 catches for 574 yards and one touchdown, with most of his catches coming as a backup. Quarterback Eli Manning once used Toomer as his security blanket on third down, but Smith seems to have inherited that role. Coincidentally, one of Toomer's top games came the day after Burress shot himself in the thigh at a New York nightclub. He caught five passes for a season-high 85 yards, including a season-long 40-yard TD on the opening drive in a crucial 23-7 win over Washington. Remarkably, his role seemingly has diminished since. He caught seven passes for 75 yards in the final three regular-season games.

Domenik Hixon said he's been hurting for the past three weeks, though his aches were limited for one game -- the only game played at Giants Stadium. "It just feels better," Hixon said of the playing surface. "It's definitely encouraging we're playing on it the next two games." In addition to Hixon, six other players were out of practice Wednesday: RB Brandon Jacobs (knee), DE Justin Tuck (knee), RT Kareem McKenzie (back), S Michael Johnson (thigh), TE Michael Matthews (ankle) and LB Zak DeOssie (unknown). The good news on the injury front was the return of TE Kevin Boss (ankle/concussion), CB Aaron Ross (concussion) and DT Barry Cofield (knee).

Ask any football coach about any football game and one of the keys is always the same: Avoid turnovers. It's a fundamental. Hang on to the ball and the other team won't have a chance to score. Nobody in the history of the NFL has done it better than this year's Giants. And yet it wasn't until last week that Eli Manning said he first learned that they were closing in on the significant if not exactly sacred mark. The Giants finished with only 13 turnovers in 16 games, breaking the 16-game record of 14 set by the 1990 Giants. The Dolphins also finished with 13 turnovers this season for a share of the record; both sure-handed teams are now headed into the playoffs with a division title tucked tightly away like the footballs they carry.

Before Wednesday, the last time Rich Scanlon had practiced with an NFL team was some 360 days ago as the Tennessee Titans were preparing for their wild-card playoff game against San Diego. The former Bergen Catholic linebacker had a pair of special teams tackles in the 17-6 Tennessee loss and figured he'd get a free-agent offer, if not from the Titans, from some other team seeking his services. He waited and waited and waited for a call. That call finally came Monday. The Giants dialed up Scanlon's home in North Bergen and told him to make the short trek up to the Meadowlands. They needed him to bolster their special teams heading into the postseason.

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