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Giants (9-4) vs Eagles (9-4)
The Eagles duked
it out with the Cowboys on Sunday night in Dallas. Michael Vick had two interceptions
to go with his two touchdowns, but so did current Cowboys quarterback Jon Kitna.
The game was tied at 20-20 in the fourth quarter when DeSean Jackson took a short
sideline pass from Vick, slipped by defenders and turned it into a 91 yard touchdown.
The final score was Eagles 30 Cowboys 27.
The Giants had a longer road trip
than they envisioned as bad weather took over and caused their plane to be rerouted
to Kansas City. Then after Minnesota's Metrodome roof collapsed under heavy snow,
the Vikings had to take to the road as well. They wound up in Detroit playing
on Monday night instead of Sunday and Brett Favre made the trip but was unable
to play. His starting streak ended at 297 and the Giants came away with a 21-3
win. Philadelphia
Eagles.
They want it and the Giants want it. After
this game, the Eagles play the Vikings and Cowboys in their last two games, both
at home. The Giants are on the road against Green Bay and Washington. Any win
is big at this point for a lot of teams in the NFL and this one played on Sunday
between these two is one of the biggest. The winner could even have a shot at
a first-round bye and a No. 2 seed. The loser may have to win out, just to make
it to the playoffs. Pardon the expression, but it's dog eat dog out there. Eagles
Offense.
This offense is ranked first in
the NFL in yards per game, yards per play and in rushing. Andy Reid has been very
vocal about the number of hits his quarterback is taking. It's obvious the coach
is trying to influence the refs to throw more flags when Michael
Vick gets slammed. Opponents are never sure if he's ducking and running
or letting up for the sack then suddenly passing, and they come full force. There's
a limit to how much any one player can take and still be effective in a game and
maybe the wear is starting to show as last game Vick turned the ball over twice.
The Cowboys scored 10 points off those Vick interceptions, and he also had a season
low 16 yards rushing. Not many yards considering Vick is the Eagles second-leading
rusher with 483 yards.
DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy were the real stars
of the big play offense. Jackson had only four catches but he took them for 210
yards ( 60, 37, 22, 91) and McCoy had a career day with his 149 yards on 16 carries.
If you don't remember, he was the one who broke free for a 50 yard touchdown run
against the Giants just few games ago. That took the Eagles back into the lead
with just four and a half minutes left to play. Jeremy Maclin has been a good
target lately and he leads the team with eight touchdown receptions. The offensive
line has changed a few times because of injuries and that hasn't helped Vick's
safety. Scrambling quarterbacks are hard enough to protect without that added
in. Eagles
Defense.
They will probably try to focus
on stuffing the run early and hope to get Eli Manning to make mistakes, since
that's what they saw in the last game from him. Still, the Eagles are 11th against
the run and they can be had. They are ranked dead last in the NFL in red zone
defense, but give them credit for causing mistakes that kill the opposition. This
defense leads the NFL with 22 interceptions and is tied for the league lead with
30 takeaways. Trent Cole leads the team with 9 sacks and first-round draft choice
Brandon Graham had three sacks in starting just six games but was placed on injured
reserve after last weeks game.
Starting
middle linebacker Stewart Bradley is also out and his replacement is a rookie,
Jamar Chaney, making his first NFL start. The good news for the Eagles is that
cornerback Asante Samuel, who leads the NFL with seven interceptions even missing
the last three games, looks to be back. He was hurt in the last Giants game where
he had two Manning interceptions and a fumble recovery. Corner Dimitri Patterson
is coming on strong. He has four interceptions starting in the last six games. Giants
Offense.
The last time they played the
Eagles, Eli Manning was responsible for four of the Giants five turnovers, and
he wasn't all that sharp last week. The Giants will be without Steve Smith again
as he was injured after returning for just one game and put on injured resurve.
Even with the missed playing time Smith was second on the Giants this season with
48 receptions. That means they find themselves in pretty much the same shape as
in their last Eagles game. Manning will throw to Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham
and Derek Hagan. Nicks has also missed time, 2 games, but his 69 catches for 896
yards still puts him on top on the team.
The team struggled to run against
the Eagles last time with 61 yards on 19 carries. However, Brandon Jacobs is fully
healthy at this late stage in the season and has had two consecutive 100-yard
rushing games. The overall ground game with Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, is
averaging 181.7 rushing yards per game in three straight wins. Eli Manning doesn't
scramble, but he must know when to duck, because his offensive line with all the
shuffling has allowed just 13 sacks this season, the fewest in the league. Maybe
production can be higher with two-time Pro Bowl center Shaun O'Hara looking to
play, as the offensive line would be back with its regular starters blocking and
protecting. Giants Defense.
They were effective against Vick in the first game, sacking him 3 times and forcing
two fumbles, and they don't care about the Eagles "Vick hit" complaints.
Justin Tuck said. "We've seen so many times with a guy like Vick tiptoeing
on the sideline, catching his balance and going for another 50. So in that situation,
I'm going to hit him. Simple as that." Safety Antrel Rolle kept the pressure
up on Vick last game with his blitzes and the Giants will continue to work on
Vick and keep him off balance. He ran for only 34 yards on them in that game.
Last
time they had to overcome the mistakes made by the offense. The Eagles came up
with just nine points off of the five turnovers they caused. They continue to
play strong and over the last two games they forced six turnovers against Washington
and they held Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to just 26 yards and were also
1-for-5 in the red zone in that game. Best
to worst.
Right now this late in the season,
23 teams are still in contention for Super Bowl XLV. The New England Patriots
with an 11-2 record lead the rest of the AFC teams, and the Atlanta Falcons have
equal status in the NFC with their 11-2 record. This weekend the Patriots host
the 8-5 Packers, and the Falcons play at (6-7) Seattle., The Carolina Panthers
continue to be the worst team in football with their 1-12 record and they are
actually favored to win their home game against the (4-9) Cardinals. The biggest
area they lead their opponent in is yards rushing. NFC
East.
All the NFC East action takes place at 1pm Sunday. While the
Giants fight for sole possession of the NFC east title with the Eagles, the (4-8)
Cowboys will try to win their last home game against the (5-8) Redskins. Cowboy
fans haven't enjoyed many games in their new stadium this season, with the team
having a 1-6 record playing at home. The Cowboys are favored to win the matchup
and drag the Redskins down to their last place in the division level. The Giants
had one less day to prepare for their rematch because of their weather delayed
game. They are favored to win at home against the Eagles The
Talk - Eagle fans will say.
Eli Manning is not the quarterback he once
was by a long shot, especially with no quality receivers. Asante Samuel will feed
off Eli's many mistakes all game long. Plaxico is still in jail - should have
picked up Randy Moss when you had a chance to save your sorry season. The
Talk - Giants fans will say.
Michael Vick is running scared with his
tale between his legs and Andy Reid is teary-eyed "Please, please don't hit
my quarterback". No way Vick lasts this game, and just try and stop the Giants
running or passing game with a rookie middle linebacker calling the shots and
with Asante Samuel limping around. 
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Notes.
Giants Steve Smith is the fifth wide receiver to be placed on injured reserve,
joining Ramses Barden, Sinorice Moss, Victor Cruz and Domenik Hixon. Giants
Osi Umenyiora was fined $12,500 for his hit on Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson
on Monday. Giants have four defensive
linemen with at least four sacks. Giants
Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck have combined for 18 1/2 sacks and 13 forced fumbles. Giants
have won three games in a row since their last game with the Eagles. Eagles
Michael Vick took a hit on Sunday from Cowboys Anthony Spencer. It Spencer $12,500.
Eagles Asante Samuel has four interceptions
on Eli Manning in their last four games, all Eagles wins. Eagles
LeSean McCoy leads all the NFL running backs with 70 receptions for 538 yards. Eagles
are now 7-1 in games that Michael Vick starts and finishes. Eagles
Michael Vick threw 2 interceptions last week after having thrown just 2 over all
his previous games.
All have been in the last four games, which also includes
one turnover fumble. Eagles beat the
Giants 27-17 in Philadelphia on Nov. 21. Eagles
have won their last five games against the Giants (including the 2008 divisional
playoff game).
Next
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Dec
26 - Giants at Green Bay
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