Giants vs Eagles.
When you saw the Giants season schedule for the first time, this was probably one of the games you keyed on.
Looking at the competition leading up to it; Rams, Dallas, Washington, Miami, New England, you figured the Giants would be at 3-2 or maybe 4-1. With your fan cap on after the Giants first opening game and 23-13 victory over the Rams, you maybe even thought of the possibility of the Giants sitting at 5-0 at this point.
If you're not still wearing that fan cap, you had the pesky Eagles at even or maybe one game under the Giants, and here would be the chance for the Giants to bury the Eagles and march on towards the playoffs. You were almost right about this matchup, and dig a little harder. Whichever 2-3 team loses this one gets buried pretty deep, in last place in the NFC East, while the winner's reward merely lands them in third place with a shot at catching up with the Redskins and Cowboys in this division race.

Ike Hilliard and Brian Mitchell.
Last year Ike Hilliard was leveled on a late hit from the Eagles free safety Brian Dawkins and his right shoulder was dislocated.
Hilliard was out for the season and Dawkins was fined $50,000 for the illegal hit. Dawkins is out for this game because of a foot injury and Hilliard has taken the high road. He declines to criticize Dawkins for the hit, and takes no pleasure in the fact Dawkins won't play.
Brian Mitchell played for the Eagles for 3 years before coming to the Giants. He says he has a lot more bitterness toward the Redskins, his first NFL team than the Eagles. "I've said time and time again that leaving there wasn't the same as leaving Washington (where he played his first 10). I have no hard feelings toward the organization."
Mitchell said that Washington owner Daniel Snyder and personnel man Vinny Cerrato "went on a personal attack against me to try to make me look bad to the fans."

The Giants problem - The offense.
This isn't too hard to figure out. They say that numbers don't lie, and while the Giants numbers on offense have been good, the turnover numbers count too, and it has cost them points on the board. In the last two games, Kerry Collins threw 7 interceptions, not all his fault as three of the seven interceptions came off tipped balls, and one when Collins' arm was hit as he threw.
Also, the Giants have lost 2 fumbles. The Giants turnover margin is now minus-eight on the season, and thanks to turnovers, in the last 10 quarters they have scored just one touchdown on a drive that started just 16 yards from the end zone after a Miami turnover.
There's a time and a place for everything. When to rest or not to rest Tiki Barber, and with who has become a hot topic. So far, Fassel insists Delvin Joyce is the second-best ball carrier on the roster. Last game, Joyce had one carry for zero yards, and he has carried four times this season for 6 yards, with his longest being 2 yards. Dorsey Levens has no carries this season. He was inactive for the third time in five games, and did not play in the other two. Levens, with 4,348 career yards and just 13 fumbles in nine seasons, wants to play and says that Fassel misled him when he signed with the Giants in the off-season.

The Giants problem - The coaches - Dallas 35 Giants 32.
The head coach has also made some questionable decisions. The Dallas game was nearly won when Fassel had the Giants kick the go ahead field goal while deciding to leave 11 seconds on the clock for a drooling Parcells to play with. He also advised a squib kick which cuts down the chance of a big runback, but can sometimes provide good field position. Dallas got the whole 11 seconds and good field position at the 40 yard line when Matt Bryant's kick went out of bounds at the 1 yard line.
Fassel said he told special teams coach Bruce Read he wanted a "deep middle squib." Read relayed those instructions, and, according to Fassel, added "to try to keep it to the left hash, just because of [the Cowboys'] alignment." Bryant differed with that report, saying he was told by Read to "Hit it toward the left corner. I was told to shade it left."

The Giants problem - Special teams - Dallas 35 Giants 32.
"Special teams cost us the game," Fassel said bluntly, amid praise for the guts the Giants showed in battling back. Bryant had also knocked the second-half kickoff out of bounds while angling for the left corner. The Cowboys used that starting field position to drive for a field goal. That, said Bryant, was "a bad kick. I was trying to put it in that left corner."
Fassel said the second-half kickoff was not a deep middle squib. "It looked the same, didn't it?" he said.
"On the squib, you really don't know where the ball is going to go," Bryant explained. "You're kicking it end over end like a watermelon. It just started skimming and shooting right towards that corner." To complicate matters, Fassel elected to kick the field goal on second down with 11 seconds left instead of taking a knee and calling his last timeout to leave the Cowboys with no time. The coach admitted running the clock was an option but added, "I didn't expect to give them the ball on the 40-yard line with no time off the clock. If you kick the ball down there and take five seconds off the clock, give them the ball at the 25-yard line, they've got to make a 45-yard play to get in field goal range."

The Giants problem - The defense - Dallas 35 Giants 32.
Fassel blames this loss on Matt Bryant, but somehow the Cowboys were able to put up 35 points on the Giants defense, including the 26-yard pass from Quincy Carter to Antonio Bryant on a blown defensive coverage by safety Shaun Williams, which enabled Billy Cundiff to kick a 52-yard field goal as time expired. Cundiff won the game in overtime with his seventh field goal of the game.
Overall, the defense has had problems holding onto 'gift" interceptions. Jason Sehorn used to make trick catches when he had the chance. Ralph Brown and Omar Stoutmire have both dropped easy ones, although they along with Will Allen have had 1 interception each this year.
We don't have time to get into the poor defensive 4th quarter coaching right now, because that stretches all the way back to the season ending San Francisco loss last year..

The Giants problem - The coaches - Miami 23 Giants 10.
In the Miami game, late in the third quarter and down 13-10, head coach Jim Fassel, and or running backs coach Eric Studesville, decided to suddenly 'rest' Tiki Barber. Fassel had indicated earlier in the week he would when pressed by reporters about not using the other running backs.
The Giants had just driven 71 yards on 13 plays to the Miami 13 and had a first down. Fassel knew how important a touchdown could be here, because with Matt Bryant injured, he would have to have Jeff Feagles attempt a field goal if the drive stalled. So, Delvin Joyce came in for his first carry of the year and ran for 2 yards, and he was in for one more play before a well rested Barber came back on third down, and you know the story. Feagles tried but missed the 29-yard field goal..
In the fourth quarter down 16-10, the Giants got the ball at their 20 with 12:46 left. Barber was 'rested' once again. Joyce caught a pass for 5 yards on first down, and then ran for 2. On third down he dropped a pass. Miami drove for a touchdown on its next possession, and that was the final score.
So Joyce had replaced Barber, the Giants biggest offensive weapon on the field, for five key plays which netted 9 yards.

The Giants problem - The coach - New England 17 Giants 3.
After the New England game Jim Fassel said, "It starts with me. We're not doing the things we have to do to win football games. We're beating ourselves. It starts with me. I'll look at everything we're doing and get guys to play smarter." The offense that looks great on paper has just one touchdown in the last 10 quarters, and Fassel is the head coach and offensive coordinator all rolled into one ever since he dismissed Sean Payton last year.
In the Patriots game, Bill Belichick was able to coach his injury ridden team to a 7-3 halftime lead with only 29 yards of total offense, and with the Giants having 21 minutes of possession to the their 9. Belichick made adjustments at halftime and effectively out-coached Fassel by going ahead 17-3 with his crew into the fourth quarter.

Michael Strahan.
So far, the Eagles have allowed 19 sacks (third most in the NFL) this season, and Strahan has had his best days against them.
Adding in the 2 he got last week, his career total now stands at 99 1/2. This week Strahan could become the 21st player to record 100 sacks. The Eagles are the team he's scored most against in his 11 year career. He has 15 1/2 against them, and Donovan McNabb tops his quarterback list with 8 1/2. Michael Strahan had two sacks on Tom Brady, who became the 50th quarterback Strahan has sacked in his 11-year career. Ask Strahan about all this, and he says that he just wants a win.

Tight Ends.
Marcellus Rivers was elevated ahead of rookie Visanthe Shiancoe because "Shiancoe made too many mistakes last week," according to Jim Fassel. Rivers responded by catching four passes for 49 yards. Jeremy Shockey had eight catches and Visanthe Shiancoe had one. Jim Fassel restricted Jeremy Shockey's practice time this week in an effort to rest the right foot injury that could linger all season.

Injury list.
Besides Jeremy Shockey and now Will Peterson who could be out for the year, the Giants injury report includes K Matt Bryant (hamstring), who is out, and WR Willie Ponder, who is questionable.
By contrast, the Eagles injury report includes 14 players:
Dawkins (foot) and CB Roderick Hood (hamstring) are out. DE Jerome McDougle (ankle) is doubtful. WR Todd Pinkston (knee), CB Bobby Taylor (foot) and RB Brian Westbrook (hip) are questionable. G Jermane Mayberry (elbow), QB Donovan McNabb (leg/thumb), FB Jon Ritchie (hamstring), CB Lito Sheppard (toe), DT Corey Simon (foot/back), CB Troy Vincent (hamstring), G John Welbourn (leg) and DE Brandon Whiting (hamstring) are probable.
The last time the list was this lopsided in the Giants favor was just one week ago when the Giants lost to the Patriots.

Looking ahead.
After this game, the Giants face the currently unbeaten Vikings (5-0) at Minnesota. Jim Fassel isn't doing well coaching against the 'ghosts of Giants past' these days (ref Cowboys - Bill Parcells, Patriots - Bill Belichick), and he has Atlanta - Dan Reeves, Cowboys - Bill Parcells again, and Panthers - John Fox, currently at 5-0 in the last game of the regular season. That final game could be one where the winner ends up going to the playoffs and the loser staying home.

Notes.
Kerry Collins leads the NFL with 218 pass attempts. Washington's Patrick Ramsey and Pittsburgh's Tommy Maddox are second with 211. Collins is tied for second in the conference (with Tampa Bay's Brad Johnson) with 125 completions.

Kerry Collins 59 pass attempts last week were tied for second most in team history. Collins also threw 59 against the Packers on Jan. 6, 2002. Phil Simms attempted 62 against the Bengals in 1985.

Giants are 0-16 when their quarterback throws 50 or more passes.

Tiki Barber moved into third place on the Giants' rushing and receptions lists. His 4,648 rushing yards passed Alex Webster (4,638); his 373 catches passed Frank Gifford (367).

Giants have 3 interceptions in five games, about on par with last year when they totaled 11, a record low for the franchise.

Giants have 76 first downs in the past 3 games against Washington, Miami and New England.
This ranks as the most they've had in a three-game stretch since Dec. 1-15, 1985, when they had 78 against Cleveland, Houston and Dallas.
In 1985, the Giants scored 89 points during the span, and this season 40, but in both years, the result was the same a 1-2 record.

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