Giants D vs. Eagles O

First off, for all of you delusional Eagles fans who think that the Giants are going to walk in and drop their shorts to your team, think twice. This will be a hard fought contest on both sides of the lines and the winner will certainly deserve to go on to the next round. Further, for the Eagles fans who talk smack on my posts, come back on Monday to eat crow and show that you're a man. If my team loses, then crow I shall eat.

With that said, if there ever was a time for the defense to show up, it's now. They've been shaky, to say the least, all year. Compounding the problem is that few teams know them better than the hated Eagles.

Giants D:

The unit ended the season on a downward spiral and finished 25th overall in the league. Using the premise that defense wins championships, the Giants certainly aren't a candidate to winr one, unless something miraculously changed from the regular season. Well, at least the same can be said of the Eagles, who's defense isn't much better. For the Giants, the losses of LB Lavar Arrington and, to a greater extent, DE Michael Strahan have helped turn this defense into the unit it resembles today, on that's given up over 27 points per game in the last 8 contests, 6 of which they've lost.

The focus this week with be on Philly RB Brian Westbrook, though he's not the only major weapon on the team, or in the backfield for that matter. Still a fairly sturdy unit, the Giants run defense is ranked 14th in the league, allowing 114.1 yards per game. What may be overlooked, however, is that they've allowed 19 rushing touchdowns this season, near the bottom of the NFL in that category.

LB Antonio Pierce (137 tackles) will be charged with the task of stopping Westbrook and the running game from making big plays and prolonging drives. The Giants want to put the Eagles in 3rd down and 5+ situations, forcing them to take to the air. Assisting Pierce in the effort is DT's Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins, who will have to step up big.

DE's Osi Umenyiora (31 tackles, 6 sacks) and rookie Mathias Kiwanuka (53 tackles, 4 sacks) will be asked to put the pressure on Philly QB Jeff Garcia, looking to force him to hurry throws and make mistakes. The Giants secondary, led by CB Sam Madison and S Gibril Wilson, will be feverishly working to slow the Philly WR's but may continue to struggle. After all. they're ranked 28th in the NFL and the Eagles passing attack is one of the best.

Philly O:

The Eagles offense ended the season ranked second in the league, behind only the Saints, while averaging 381.4 yards per game. They finished 11th in the NFL in rushing, led by Westbrook's 1217 yards, 77 catches for 699 yards and 11 combined TD's. He's spelled by Correll Buckhalter, who has added 345 yards and 2 scores, while catching 24 balls. The Giants will need to concentrate on stopping this duo, especially Westbrook. The Eagles like to use to pass to set up the run, so they certainly keep defenses on their toes.

QB Jeff Garcia is enjoying a renascence, having taken over for injured QB Donovan McNabb after McNabb tore his ACL in mid-November. All Garcia has done since is complete 61 percent of his passes for over 1300 yards, with 10 TD passes and only 2 interceptions. He's played well, but he's no McNabb and he was riding the pine for a reason. The Eagles offensive line allows it's quarterbacks time to find down-field receivers, which makes them look outstanding. Of the bunch, only McNabb is.

The primary receiving threat other than Westbrook is TE L.J Smith (50 receptions, 611 yards and 5 scores), who can cause major mismatch problems, something the Giants defense is very susceptible to. Look for him to have a big game. WR's Donte Stallworth and Reggie Brown are the deep threats. Each averages over 17.7 yards per catch and together they've gone for 1541 yards and 13 scores.

The bottom line is that if the Eagles put up 150 yards + running the ball, like they did during the last meeting, the Giants will have a tough time winning this game. I'd bet the farm that it wont happen. Giants 30- Eagles 24.