Giants (-4) vs. Eagles)...The Giants have earned their bye and are now ready to meet the Eagles this Sunday for the third time this season. These two teams split their first two games with each winning on the other team's turf. The first meet was a shoot out with the Giants prevailing 36-31in Week #10 at Philly. The Eagles countered by beating the Giants in Week #14 (20-14) at Giants Stadium. Both teams know each other well and both have good defenses. The Giants first six games of the year were fairly soft with the exception of their game against Washington in the Week #1. Weeks 2 through 6 saw them play @ St. Louis, home against Cincy, home against Seattle, @ Cleveland and home against San Fran. All soft and no playoff teams. They went 5-1 losing only to Cleveland which indicates that they took care of business against their weak opponents. Since that time their schedule was brutal, to say the least. They played @ Pitt, home against Dallas, @ Philly, home against Baltimore, @ Arizona, @ Washington, home against Philly, @ Dallas, home against Carolina and @ Minny. Over that stretch they went 7-3 straight up for a 12-4 record overall. The three games that they lost over the last 10 weeks of the season were home against these Eagles, @ Dallas and @ Minny. Looking more closely at these contests, we need to note a few facts. When they played the Eagles @ home in December they were without Brandon Jacobs and had lost Plaxico Buress that week due to the infamous gun incident. So to say that they were not at full strength offensively is an understatement. The loss @ Dallas was a game that the Giants did not need at all because no matter what the outcome of that game was, the bottom line was that they had to win the following week at home against Carolina in order to clinch the #1 seed for the NFC. They did lose at Dallas (20-8) as Brandon Jacobs sat out and then proceeded to win with Jacobs playing the following week against Carolina in O/T. The third loss @ Minny was in Week 17 when there absolutely was no incentive for the Giants other than to try and stay sharp going into the bye. These used mostly scrubs in the game and lost in the final 5 seconds when Minnesota kicked a field goal and won 20-19. Even with all their secondary people playing and Minnesota playing at full strength and desperately needing a win to clinch their division the Giants were as competitive as ever.
Looking at Philly's schedule this year they finished 9-6-1. Of their 9 wins four came against playoff bound teams (home against Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Arizona and @ Giants. We spoke about the Philly game already and Arizona was a weak division winner. Atlanta had a great season with an excellant rookie and a new coach, but they rare on a learning curve. There only quality win was against Pittsburgh at home. Their remaining 5 wins were home against St. Louis, @San Fran, @ Seattle, home against Cleveland and home against Dallas. Their tie came against lowly Cincinnatti (13-13). Looking at how this season unfolded, the Giants won every game they needed to win and proved that they could win the big game without Plaxico Buress (see Carolina win). Philly was dominant only at home and lost a significant game in December to Washington (10-3) when it counted the most. I posted a write up on that game and predicated Washington to have 60% chance to win outright. With Jacobs healthy and well rested and Philly having to travel once again on a short week as well as McNabb's propensity to throw picks when the pressure is on, the Giants are in a great position. I am a die hard Cowboys fan and I always root against the Giants because they are in the same division, but you can bet that I will have my money on them this weekend as I see blowout written all over this match up no matter how you slice it.. Giants by at least 10 points. Good luck to all !!
Looking at Philly's schedule this year they finished 9-6-1. Of their 9 wins four came against playoff bound teams (home against Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Arizona and @ Giants. We spoke about the Philly game already and Arizona was a weak division winner. Atlanta had a great season with an excellant rookie and a new coach, but they rare on a learning curve. There only quality win was against Pittsburgh at home. Their remaining 5 wins were home against St. Louis, @San Fran, @ Seattle, home against Cleveland and home against Dallas. Their tie came against lowly Cincinnatti (13-13). Looking at how this season unfolded, the Giants won every game they needed to win and proved that they could win the big game without Plaxico Buress (see Carolina win). Philly was dominant only at home and lost a significant game in December to Washington (10-3) when it counted the most. I posted a write up on that game and predicated Washington to have 60% chance to win outright. With Jacobs healthy and well rested and Philly having to travel once again on a short week as well as McNabb's propensity to throw picks when the pressure is on, the Giants are in a great position. I am a die hard Cowboys fan and I always root against the Giants because they are in the same division, but you can bet that I will have my money on them this weekend as I see blowout written all over this match up no matter how you slice it.. Giants by at least 10 points. Good luck to all !!
hno:
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