NFC East Playoffs Showdown: Giants vs. Eagles

Its seems to happen more often than not when two NFC East teams meet in the playoffs and that is what is happening yet again this season with the unlikely Philadelphia Eagles taking on the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

The big question in this game will be whether or not the Giants have had too much time off and if the Eagles are for real.

There is no way anyone could have predicted the Eagles being in this position after the ugly tie against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier in the season. Almost every NFL analyst thought this was the end of the Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb duo in Philly. There was seemingly no way they could have rebounded from that game, but against all odds the Eagles made all the analysts eat their words.

After Donovan McNabb was benched in favor of youngster Kevin Kolb it gave McNabb and the rest of the Eagles the motivation to prove everyone wrong and that is exactly what they were able to do.

The Giants on the other hand have faced their own adversity by trying not to fall off late in the season. Arguably the Giants are still the best team in the NFL, but it is no secret they lost a little fire power on offense once Plaxico Burress was gone. Without Burress in the lineup, the Giants haven't been putting up the big scores like they did earlier in the season.

Even though Burress is nothing more than a memory, the Giants running game has flourished in his absence as Brandon Jacobs has turned into a feature back for the G Men.

Although both the Eagles and the Giants can light up the scoreboards this game will be a battle of great defenses. The winning team will be the squad that hold the other offense in check with their suffocating defense. Three and outs, forcing turnovers and getting stops will be the key for both teams and which ever team can do this the best will be the one advancing to the next round of the playoffs.

Eagles Pull Off Upset Over NFC East Leading Giants

As if the whole Plaxico Burress circus weren't enough, the New York Giants now have to figure out what the problem was against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 14.

This season the Giants have been nothing short of awesome on both sides of the football with the offense clicking on the ground and in the air and the defense being suffocating to any offense it faces.

Even though the Giants have arguably been the best team in the NFL this season on Sunday they just couldn't get things going against their division rival Eagles. The final score doesn't really tell the tale as the Giants only lost by 6 points 20-14, but Donovan McNabb and company dominated all game long with their solid running game lead by Brian Westbrook's 131 yards on the ground.

Eli Manning had probably his worst game of the season, the Super Bowl champ didn't throw any picks, but he failed to connected with his receivers all game long. The chemistry was just not there for Manning as he only completed 13 passes out of 27 for 123 yards and a one touchdown.

Donovan McNabb did have a much better game than Manning in terms of yards with only 191, but he managed to orchestrate his offense to perfection and prove they were definitely the better team on Sunday.

Despite the disappointing loss to the Eagles, the New York Giants were still able to win the NFC East title due to the Dallas Cowboys losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers later that night.

Giants Tackle Kareem McKenzie to Play Sunday Despite Arrest

Although this is good news for the New York Giants, this really bothers me because it seems like athletes can get away with anything these days. Not like DWI is something that doesn't happen to normal people like the most of us, but the fact that this is relative smack on the wrist is kind of annoying.

Despite being arrested for DWI on Thursday night, Giants Tackle Kareem McKenzie will play against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. The only positive to come out of this story thus far is that McKenzie is acting like a man and a logical human being in blaming himself for his mistake.

Even though McKenzie is accepting for responsibility, and right fully so, the NFL which is supposedly really cracking down on these out of control athletes is allowing him to play against the Ravens on a few days after being arrested.

McKenzie is a first time offender and as a first time offender, he will be go through the motions. First he will be entered into the NFL's substance-abuse program and fined the equivalent of two weekly paychecks.

Another NFC East Battle in Week 10: New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Coming into this season the team to win the XXLII Super Bowl last season wasn't even the favorite to come out of their own division in the NFC East, but after 7 wins with only 1 loss the Eli Manning and the New York Giants are looking to be the team to beat not only in their division but in the entire NFL.

Unlike in week 9 against their arch rival Dallas Cowboys (which was an easy win), the Giants will be challenged in week 10 in another NFC East battle against the Philadelphia Eagles who are looking like the only team in their division that could compete for the NFC East title.

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and running back Brian Westbrook have hit their stride and are playing their best football right now. That being said Philly's chances of pulling off the upset are looking pretty good, but the Giants have proved week after week that they are quite possibly the best team in the NFL and ready to make another run at a Super Bowl.

Even though the Giants are favored in this match up, this will be a closer game than the point spread suggests. Both defenses are elite and the offenses are that far off so it will either be a low scoring affair resulting in a win for the first team that draws blood or it will be a game filled with touchdowns if the offenses are clicking.

The Giants should improve to 8-1, but I would not be surprised to see an upset in Philadelphia on Sunday.

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Last Season's Super Bowl Hero Put on Injured Reserve

New York Giants' wide receiver and last season's Super Bowl hero David Tyree who made the famous catch on his helmet which was one for the NFL history books is officially out for the season after the Giants put him on the injured Reserve list on Thursday.

Tyree underwent a surgery on his knee which kept him out of action for the first six weeks of the season. Once he was ready to go in mid October, Tyree participated in two workouts and then pull his hamstring.

After the hamstring injury the Giants had a big decision to make in which they either had to just release, activate or put Tyree on the injured reserve list which was ultimately the choice the made.

Not like he could have topped his amazing catch which practically saved the Giants in the Super Bowl, but the catch put him on the map and gave the wide receiver a chance to make a name for himself in the league. Now that he is on the injured reserve his future in the NFL is uncertain and unfortunate.

Giants Beat Cowboys in Convincing Fashion

After Sunday's pounding on NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys 35-14, the Giants are one step closer to wrapping up the NFC East title.

It wasn't even a challenge for Eli Manning and company. The Giants were by far the better team in week 9, some may say the Cowboys quarterback trouble was the problem without Tony Romo, but the way New York just torched the Dallas defense it was obvious the Giants are the better all around team this season.

Coming into this NFC East battle, the Cowboys were bruised and battered with all sorts of key players either on the injured list or banged up. Of course, everyone has heard about Tony Romo's health, but he wasn't the only one dinged up as Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten was playing with a broken rib.

The Cowboys can give excuses until they are blue in the face, but they are just going to have to deal with the fact that they will have to take a back seat to the New York Giants once again this season. Not only will they have to take a back seat, but the way their season is turning out, there is a very good possibility that they will miss the playoffs.

As for the Giants, they have never looked better! Yeah, Eli Manning threw a pick, but he definitely made up for it with three touchdown passes to three different receivers (Toomer, Boss, Smith).

The offense was just clicking and firing on all cylinders. All aspects of the G men's offensive was put into action both running backs in Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward with a touchdown each and a combined 180 yards on the ground. As for the wide outs, Plaxico Burress was relatively quite with only three catches for 34 yards, but honestly Eli didn't even need to look in his direction.

Not only was the offense on fire, but the Giants defense was also on their game Sunday sacking the Dallas quarterbacks 4 times and picking them off for 3 interceptions. Impressive to say the least!

The drama in Dallas will definitely continue in the aftermath of this loss. Some people believed that the answer to the Cowboys problems was to use Bollinger instead of Johnson, but we can all see that isn't exactly the case as their defense needs some retooling as well.

Even though the Cowboys are slowly, but surely sinking into mediocrity, the Giants future is looking very bright and the possible of a Super Bowl repeat victory is looking more and more likely every week!

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