Philadelphia Eagles Host New York Giants in Pivotal Must-Win Game

The New York Giants (7-1) march into Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday for a very important division showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-3).

I'll start with the Giants in my breakdown. New York has won their last three games on the legs of their punishing running game, which is tops in the NFC. Eli Manning is having a career year thus far, with 12 touchdowns to only five interceptions.

For the past couple of weeks, Manning has had various communication problems with his No. 1 receiver, Plaxico Burress. Burress has been a problem child thus far this season, as he has had problems with officials and problems with coach Tom Coughlin.

The Giants' offensive line has played extremely well this season, only allowing a total of 10 sacks; they will have their hands full this Sunday night with the Eagles' defensive line.

On defense, the Giants boast one of the stingiest units in the league. They are led by defensive end Justin Tuck, who burst on to the scene last season with 10 sacks to go along with 65 tackles. Thus far in 2008, Tuck is on pace to nearly double his stats from last year with 8.5 sacks and 36 total tackles through eight games.

The Giants' defensive line has made mincemeat of just about everyone they've come up against; they are punishing against the run and put tremendous pressure on the quarterback. I bet Donovan still has nightmares of that 12-sack massacre from 2007.

New York has one of the more underrated corps of linebackers in the NFC. Antonio Pierce is the emotional leader of the group and has been a rock in the middle for the past three seasons. All three linebackers are very athletic and are very capable in coverage, which will be huge as they attempt to shut down Brian Westbrook.

The Giants' secondary has been air tight this season, leaving no room for quarterbacks to complete passes. Cory Webster and Aaron Ross have lived up to their billing this year, as they've shut down just about everyone they've been matched up against. Safeties James Butler and rookie Kenny Phillips have been surprisingly strong thus far and have played about as good as any other tandem safeties in the league.

Philadelphia comes into Sunday night's matchup riding a three-game winning streak. Their latest win being a dominating 26-7 victory over the Seahawks at Qwest Field in Seattle. Backup tight end Brent Celek was the star of the game, as he nabbed six receptions for a shocking 131 yards.

Donovan McNabb continues to defy the doubters and is having one of his finest seasons. McNabb has thrown for 2,178 yards and 10 touchdowns thus far and has a passer rating of 92.0.

McNabb's receivers have been improving week by week, as they continue to get healthy. Kevin Curtis has finally returned from sports-hernia surgery and has had an immediate impact in the passing game. DeSean Jackson continues to be the little spark plug the Eagles have lacked in the passing game since the departure of Terrell Owens.

The Eagles don't boast an elite threat in the passing game, but all of their receivers are serviceable and get the job done.

Brian Westbrook is back and that comes as great news to the Eagles. For the Eagles to have success against New York, they will need to get Westbrook involved early. They need to utilize his elusiveness in the running game and take advantage of the Giants aggressiveness.

Philly's offensive line has really improved, following a disappointing performance last year. They will need to continue that dominance up front as the top pass rush in the NFL comes to town.

They are still without All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews, who continues to suffer from back problems. Last season, New York sacked McNabb 15 times, that number will need to decrease significantly if Philadelphia is to win this game.

On defense, the Eagles have been one of the league's top units. They put great pressure on the quarterback and are second to the Giants in sack totals (Giants 30, Eagles 27).

The Eagles' rush defense, which was once thought of as a weakness, is now a strength. They will have their hands full, as the Giants running trio of Earth, Wind, and Fire (Jacobs, Ward and Bradshaw) come to town.

Philadelphia's secondary has really improved over the span of these three weeks. They will need to continue that improvement this week, as the Giants have a flurry of reliable targets. Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown will most likely split time covering Plaxico Burress, who has been a thorn in the Eagles side for the past three seasons.

This is a huge game for both the Eagles and Giants, if the Giants win, the Eagles will most likely need to win out to make the playoffs, as they could fall to 0-3 in the NFC East. If the Eagles win, they move into a tie for second place and stake their claim as an elite team in the NFC.

I think this game will come down to execution. In the Eagles' three losses, they've failed to execute when they needed a key conversion or a key stop. Now, in the Giants only loss, they failed to stop Cleveland when they had to and when they had a chance to get back into the game, Eli Manning threw an interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

MY PREDICTION: EAGLES WIN A CLOSE ONE, 21-17.