Dear Eagles: The Playoffs Start This Sunday.

Is that what I think it is? Gosh, are the Eagles showing a pulse right now? I'm not sure, that might just be another tease, one we've become so accustomed to with this team.

It seems as if the Eagles' emphatic 48-20 thrashing of the Cardinals last Thursday was evidence enough for Eagles fans to believe that this team is BACK. Well that theory will be tested on Sunday when the Eagles march into Giants Stadium to do battle with the NFL's best team.

Yes, I think the Giants are the best team in the league right now. There is no team hotter, no team as complete as the defending champs. Honestly, it hurts my fingers just typing those words.

New York is sitting pretty right now at 11-1, perched atop the NFC East as they've dominated every opponent in their path in 2008 except for the disappointing Cleveland Browns.

Despite numerous distractions of late, including the latest Plaxico "50 Cent" Burress debacle (I won't get too deep into that), the Giants have showed that they can play through adversity, and that's what great teams do, right? 

The Giants offense is led by their evil three-headed monster ground game known affectionately as "Earth, Wind and Fire." The trio of Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Amhad Bradshaw make up the NFL's best rushing attack at 160.2 yards per game.

Their captain though, is Eli Manning. Manning is not having an outstanding season, but yet is having his best thus far. Through 12 games, Manning has thrown 19 touchdowns to just eight interceptions, has thrown for over 2,600 yards and has a passer rating of 91.3—by far a career high.

Who would have thought that Eli would have had this strong of a season, playing mostly without his biggest weapon, Plax? The Giant receivers have been strong throughout the year without their big gun. Amani Toomer, Steve Smith and the emerging Domenik Hixon have all stepped their game up along with second-year tight end Kevin Boss.

Protecting Manning will be one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Kareem McKenzie, Chris Snee, Sean O'Hara, Rich Seubert, and Derrick Diehl together have made themselves an immovable object up front thus far, allowing only 15 sacks through 12 games. This Sunday presents a nice little test as the immovable object will face the unstoppable force which is the Eagles' defensive line.

Here are the Giants offensive keys to victory this Sunday against the Eagles:

1)     Dominate time of possession. The longer the Eagles defense is on the field, the more success you have, just ask the Ravens.

2)     Keep the ball rolling on the ground. Last time the Giants played Philly, they amassed over 200 yards rushing. They will need that again this week.

3)     Protect Manning. The Giants O-line can’t let the Eagles front four take control of this game. Once that happens, it’s all downhill.

4)     Avoid turnovers. When these two teams faced off in Philly, the only reason the Eagles were close in that game was the fact that they capitalized on every Giant turnover.

5)     Get Kevin Boss involved early. When teams get the tight end involved early against the aggressive Eagles defense, you open up many passing lanes.

On defense, the Giants have the ability to completely take over the game in the span of one series. They defend the pass aggressively but are prone to big plays which could fall into the Eagles hands.

New York’s strength on defense is their front seven. They rank fourth in sacks and are ranked fifth when it comes to stopping the run. The Giants front seven will have their hands full with the Eagles offensive line on Sunday. They give Donovan McNabb centuries of time in the pocket and he, like any good QB, can take over a game given a good amount of time.

New York’s secondary has been suspect at times this year, they are a very young group led by fourth-year corner Cory Webster. Webster has been bothered by a couple of injuries this year and is questionable coming into Sunday. Behind him there is some solid depth—Sam Madison is very capable of stepping in and having success.

On the ground they are one of the top defenses. If they stop the Eagles from having any success and make them one-dimensional, there’s no doubt that they win.

 

1)     Pressure McNabb. Donovan has yet to be under heavy duress this year and if the G-men put pressure on him, he could crumble.

2)     Keep Westbrook in check. For the Giants defense to have success, it all starts with stopping No. 36, they can’t let him go wild.

3)     Stay focused. With all of the craziness of the Burress situation hanging over their heads, concentration will be HUGE for the Giants on Sunday.

4)     Control the line of scrimmage. The defensive line will need to get off the ball quickly in order to stop the Eagles on the ground. When Westbrook has success, it’s because of how the line gets off the ball.

5)     Shut down DeSean Jackson. Philly’s receivers have been dreadful this year outside of the occasional big catch from Baskett, Curtis, or Avant. If they shut down Jackson, it’s highly unlikely the Eagles will find consistency anywhere else.

Now for those ever-so-frustrating Eagles. Aside from Dallas and Atlanta victories, week 13 couldn’t have gone much better. Eagles win, Chicago, New Orleans and Washington lose, bumping the Eagles up in the standings.

But how are we supposed to think that the Eagles are for real? If anything, their Thanksgiving game showed how bad the NFC West is. If Philly is truly back, they will need to emerge victorious on Sunday. Philly enters Giants Stadium on Sunday an unspectacular 6-5-1 and looking from the outside in on the NFC playoff picture which means the playoffs have already begun for them.

 

Donovan McNabb leads the Eagles offense which torched the Cardinals for 48 points last Thursday. McNabb will need a big game through the air and running/hobbling this week against a much better defense. His receivers have been very inconsistent throughout the year except for rookie DeSean Jackson.

 

Kevin Curtis has shown signs of improvement over the past few games which bodes will for the Eagles who need someone else to step up receiving-wise.

 

McNabb is protected by the NFC’s biggest offensive line.  They have given him ample time to throw to his incompetent receivers all year long. They will face one of the league's fiercest pass rushes in the Giants who would like another 12-sack massacre in Giants Stadium.

 

On the ground, Brian Westbrook will need to have another big day. He is what makes this offense go, he’s the X-factor. If he gets going early, you can bet the Eagles offense will have success.

 

Here are the Eagles' offensive keys to victory on Sunday.

 

1)     Start fast. When the Eagles get going quickly on offense, they’re tough to stop.

 

2)      Stay with the run. It may hurt Andy Reid to do this but when you become one-dimensional, you play right into the Giants' hands.

 

3)      Get Westbrook involved early. When No. 36 gets going, the Eagles are very tough to slow down, because he opens up opportunities for other players.

 

4)      Avoid turnovers. When the offense doesn’t turn the ball over, that usually equals success. In most of the Eagles' losses, they’ve turned the ball over at the worst times and at the wrong spot on the field, that can’t happen this week.

 

5)      Match the Giants intensity. New York is a very intense, dominating defense, the Eagles need to PUNCH THEM IN THE MOUTH from the opening snap.

 

If the Eagles offense had played half as well as the defense lately, they would be sitting in second place, and we wouldn’t be talking about must-win games and miracles. The defense has played well for the past three weeks and yet they’ve only won once in those three games.

 

The Eagles defense is very solid, very young, and very talented. They play very well in just about every situation with the occasional struggle as any young defense would. They rank in the top ten in just about every defensive category thus far.

 

Their strength by far is their pass rush. When the average fan watches the Eagles, they would say they blitz like there’s not tomorrow, but that’s not the case. Jim Johnson’s scheme is so clever that he’ll put eight or nine in the box but only rush four or five, that’s what allows the line to get consistent pressure.

 

If there’s a weakness on the defense, it would have to be stopping the rush. Philly has either completely shut down the rush or it’s been like an open house where anyone and everyone has success. They will need to find a way to shut down the Giants ground attack on Sunday if they are to win.

 

When it comes to stopping the pass, there aren’t many teams in the NFL who have been better over the past 13 weeks than the Eagles, five actually. Asante Samuel didn’t even play against Kurt Warner yet the Eagles prevented him his sixth consecutive 300-yard game.

 

Lito Sheppard has been very inconsistent this year but if he decides he wants to play on Sunday, we could be looking at a defensive struggle.

 

Here are the Eagles defensive keys to victory on Sunday:

 

1)     Control the line of scrimmage. New York thrives off of controlling the line, and if the Eagles are able to do exactly that, they could stop  the Giants three-headed monster ground attack.

 

2)      Force turnovers. New York is most vulnerable when they turn the ball over. In their only meeting this year the Eagles forced two and scored 14 points off of them. In fact, NY’s only loss was due to the fact that they gave the ball away three times.

 

3)      Pressure Eli. If Eli is heavily pressured, he will turn the ball over.

 

4)      Don’t let Jacobs take the game over. That explains itself.

 

5)      Third down defense. The Giants are converting 45 percent of their third down opportunities and the Eagles opponents are converting at only 32 percent, whoever wins that battle could come out on top in this one.

 

This division battle will have a lot riding on it. If the Giants win, they clinch the division and clinch their first 12-win season since 2000, a year where they went to the Super Bowl. If the Eagles win, they keep their slim playoff hopes alive and they will be counting on Dallas and Washington losses. If the Eagles lose, hello off-season, it’s all over.

 

My Prediction: Eagles win a close one, 20-16.

 

By the way, I don’t try to be biased going into my predictions, I predict what I think, I truly think the Eagles will beat the Giants this Sunday, GO BIRDS!