Philadelphia Eagles: Need 5 Miracles to Defeat New York Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants renew their rivalry this week.

In the past, the Eagles have used single "miracles" to win games against the Giants. These include

1) The first Miracle at the Meadowlands,

2) The second Miracle at the Meadowlands and

3) The Brian Westbrook punt return.

But this time, the Eagles are going to need more than one miracle, for a variety of reasons:

1) The Giants' defensive line will over-power the Eagles offensive line.

2) The Giants' offensive line will over-power the Eagles defensive line.

3) The Giants have Eli Manning at quarterback while the Eagles will go with Vince Young for as long as he lasts, assuming Vick sits.

4) The Giants have their full complement of receivers. The Eagles are dealing with two injuries to Jeremy Maclin and concern that DeSean Jackson has gone "T.O." on them. This means that Riley Cooper and Chad Hall might see a considerable amount of playing time this week.

5) Juan Castillo doesn't have a clue how to run a defense.

So I am hopeful that Andy Reid can see that if he plays the game straight up, his team will lose by three touchdowns or more. In order to overcome these five disadvantages he will need to come up with five miracles to pull out this game.

Miracle #1

Ronnie Brown will throw a touchdown pass to Brent Celek.

You will recall that he tried this earlier in the year from the two yard line while he was falling to the ground. This resulted in a loss of a scoring opportunity.

This time however, the Eagles will line up in the wildcat formation, Vince Young will be flanked out to the right with Brown and LeSean McCoy in the backfield. McCoy will motion to the right, attracting attention. Brown will take the snap, roll left, and find Celek all alone in the end zone.

Miracle #2

Casey Matthews will be brought in for a special play. The last time we saw Matthews play, he bit on an inside fake from Brandon Jacobs, which allowed Jacobs to turn outside, catch a pass and rumble alone downfield for a touchdown.

This time, in the same situation, the Giants will try the same play. But Matthews will ignore Jacobs, charge towards Eli Manning and cause a strip sack. Manning will be injured, nothing serious, but just enough to keep him from returning to the game

Miracle #3

At a key point in the game the Eagles will try the fake punt that they botched the last time they attempted it.

This time Chas Henry will rifle a pass to Chad Hall, who will dive forward for a first down to keep the drive alive.

Miracle #4

Asante Samuel will actually make a tackle.

David Carr will complete a 24-yard pass to Mario Manningham, who will fake going out of bounds. Instead he will turn up field where Samuel will tackle him, cause a fumble, retrieve the ball and run up field to set up a short field goal.

Miracle #5

Late in the game, the Giants will be clinging to a five-point lead and fall short of making a first down. 

The Eagles will use their last timeout to stop the clock at 53 seconds. Tom Coughlin will put his arm around his punter and remind him to kick the ball out of bounds. As the center snaps the ball, the Eagles line will surge and a lineman will block the punt. Chad Hall will swoop in from the outside and pick up the ball. Doing his best Herman Edwards imitation, Hall will scamper into the end zone for the winning score.

So there you have it. The recipe for an Eagles victory: five miracles in one game. 

If you believe this can happen, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

Follow Professor Bush on Twitter@Prof_Bush.