Checking the NY Giants' website for the injury report ahead of Sunday's divisional playoff game versus the Philadelphia Eagles, I came across this clever promotion by Del Monte Foods' Snausages brand dog treats. Snausages came out with a football-shaped treat, and they invited Giants fans to send in photos of their dogs in Giants jerseys and other accouterments. Pictured above is "Sonny", one of the MVPs ("Most Valuable Pooches") from week 6, wearing an Eli Manning Jersey.
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Hopefully we get an epic game. I love when two NFC East teams meet in the playoffs. Especially when the hometown team is one of them. The Ravens game should be good too.
Go Eagles!
Last night I caught part of the replay of Sunday's Eagles-Vikings game on NFL network. That screen play for the TD was textbook. Still hard to believe your team made the playoffs. Anyhow, should be a battle.
Yeah, Philly teams are very frustrating to root for. Combination of bad management and franchise players that are almost there but don't have "it". And we always fold at the worst time.
I think if you compared the teams across the league, the Eagles deserved to be in. They're just in the NFC East so its a lot rougher for them.
The Eagles problems have been threefold:
1. Donovan McNabb, Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, not being competitive enough. The intensity that Jeff Garcia brought, we want to see in all our players, at least in the playoffs. Donovan could make the worst play ever and he just bounces up with a smile like nothing happened. Getting enched seemed to have brought him back to reality but who knows how long that will last.
2. Andy Reid being too conservative in play calling. This needs little explanation, it is what it is. We need a touchdown and he settles for "safe" plays that get us a field goal. He's a lot like Holmgren, but not as good (despite looking identical).
3. Wide receiver problems. Part of McNabbs problem has been receivers who can't catch the ball. At. All. I can't believe that they thought Mr. Toothpick, Todd Pinkston, was going to be the go-to guy. Then came T.O. ...the new kid D Jackson has potential but he's still raw. Verdict is still out on him.
The eagles have two weapons that they need to work to win games. Brian Westbrook and the blitz. Unlike pffensive play calling, our defense has always outperformed the talent on the squad. Great coaching there.
If we can get Eli shook up (he's no Peyton) and you guys have a hard time controlling Westbrook, then we win. If not, we lose.
(BTW, its funny how little action Buckhalter sees. He's almost as good as Westbrook but they never run plays to him! Maybe that's why Westbrook has injury problems. Lighten the load, I say.)
Another problem the Eagles have seemed to have, and I don't know if this is the fault of Reid, McNabb, or whoever the offensive coordinator is, is poor clock management. Their last Super Bowl appearance was a perfect example of how not to run a 2 minute offense.
Regarding Sunday, your boys need to stop Brandon Jacobs. If the Giants get their running game going, then Eli will get going too. He may not be at Peyton's level (yet), but he did make it to the Pro Bowl this year, and had the Giants not gone 1-3 in their last 4 games, he would have had a shot at MVP this year.
Eli will need to have some kind of passing game going to make the run a threat. I doubt Jacobs will be able to carry the offense on his back. The Viks had success with the run, but there's only so much you can do with that.
Peyton is a cool cat, he doesn't get flustered easily under pressure. Eli reminds me of a big baby sometimes. He's matured, but a couple hard sacks and he seems to lose self-confidence. If you guys had Burress I wouldn't give the Eagles much of a chance.
What is it with these flamboyant top-tier wide receivers always getting in trouble with erratic impulsive behavior? I can't think of a top notch receiver that hasn't been controversial, in recent years. Makes you wonder if the position, due to its athletic demands, has higher rates of illegal performance enhancemets. T.O.'s behavior, for instance, is textbook roid-rage. According to my chiropractor, who was an ex physical trainer in pro sports, the stuff was as common as multivitamins. I'm sure that's not the whole story, it makes sense that wide receivers would tend to be more aggressive anyway due to the nature of the position. But running backs don't seem to have the same problem.
That was disappointing (for me -- I'm sure you enjoyed it, J.K. Congrats). Bad game by Eli, and not a particularly well-coached game for the Giants either. They should have given the Eagles the ball to start and made them play against the wind. And running the ball on 4th and 2? How about play action there instead?
When the knucklehead Plaxico shot himself I didn't realize how big an impact his loss would have on the Giants. Hopefully, they'll trade for another deep threat in the off season.
Stockdoxc improves his GuruFocus batting average with his two-for-two picks this weekend (both bird teams).
It was a thrilling game for me. (Not for my brother -also named Dave- who is a NYG fan) I just knew that the Giants would steal the win in the 4th qtr but they just couldn't put it together. It shows why you can't rely on the run to win, at least against a Jim Johnson defense. You guys did shut Westbrook down, in part because of the poor plays Andy Reid gave him. (Why does Reid run him down the middle? He's a little guy, and all his big plays come from running on the outside or catching short passes down the center) However in the end, Coughlin made a couple more bad play calls than Reid and Donovan came through a couple times when he had to and Eli didn't. Donovan throws harder with tighter spirals and I think that helped him deliver in the wind. Twas a rough day to be a QB...or a kicker.
The team to beat will be the Steelers though. They looked phenomenal against the Chargers. I'll root for my boy Joe Flacco but won't have my hopes up. The Eagles should beat the Cards, and will have their best chance against the Ravens, although they did beat the Steelers this season also.
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