Giants Vs Eagles: Preview

I’m submitting my preview early this week because I will be going to Cleveland for the Thursday night football game between the Browns and the Broncos.  It should be a good time and if you look for an endzone sign that reads “Primetime In Cleveland” you’ll be able to see me above it, probably double fisting a couple of Budweisers.

The Giants go to Philly on Sunday to try and get one step closer to walking away with the division.  An Eagles loss will put them 0-3 in the division, a hole they do not want to fall into.  So like always with a divisional match-up, a lot is on the line for both teams. 

The Giants offense ranks up with the best in the league, but Eli has to protect the ball better than he has.  He can’t expect the defense to win every game for him.  His clock management has been great, so if he can continue to do this and keep Donovan McNabb and Philly’s high powered offense off the field, it will be one of the keys to winning the game.  Philly’s defense ranks 5th in the league, so moving the ball might be difficult on Sunday, especially with a crowd of fans that want nothing more than to beat the reigning Superbowl champs.  The Giants are going to need a big game from their running backs in order to keep the Eagles’ defense honest and allow Eli to get the passing game going. 

On the defensive side the Giants will be up against an Eagles offense that ranks 6th in the league.  With a healthy McNabb and Brian Westbrook, the Eagles are capable of carving up defenses.  The Giants’ key to victory will be shutting down Westbrook as well as the Eagles running game.  The Giants secondary will have to play a strong game against one of the better passing teams in the league. If they shutdown Westbrook and don’t allow McNabb to dump the ball out of the backfield for easy first downs then Donovan will be forced to look to other playmakers to put points on the board.  This might still cause problems for the Giants as the Eagles have WR Kevin Curtis back from injury as well as rookie DeSean Jackson.  Both of these guys can make big plays throughout the game, so the secondary will be in for a tough afternoon.

Both of these teams look really good on paper and it should be an exciting game for the fans.  As I said before, Philly can’t afford a loss right now, but the Giants have looked unstoppable.  I think the final score will be high, something like 38-35.   

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Last post (s) by Adam Provost

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