Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round Preview and Prediction

For the record, I am not a Cowboys fan. I’m not one of those haters that actively roots for the Cowboys to lose and that wouldn’t even urinate on Jerry Jones if he were on fire — and believe me, they’re out there in hordes — but I do somewhat enjoy the ridiculous ebb and flow and overreaction of Cowboys fans and the media here in Dallas to everything that goes on at Valley Ranch.

Why am I prefacing this post in such a manner? Well, because I just want to make it very clear that I have no inherent passion for the upcoming Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game this weekend, outside of just the normal interest that a football fan would have. However, the thought of writing an Eagles-Giants preview on Dallas Sports Fans, and rubbing a little more salt in the wounds of the Cowboys 2008 season, was just too delicious a thought to pass up.

(This just in: apparently, the Dallas Cowboys did not make the playoffs in 2008. Multiple media sources are reporting that the team’s prodigious hopes coming into the year went down in an infamous blaze of gory in Philadelphia two weekends ago. Can anyone else confirm this? Where is Randy Galloway when you need him…)

Robert may restrict my admin access after this post.

Anyway, before we go any further, below is a quick breakdown of this weekend’s Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game, in which both teams have a chance to do something that the Cowboys do not: advance to the NFC Championship game next weekend.

Philadelphia Eagles (10-6-1) at New York Giants (12-4)

• Sunday, January 11, 2009
• TV Schedule: 1:00 ET on FOX
• Announcer Pairing: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver
• Point Spread: New York Giants -4 1/2
• Over-Under Odds: 40

(Info for this game, and this weekend’s other games provided by the NFL Divisional Round Playoff TV Schedule post at MSF.)

Let’s run down some of the quick keys to the game real game, taken straight off the top of my head:

First, it is imperative that the Giants be able to establish a consistent passing game. Eli Manning and the passing attack of the Giants has been wildly inconsistent since Plaxico Burress was suspended following the infamous incident in which he shot himself in the leg. If you haven’t seen the hidden camera footage of the incident, or the untold story of how Plaxico was actually trying to shoot Tiki Barber, reported by Flash Sports Tonight, it’s rather interesting:

(BTW, if you can’t see the video, just head over to the FST website and watch it there.)

Anyway, guys like Domenik Hixon and Amani Toomer are going to have step up and give Eli Manning consistent targets on 3rd down — and catch the ball. Hixon has had trouble shaking the dropsies, and will need to correct that for the Giants to be able to threaten the Eagles defense in multiple ways. We know the Giants will be able to run the ball, and they have Brandon Jacobs back healthy and ready to play, but they will need balance against the Eagles D and Jim Johnson, who are playing at an extremely high level right now.

On the flip side, Philadelphia’s offense needs to be balanced as well. It goes without saying that Brian Westbrook needs to stay healthy and play the entire game for Philly to have a chance. He is the motor that makes the Eagles go and provides a dynamic threat to any defense. But he can’t beat a team like the Giants all by himself. The Eagles will throw the ball, and they will throw it a lot, and they need to threaten the Giants downfield to open up the inside running and short passes to Westbrook out of the backfield. For this to happen, Donovan McNabb needs to be accurate and they need a big game from DeSean Jackson.

A couple quick links to give you more info and better analysis that I’m capable of providing:

Giants-Eagles Preview — (Pat Kirwan, NFL.com)

Giants D-Line must pressure McNabb — (Thomas George, NFL.com)

And now, before I give you my prediction, chime in with yours:

[poll id="4"]

(And for the record, if you vote for the Cowboys, you are either an idiot, Jessica Simpson, or Jerry Jones. Honestly, I’m not sure which of those three I would rather be — or which one would do a better job of running the team.)

Sounds like another poll to me!

[poll id="5"]

This is the joy of having admin access and posting before Robert even wakes up. This post will go live before he can edit this post.

Okay, I’m done playing around. Time to offer up a prediction that you can take to the bank to be absolutely and terribly wrong.

The Giants have been an outstanding team all year long, and obviously have the better pedigree having won the Super Bowl last year. Philadelphia always seems to be that team that is just dangerous enough to win some games in the playoffs, but never can quite get over the hump. I like how Philly’s D is playing, and the fact that Brian Westbrook appears healthy and is providing that dynamic running/receiving threat gives them a fighting chance.

But I’m going with the defending champs. Having Brandon Jacobs back means that the great trio of Jacobs-Ward-Bradshaw and can pound away at the Eagles D and take some pressure off of Eli Manning and his undermanned received corps. I think the threat of the run, combined with play-action, will allow Eli to spread the ball around effectively to Hixon, Toomer, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss.

I agree with Pat Kirwan of NFL.com and pretty much everyone else who thinks that this game will go down the final drive and be an outstanding, exciting viewing experience. In the end, I like the Giants to make the one or two plays that will decide the game, and to ride their running back trio into the NFC Championship game next week.

New York Giants 24 | Philadelphia Eagles 20 | Dallas Cowboys 0

Maybe next year Cowboys fans. But this weekend, you’ll have to watch the two best, most consistent, and most well-run franchises in the NFC East duke it out. And it should be one hell of a game to watch.