Giants-Eagles Preview

SCOUTING REPORT

Westbrook's versatility gives Eagles the edge at homeThe Giants had their way with divisional rival Dallas after squeaking out a very tough win on the road in Pittsburgh during Week 8. Obviously, the Super Bowl champions are a very strong football team once again this year, but their grind doesn't get any easier this week as they travel to Philadelphia. The Eagles went cross country to Seattle and took care of business by utterly dominating the time of possession and just about every phase of the game. They are healthier than they have been all year and could be primed for a very strong second half of the season. This should be an exceptional NFC East matchup on Sunday night.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
NYG	12-4	427	294	7-1	5-3	4-2	9-3
PHI	9-6	416	289	6-2	3-4	2-4	7-5
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

NY Giants Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Mannin... 62.3 4021 27 14 Carr 63.6 225 1 0

Philadelphia Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT McNabb 60.3 3553 22 10 Kolb 64.6 741 4 3

NY Giants Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Jacobs 224 835 3.7 5 Bradsh... 163 778 4.8 7

Philadelphia Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD McCoy 155 637 4.1 4 Weaver 70 323 4.6 2

NY Giants Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Smith 107 1220 11.4 7 Mannin... 57 822 14.4 5

Philadelphia Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Jackso... 63 1167 18.5 9 Celek 76 971 12.8 8

Full Player Stats: NY Giants | Philadelphia

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	NYG	356.0
	PHI	351.0
Yards Passing	NYG	198.6
	PHI	244.4
Yards Rushing	NYG	157.4
	PHI	106.1
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	NYG	292.0
	PHI	274.3
Pass Yds Allowed	NYG	196.2
	PHI	182.1
Rush Yds Allowed	NYG	95.8
	PHI	92.3

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
Philadelphia leads 11-7
Dec 9, 2007	NYG 16, PHI 13
Sep 30, 2007	NYG 16, @PHI 3
Jan 7, 2007	NYG 20, PHI 23
Dec 17, 2006	NYG 22, @PHI 36
Sep 17, 2006	NYG 30, PHI 24
Dec 11, 2005	NYG 26, PHI 23
Nov 20, 2005	NYG 27, @PHI 17
Nov 28, 2004	NYG 6, @PHI 27
Sep 12, 2004	NYG 17, PHI 31
Nov 16, 2003	NYG 10, PHI 28
Oct 19, 2003	NYG 10, @PHI 14
Dec 28, 2002	NYG 10, @PHI 7
Oct 28, 2002	NYG 3, PHI 17
Dec 30, 2001	NYG 21, PHI 24
Oct 22, 2001	NYG 9, @PHI 10

Either the New York Giants will prove they are clearly the class of the NFC, or the Philadelphia Eagles will show they are true contenders in the conference.

A road win over a surging Eagles squad on Sunday night would further eliminate any doubt that the Giants go into the second half of the season as the favorites to get back to the Super Bowl.

Many already consider New York (7-1) to be the favorite, being the defending champion and having the best record in the NFC. However, the Giants have played a relatively easy schedule -- the eight teams they've faced have a 27-40 combined record.

Granted, New York dominated Dallas last Sunday in a 35-14 home win, but that came against a slumping Cowboys team missing star quarterback Tony Romo. Starting with this matchup against the NFC East rival Eagles (5-3), who have won three straight, not one of the Giants' final eight opponents currently has a sub-.500 record.

"We are trying to improve every week. We have a lot of drive in us," quarterback Eli Manning said. "We know that we have a tough road ahead of us and it is matter of we have to keep playing at a high level."

The only other NFC team with fewer than three losses is Carolina at 6-2. A win Sunday would give the Giants a two-game NFC East lead over Washington and a three-game edge over Philadelphia and Dallas, not to mention a 3-0 division record.

"I think they are as good as they've ever been," said coach Andy Reid, whose Eagles are 0-2 in division games. "They are playing very well as a team both offensively and defensively. You would think that their defense lost a little bit with the retirement of Michael (Strahan) and the injuries, primarily Osi (Umenyiora), but I don't see that. I see other guys have stepped up."

Defensive ends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka have combined for 11 1/2 of the Giants' NFC-leading 30 sacks, clearly making up for the absences of Strahan and Umenyiora. New York had 15 sacks in sweeping last season's two meetings with Philadelphia, including an NFL record-tying 12 in a home win in Week 4.

The Giants' only loss in their last four games at Philadelphia came in a 2007 wild-card playoff game.

"Philly is my favorite road stadium because the fans absolutely hate everybody that moves in an opponent's jersey," Tuck said. "I kind of like being hated."

The Eagles are second in the NFC with 27 sacks and will look to keep the pressure on Manning after he succumbed to it last week. The Super Bowl MVP lost two fumbles, was sacked four times, had an interception returned for a touchdown and threw for a season-low 147 yards against Dallas.

Manning has a 78.5 quarterback rating over the past four weeks, failing to throw for 200 yards once. He was averaging 258.0 through the first four games while posting a 102.2 rating.

Part of the problem may be the lack of chemistry with controversial receiver Plaxico Burress, held to nine catches for 73 yards in the last three games.

Another member of the receiving corps, David Tyree, won't play this season after the Giants placed him on injured reserve Wednesday. A hamstring problem kept Tyree on the sidelines this season after it was his memorable Super Bowl catch that keyed the Giants' drive to the game-winning touchdown.

"The medical people say he was not ready," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He actually took it very well."

The inconsistent passing game hasn't mattered much because New York's rushing attack has been outstanding, leading the league with 5.2 yards per carry and ranking second with 162.6 per game behind bruising back Brandon Jacobs.

He'll face an Eagles run defense which has allowed only two opponents to rush for more than 90 yards.

Philadelphia's own ground game is in much better shape with Brian Westbrook back in the lineup the last two weeks after missing two of three games due to injury. He's rushed for 354 yards and three TDs in his last three games versus New York.

Donovan McNabb, though, has not had the same kind of success versus the Giants, losing his last three starts against them, and will be looking for better protection in this season's series. McNabb has been sacked just three times during Philadelphia's three-game win streak and is coming off one of his best games, going 28-of-43 for 349 yards with two TDs and one interception in last Sunday's 26-7 win at Seattle.

"We got things rolling at the right time," McNabb said. "We started the season off the way that I thought that our team was able to play throughout the year. We kind of hit a wall a little bit, we lost games that we should have won. What you are seeing now is a team that has learned from those mistakes and being able to capitalize on those opportunities in the up and coming weeks."

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Sheldon Brown wasn't there, which is just kind of pointless. Brian Westbrook wasn't there, which is just kind of troubling.

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