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Ready for the rubber match
One down, three to go.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles did what they had to do against the Minnesota Vikings to move one step closer to the Super Bowl. This was an ugly win, but it was the type of game that can be expected when playing the Vikings. Against Minnesota, you can’t run the ball, and on passing downs, your quarterback has to keep his head on a swivel to avoid their fierce pass rush. At the end, you just hope the offense has done enough to force their quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, to have to beat you.
On Sunday, that is exactly what happened. The Eagles offense struggled, as expected, to establish any kind of running game, but they kept trying, which gave the Eagles’ wide receivers the open space they needed to make key catches to keep some important drives alive. Donovan McNabb exploited a weak secondary, throwing for exactly 300 yards, and, in the process, found a reliable third-down receiver in Jason Avant, who caught 5 passes for 47 yards, and picked up four first downs on the day.
On defense, the Eagles shut down the NFL’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson. And by shut down, I mean they didn’t allow him to single-handedly win the game for the Vikings, because that was the only way the Eagles would have lost on Sunday.
In fact, if you take out his 40-yard touchdown run, Peterson had almost no room to run, as 14 of his 20 carries went for three yards or less. Through the air, the Eagles secondary preyed on an inexperienced quarterback and a sub-par group of wide receivers.
What the Eagles’ defense did on Sunday to the Vikings is the exact performance that they will need this week if they are going to beat the New York Giants.
Make no mistake, this is the matchup that the G-Men did not want to have as their first playoff game. The Giants and their fans were hoping that Minnesota would take care of the Eagles so that Arizona would have to come east to Meadowlands, because the birds have already won in New Jersey, but the Cardinals are 0-5 in the Eastern Time Zone, and that includes losses of 21, 28, and 40 points.
So this Sunday, what happens? I think the Eagles focus on stopping Big Blue’s rushing attack, and force Eli Manning and his depleted group of wide receivers to beat them.Like before the Eagles’ 20-14 victory over the G-Men in December, I’m predicting the Giants’ “Earth, Wind and Fire” trio will be held to less than 125 yards, and Eli Manning will struggle against the Eagles’ secondary, which is playing its best ball of the season at the right time.
In their Week 14 win, the Eagles held the Giants to just 88 yards on 24 carries, and Manning looked terrible, throwing for only 123 yards, a lot of which came during the last drive of the game when the Eagles’ backups were in a “prevent” defense.
If the defense plays like the group that showed up on that day in December, and finished third in the NFL this season, then I can’t see the offense not doing enough to give the Birds a win.However, if they get run over by Brandon Jacobs and company, like what happened in the 36-31 loss to the Giants in November, then the Eagles will have no chance.
Prediction: Eagles win 23-20, just like in the playoffs two years ago. If I were a betting man, I’d take the Eagles with the points.
***
Quick observations from around the NFL:
* After watching the first week of the playoffs, I noticed that we have nothing to complain about when it comes to wide receivers. I would take our top four (Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett) over the top four in Baltimore, Minnesota, Atlanta, Miami and San Diego, and going even further, I’d throw in Tennessee and what’s left of the Giants’ wide receiver corps. That means the Eagles have better wide receivers than seven of the 11 other teams in the playoffs this year.
* How could Steve Slaton not win the NFL Rookie of the Year Award for the Houston Texans? He had more than 1,650 total yards and 10 touchdowns this year, despite not taking over the starting role until midway through the season. Maybe I’m just a homer because he is from the area, but he deserved the award far more than Matt Ryan did.
* How good is Ed Reed? He has two interceptions in five of his last seven games, and when he gets the ball, he is as tough as anyone to catch. I don’t understand why the Ravens don’t turn him around to play wide receiver, because after Derrick Mason, they have nobody who can catch the ball.
***
Like the “On the Edge” Blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk about the Eagles’ chances in the divisional playoff game versus the New York football Giants.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles did what they had to do against the Minnesota Vikings to move one step closer to the Super Bowl. This was an ugly win, but it was the type of game that can be expected when playing the Vikings. Against Minnesota, you can’t run the ball, and on passing downs, your quarterback has to keep his head on a swivel to avoid their fierce pass rush. At the end, you just hope the offense has done enough to force their quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, to have to beat you.
On Sunday, that is exactly what happened. The Eagles offense struggled, as expected, to establish any kind of running game, but they kept trying, which gave the Eagles’ wide receivers the open space they needed to make key catches to keep some important drives alive. Donovan McNabb exploited a weak secondary, throwing for exactly 300 yards, and, in the process, found a reliable third-down receiver in Jason Avant, who caught 5 passes for 47 yards, and picked up four first downs on the day.
On defense, the Eagles shut down the NFL’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson. And by shut down, I mean they didn’t allow him to single-handedly win the game for the Vikings, because that was the only way the Eagles would have lost on Sunday.
In fact, if you take out his 40-yard touchdown run, Peterson had almost no room to run, as 14 of his 20 carries went for three yards or less. Through the air, the Eagles secondary preyed on an inexperienced quarterback and a sub-par group of wide receivers.
What the Eagles’ defense did on Sunday to the Vikings is the exact performance that they will need this week if they are going to beat the New York Giants.
Make no mistake, this is the matchup that the G-Men did not want to have as their first playoff game. The Giants and their fans were hoping that Minnesota would take care of the Eagles so that Arizona would have to come east to Meadowlands, because the birds have already won in New Jersey, but the Cardinals are 0-5 in the Eastern Time Zone, and that includes losses of 21, 28, and 40 points.
So this Sunday, what happens? I think the Eagles focus on stopping Big Blue’s rushing attack, and force Eli Manning and his depleted group of wide receivers to beat them.Like before the Eagles’ 20-14 victory over the G-Men in December, I’m predicting the Giants’ “Earth, Wind and Fire” trio will be held to less than 125 yards, and Eli Manning will struggle against the Eagles’ secondary, which is playing its best ball of the season at the right time.
In their Week 14 win, the Eagles held the Giants to just 88 yards on 24 carries, and Manning looked terrible, throwing for only 123 yards, a lot of which came during the last drive of the game when the Eagles’ backups were in a “prevent” defense.
If the defense plays like the group that showed up on that day in December, and finished third in the NFL this season, then I can’t see the offense not doing enough to give the Birds a win.However, if they get run over by Brandon Jacobs and company, like what happened in the 36-31 loss to the Giants in November, then the Eagles will have no chance.
Prediction: Eagles win 23-20, just like in the playoffs two years ago. If I were a betting man, I’d take the Eagles with the points.
***
Quick observations from around the NFL:
* After watching the first week of the playoffs, I noticed that we have nothing to complain about when it comes to wide receivers. I would take our top four (Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett) over the top four in Baltimore, Minnesota, Atlanta, Miami and San Diego, and going even further, I’d throw in Tennessee and what’s left of the Giants’ wide receiver corps. That means the Eagles have better wide receivers than seven of the 11 other teams in the playoffs this year.
* How could Steve Slaton not win the NFL Rookie of the Year Award for the Houston Texans? He had more than 1,650 total yards and 10 touchdowns this year, despite not taking over the starting role until midway through the season. Maybe I’m just a homer because he is from the area, but he deserved the award far more than Matt Ryan did.
* How good is Ed Reed? He has two interceptions in five of his last seven games, and when he gets the ball, he is as tough as anyone to catch. I don’t understand why the Ravens don’t turn him around to play wide receiver, because after Derrick Mason, they have nobody who can catch the ball.
***
Like the “On the Edge” Blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk about the Eagles’ chances in the divisional playoff game versus the New York football Giants.
posted by Matthew Fleishman, Yardley News Editor at
12:12 PM
38 Comments:
Would Manning have looked "terrible" had Hixon caught pass that was right in his hands? That would have changed the complexion of the game and given Eli more than 200 yards and 2 TDs.
Once again, you failed to mention that Jacobs was on pace for 100 yards until being forced to leave the game. He's been rested for three weeks and is ready for Sunday.
And we all know what he is capable of when healthy. Just ask Carolina.
By the way, the Giants rushed for 135 yards against Minnesota -- without Jacobs. They nearly beat the Vikings with their backups in a game Minnesota had to have.
Well I'm going to use facts in this comment to respond to "Anonymous." Let's see if he lets them get in the way of his next comment...
Brandon Jacobs got hurt with 7 minutes left in the third quarter, giving him 10 carries, 52 yards in 2.5 quarters on the day. Using "math" that would give him a pace of 83 yards for the day. But! using other "math," Jacobs had 52 yards on 6.5 drives, and after his injury, the Giants only had 2.5 more drives because they didn't touch the ball again until the fourth quarter after the Eagles long drive. So using those numbers, Jacobs was on pace for 72 yards. But then again, the Giants were down two touchdowns at that point, so they weren't going to run the ball much anyway. In fact, they ran the ball just six more times after Jacobs' injury.
By the way, I thought Ward and Bradshaw were supposed to be more than capable of filling in for Jacobs? Regardless, the Giants backs ran for 100 yards on 23 carries that day, and then throwing in the well-defensed end around, they ran for just 88 yards on 24 carries.
That pass to Hixon would have made Eli's stats look better, but he still would have been around 50 percent for the day, and then again, if he caught the ball, the Eagles wouldn't have put their backups in to play a prevent defense, on which Eli racked up 57 of his 123 yards and his only touchdown. So, yes, Eli still would have looked terrible.
You're a retard. Football isn't a game of math. What about the game in Philly? Didn't a healthy Jacobs rush for over 120 yards?
By the way, the Reid/McNabb era has become a disgrace. Jimmy Rollins was right about you clowns.
Good one! I give facts and you give an insult.
Didn't I mention the game in November? Didn't I say that if the Eagles defense performs the way they did in November, then the Giants would win?
Yes, the Ravens game was the lowest point of the Andy Reid era, and I will always stick by that. However, a front runner is a person that only roots for a team when they win, and not when they lose. We were there when Jimmy stunk and we were there when he picked it up. If we weren't there when he stunk then he could call us front runners.
...And if you don't like math, then Jacobs had 52 yards and the Giants were done running the ball because they were down two scores. He would have ended up with 52 yards because Bradshaw and Ward are better pass catchers, so Jacobs wouldn't have played in the fourth anyway.
Jacobs shouldn't have been playing at all. The guy's a warrior, which you will find out on Sunday.
I can't help but drop insults when you -- and it's not just you, it's a lot of people -- constantly disrespect a team that is 16-4 since last January. It boggles my mind that people in Philadelphia don't think Manning is any good. How many games does he have to win to change your minds?
If I'm wrong, I'll apologize, but wasn't Jacobs healthy going into the game. He got hurt with an injury that wasn't "believed to be serious" and never returned. That's not a warrior to me.
As for Eli, I'll throw some stats at you. And not obscure ones, key stats.
Eli for his career has 98 TDs and 74 Ints and a 76.1 rating.
Mcnabb for his career has 194 TDs and 90 Ints and an 85.9 rating.
In nearly twice as many passes, McNabb has thrown just 16 more picks, but 96 more touchdowns. Add in the fact that 2008 is the first year that Eli has QB rating has topped 80, and that he has a career completion percentage of 55.3 percent, and it is pretty clear why people are skeptical of him. In fact, Eli was 14th, tied with McNabb in passer rating this year, but his career rating would have placed him 28th in the NFL this year.
Also, in Eli's last 5 games, all without Plaxico Burress, he has thrown just 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Now I know you'll reply with "but Eli has a Super Bowl ring," which is true, but so do Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and a host of other average to below average QBs. You asked why people "don't think Manning is any good," and those stats show exactly why people "don't think Manning is any good."
Jacobs was not healthy going into the game. He was already banged up.
STOP comparing Eli Manning to Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. You're embarrassing yourself. Eli Manning was the MVP of his Super Bowl victory. He threw for 152 yards and 2 TDs in the fourth quarter against one of the best teams ever assembled.
The Giants have NEVER missed the playoffs since Eli became the team's full-time starter. He followed up last year's Super Bowl win with a division title and the No. 1 seed in the conference this year (you said they were going 8-8; nice job).
You're also the same knucklehead who said he'd throw 20 picks this season. He threw half as many, and three of those came in one game about three months ago.
Your key stats mean jack shit. Just remember in the same game where Eli stepped up, McNabb threw up.
Maybe this will help.
I can't believe I'm in an argument with a person who thinks that touchdown passes, interceptions and quarterback rating are not important stats for a quarterback.
You are correct in that I did predict he would throw 20 picks, like he did last year. He did far better this year, until Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg. Since then he has thrown 3 TDs and 3 ints. Also, he's only topped 200 yards once in the last 5 games, hasn't thrown multiple TDs in a game since November, and is 2-3 in that time period. You asked why people don't think he is any good, and those are the reasons, including the career stats that you think mean nothing.
Also, for the Troy Aikman article, the first line says it all. Eli doesn't put up great numbers, he just wins. Well that just means he's not the guy responsible for the win, he's the guy being carried by the real stars of the team (defense, running backs, offensive line and Plaxico Burress).
Any reasonably sane person would look at the career stats I gave in my last post and choose McNabb over Manning if the names were taken away. But once again, I deliver actual statistics and facts, and you deliver insults because you have nothing to back up your argument.
Wins aren't important? Interesting.
Pray to God that Eli doesn't win another one this year. You will have nothing to say.
Anonymous, give it up. There's a reason why this guy writes in Yardley and not Philadelphia.
LOL ... Good point.
Wins are very important. And Eli has an important one. But to say that he was the MVP was as stupid because Eli obviously held the best offense in history to 14 points. That was all his doing, right?
Quick question:
Without searching to figure out the names, rank these three quarterbacks?
1. 413-635 65.0% 5,069 yards, 34 TDs, 17 ints
2. 341-536, 63.6% 4,038 yards, 28 TDs, 13 ints
3. 257-428, 60.0% 2,971 yards, 14 TDs, 12 ints.
1. You're a retard.
2. You're a retard.
3. You're a retard.
If Donovan McNabb was a Super Bowl MVP, you'd be parading it around. You know you would. And if Jerry Reese was offered McNabb for Eli right now, the laughter would be heard all the way down the NJ Turnpike. When the Giants miss the playoffs with Eli as it's starter, let me know.
Back to insults, because you would have had to choose #3 (Joe Flacco) over Drew Brees (1) and Aaron Rodgers (2) for your Eli Manning comments to still work.
And if you don't believe me, then go to FoxSports.com and see how they compare Eli to McNabb. I'll give you a hint. You won't like it.
Last I checked, Joe Flacco is still playing, while the other two aren't.
You know nothing. You dictate who would want by stats and nothing else. Ever hear of intangibles? Obviously not.
Eli is a WINNER. You'll find that out on Sunday, while that worthless Chunky Soup eating piece of crap is chased out of Philadelphia once and for all.
Joe Flacco is still playing, but there isn't a person alive who would choose him over Drew Brees.
This is why you're an idiot. You care more about numbers than victories. Joe Flacco's career is just getting underway, and he's already played in as many big games as Brees.
Right, but that has nothing to do with Joe Flacco. Imagine how great the Ravens would be with an actual quarterback.
I'm not crazy about him either, but I think it's a little early in his career to say that he stinks.
I love the use of two names to make yourself seem less pathetic. The fact is Matt is giving stats that are used universally through the league to judge how good a QB is. Your using the simple fact that he was MVP of a Superbowl. Do you honestly think that Eli is on the same stage as Brady? I don't even like Brady but seriously if you do you obviously are not that smart. Eli is a Superbowl MVP much the same way Kurt Warner was.
Anonymous is an idiot, plain and simple. He doesn't even know how to argue. LEt me guess how he argues in real life, assuming he can actually hold a conversation longer than 30 seconds. Screams loudly, throws insults, screams some more, then the person he's arguing with gives up, and he thinks he won because the other person gave up. This is this convo so far:
Matt - fact
Anonymous - insult
M - insult
A - fact
so on and so forth.
Can't even provide thought provoking discussion, just insults. Good job.
And apparently, I myself am horrible at typing:
Matt - fact
Anonymous - insult
M - fact
A - insult
so on and so forth.
Jim your exaclty right. This is the same guy who became a Giants fan either because he didn't have the moral fortitude to hang with a team when its down, or because he needed the attention from not being an Eagles fan so he picked another team in the NFC East. I wonder if he even liked the team before they won last year, or if he hid his passion about the Giants between their last Superbowlrun and last season. Probably...
I'm from NY you fucking idiots. Born and raised. Been going to Giants Stadium since you clowns were in diapers.
Fact -- Eli Manning has a Super Bowl (which is two words, not surprised that you clowns don't know that) and Donovam McNabb does not.
Fact -- The Giants have NEVER missed the playoffs since Eli Manning became the team's full-time starter. Can McNabb say the same?
Fact -- Eli Manning never misses a down, let alone a game. Your retard quarterback has suffered how many season-ending injuries?
Fact -- Your Ridiculous should actually be You're Ridiculous.
Fact -- The Eagles have NEVER won a Super Bowl. EVER. Pathetic. Even the Jets have won one.
Fact -- Donovan McNabb has thrown 96 more TDs than Eli Manning. He also was drafted FIVE years before Manning was. That's like saying Jason Giambi is better than Ryan Howard.
Fact -- Eli Manning is not a Super Bowl (again, two words) MVP the same way Kurt Warner was. Eli Manning has never lost a starting job in the NFL and has played for only one team.
Fact -- The author of this blog called the Andy Reid/Donovan McNabb era "a disgrace" following the loss to Baltimore. Now, he's saying the Eagles are going to win in Giants Stadium for the second time in roughly a month. And I'm a frontrunner?
Fact -- The city of Philadelphia went 100 professional seasons sans a championship until the Phillies beat a team with a $7.99 payroll last October.
Fact -- People travel from all over the world to visit New York. The biggest attraction in your shithole of a town has a crack in it.
Hey all! Good to see the argument is still going. Just a few points.
Donovan (spelled with an "n" not an "m" ...hey we all make grammar and spelling errors) McNabb made the playoffs in each of his first 5seasons as a starting quarterback, so Eli making it in his first four is equal to this point in his career. After the 2010 season, we'll be able to compare that statistic accurately.
The fact that McNabb has 96 more TDs because he's played longer is true, but the point was that McNabb has thrown just 16 more interceptions than Eli in 2,000 more passes. Meaning Eli is quite a bit more interception prone than McNabb. You have to read the full sentence and not stop half way through to get the full point.
I never called the McNabb era a disgrace. I said that the Reid era had become a disgrace based on his handling of McNabb's benching. That was the lowest point of the last 10 years, and I will always stand by that (which I said before in this very comment stream). That doesn't mean that any of us stopped being Eagles fans.
I have no need to defend the Phillies' World Series title because the Rays beat the Yankees and Red Sox and plenty of high-payroll teams on their way to the World Series. Also, if payroll matters, then why don't the Yankees and Mets play in the World Series every year, and how did the Marlins beat a New York team a few years back in the World Series.
Philadelphia is the birthplace of our country. Let's see New York top that.
Yeah, and then they all realized what a dump it was and left town.
I guess that comment means my points are accurate?
Also, New York City became America's capital, but then they left there for an uninhabited forest on the Potomac River.
Hey Anonymous, what were you saying?
...I'm waiting for an apology for all of the insults, yet, again, all I hear from Giants fans is the sound of silence.
LOL,of course the only thing they got is some racist comments. That's not a sign of low intelligence at all.
Nothing like a classy Giants fan. His team loses and he shows that New York spirit of "I'm the best and if you prove I'm not, I'll be a fucking douchebag until you walk away irritated." "Schindler's List" proves why parents should take an IQ test before they are allowed to procreate. If they fail they should be sterilized so people like him don't happen. Why don't you go yell "O'Doyle Rules" and drive off a cliff to raise the collective IQ of the human race.
How poetically perfect. High and mighty proves what a total moron he is. At least in the Philly Metro area we own up when we lose. If the Giants won I doubt anyone on here would be calling someone some racial epithet.
For the record, that was not me. That's pretty low.
Good game, boys. The better team won. Game came down to 3rd down conversions. And Coughlin's decision making was dreadful.
Hey...had to delete the racism between my comment and "Jim" down toward the bottom.
Yes, third and fourth down conversions were the key, along with the receiver play. The Giants wide receivers caught just 6 passes and had quite a few drops.
Not to start this argument again, but Eli looked terrible the whole game, I don't think just blaming the wide receivers is fair. What ya think?
A perfect lead in to tomorrow's entry! Check back for my thoughts on Eli Manning's performance.
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