Thursday night the Giants have to travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles, a division rival. In a game between the Giants and Eagles, you can throw their records coming in out the window. Since the 80's, the Giants and Eagles have beaten the snot out of each other, even in years where one wins the Super Bowl, and the other misses the playoffs. For example, in 1990, the 10-0 Giants, on the way to their second Super Bowl title, lost a heart breaker to the Eagles in Philly, when excellent outside linebacker Carl Banks squarely hit the legs of Eagles QB Randall Cunningham, who was knocked into the air, but landed somehow on his feet, and proceeded to throw the game winning touchdown pass. More recently, the Giants blew an enormous 4th Quarter lead to the Eagles, whose punt returner returned a last second punt for a touchdown after initially muffing the punt, knocking the Giants out of the playoffs. To me, this game poses a huge challenge to the Giants, despite the fact that the Eagles are now eliminated from playoff contention. Even if the "good Giants" of Sunday's victory over the Lions (running the ball for over 100 yards, throwing for over 200 yards, 2 TD passes, no turnovers) show up, this will be a hard fought game that the Giants could easily lose. If the "bad Giants" of the Steelers loss show up and turn the ball over multiple times, the Eagles could blow the Giants out. While I am confident I will get a good effort from the defense, I still don't know what to expect from the Giants offense. If the Giants manage to pull this game out, they clinch a playoff berth, but I am more concerned with how they play. Their offense, and particularly Eli, need to play smart, effective football if they have any chance of being a legitimate contender in the playoffs. At this point, that is a hope, not an expectation.
