Eagles/Giants -- factors.

[NoDakIggle]

I'm sure it will be a tough game but I am thinking a Philly win. Of course there are always ifs but the birds seem to be rising while the gints are just not all there (despite the win against the girls). Sheldon's hammy has to hold up and Maclin's plantar has to stay in check and D Sean's brain has to stay in place and Peters' ankle has to hold up but I like the birds situation. Hopefully Andy & Co put them in a position to win.

[tinopuno]

Tough one to call as reflected in the Las Vegas line that is currently Gnats -1.

There are many variables here which are hard to anticipate.

Giants:
- Eli can be very good or pretty bad, depending largely on how much pressure he gets. I'm sure McDermott will be sending Eli lots of visitors.
- Boss is a big, tough guy with good hands. Harris did pretty well last week vs Gonzalez but the QB stunk. Trotter is not covering anybody. Will Boss have a big game?
- Paxico is no longer there to snare Eli's back foot prayers. Gnats have three young receivers, all of whom have talent but also (with the exception of Nicks) have been dropping some easy passes lately.
- Jacobs is not the punishing runner he was the last couple years but can still run over people. Bradshaw is very quick and can break off long runs, but has fragile feet and Ware is probably out.
- The Oline has been a pale shadow of it's former self but still has talent and played better last week.
- Likewise the Dline, which had been so bad Colonel Tom shook things up vs Dallas with impressive results.
- Gnat LBers are so bad they make our patchwork group look decent by comparison.
- With the exception of Webster, the Gnat secondary is weak in coverage. Birds should get some big play opportunities...if #5 gets time.

Birds:
- How healthy will they be:
Is Jackson gonna play? Probably. Will he be a little gun shy? Who knows. How bad is Celek's hand? Will Peters play? How's Sheldon's ham string? With Hanson back, does Brown get some plays off? How about Jordan and even Westy? (I'm not expecting either to play.)
- #5. Donnie has been more hot than cold recently, but he's been very inaccurate at times on some downright gimees.
- Protection: The Gnats showed some intensity in their pass rush last week which had been missing most of the season. Will #5 get time to set up or will he be running for his life.
- Speaking of running, will AR and Marty continue their recent rediscovery of this lost art or will they revert to too much passing. And if they chose to run, which McCoy will show up and can Weaver continue to play big.
- Consistency: Since losing to Dallas and SD, the Birds have won 3 straight. They could have won all 5 or lost all but the Atlanta game (even with the best efforts of the officials). Inconsistency and a lack of discipline have been present in all 5 games. Mark it down to youth and the disruptive impact of many injuries, but it would be foolish to assume the trend won't continue.

Intangibles:
- NY has renewed confidence after winning the Dallas game, but they hardly bitch slapped the Boys. Given they have another hated division opponent, we can assume they won't have a let down but let's hope they're a little too pleased with themselves.
- Birds have certainly demonstrated that they can beat NY in their house and have shown real grit this season by continuing to grind in the face of a slew of injuries to key guys. (AR has to get credit here.)

Weather:
The forecast for Sunday is for rain and snow showers with temps in the mid 30s at game time. That would seem to favor a running game but, unlike years past, I don't believe that necessarily favors NY if AR will run the ball. FWIW, it should be noted that Eli has a history of problems throwing the ball on cold, windy days in NY. ( He is, after all, a pussy!)


Conclusion: A hard fought crapshoot.

[FRESH]

I'm with GWE. We are likely to come into this game as complete a team as we have been all season. If we can't win this one, we have no business having aspirations of running deep into this thing.

[rspurr]

Weather:
The forecast for Sunday is for rain and snow showers with temps in the mid 30s at game time. That would seem to favor a running game but, unlike years past, I don't believe that necessarily favors NY if AR will run the ball. FWIW, it should be noted that Eli has a history of problems throwing the ball on cold, windy days in NY. ( He is, after all, a pussy!)

That is great news. Donovan is usually pretty good when the weather is ugly.

[balto-eaglefan]

From Yahoo Sports
Eli Manning, career passer rating in cold (10 games), precip (5 games) and windy (17 games): 52.4-67.9

DMac: 80.8-88.3 (based on 15 cold games, 44 windy games, and 7 games with precip)


So let's hope something like THAT keeps up........

[Zepster]

I think the better team wins this week and right now I think the Eagles are the better team. I'm seeing this Off. get better every week and the def. is playing well. Andy is finally drawing up plays for Weaver like they should have been doing from the beginning and he's the weapon I thought he'd be in this scheme. We desperately needed a triple threat FB and we got one. I think we match up well with the Vagiants.

[leifdawg]

Damn 44 windy games played? I wonder what exactly constitutes "windy"?

It definitely helps to have a cannon arm in bad weather.

[sonnyj]

nothing to do with being pansy assed or anything...I approach this game as all their other games recently - as unpredictable. They can win or lose by continuing their mode of performance. They've been poor in the red zone in both wins and losses, committed stupid penalties in wins and losses, etc. sit back and enjoy a long time rivalry and remember that predictions are irrelevant examples of mid week boredom.