Are the Eagles this season’s NY Giants?
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 10, 2009 00:00
NEW YORK - Can a low-seeded National Football League wild-card team go all the way and take victory in the Super Bowl, like the New York Giants did the last year?
Justin Tuck laughed when he was asked if the Philadelphia Eagles are this year's version of the New York Giants, a low-seeded NFL wild-card team that can go all the way.
"The Giants from last year are in that locker room over there," New York's Pro Bowl defensive end said at Giants Stadium.
"The team in Philadelphia," Tuck added, "is the Eagles of this year."
The scene sets a compelling second-round NFL playoff match-up, the third meeting of the season between the defending champion and its NFC East rival from 145 kilometers down the New Jersey Turnpike.
As Philadelphia is trying to do this year, New York had to win three road games before upsetting unbeaten New England 17-14 in the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia handed New York its only home loss, 20-14 on Dec. 7. It was a game that some of the Eagles think was their best this season, and the Giants consider one of their worst. It came the week after Plaxico Burress, the Giants' main receiving threat, shot himself accidentally in the leg and was suspended by the team for the rest of the season.
What also makes it compelling is the nature of the NFC East, probably the consistently best division in the NFL for the last 25 years. It has had eight teams in the playoffs in the last three seasons and, from 1990-1992, had three teams win Super Bowls: The Giants, Washington and Dallas.
Philadelphia is the only division team without a Super Bowl victory - Dallas has five and New York and Washington three each. But for most of this decade, with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, the Eagles have been consistently good, missing the playoffs just twice. They defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in the first round last weekend.
The Eagles and Giants meet on Sunday, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the San Diego Chargers. On Saturday, it's Tennessee Titans vs. Baltimore Ravens, then Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals.
The Tennessee-Baltimore clash should be a low-scoring game between teams who emphasize defense and running.
The Titans beat the Ravens 13-10 on Oct. 5 with Kerry Collins engineering a late 80-yard drive for Tennessee's only touchdown that was sustained by a dubious blow-to-the-head penalty on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs.
Titans versus Ravens
That was the third straight loss for the Ravens. But they have won 10 of 12 since as rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has matured, Le'Ron McClain has emerged as a power running back and the defense, led by Ed Reed, has become an offensive force.
Defense? Baltimore had five takeaways last week against a Miami team that tied for the league lead with just 13 giveaways. One of the touchdowns came on a 64-yard interception return by Reed, who has four scores on defense this season.
"It's just natural at this point," Reed said. "You want to score. We talk about it on defense, we do it in practice."
Collins has been careful with the ball, too, and it's one of the reasons he's starting ahead of Vince Young, the NFL's rookie of the year in 2006. He's thrown just seven interceptions. It helps that the Titans have run so well. They're sixth in the league in yards rushing behind the tandem of Chris Johnson, the only rookie to make the Pro Bowl, and LenDale White.
Last weekend, San Diego eliminated Indianapolis 23-17 in overtime, its fourth victory in its last five meetings with the Colts.
But the Chargers have always had trouble on the East Coast, including an 11-10 defeat in Pittsburgh in November, the only game with that score in the NFL's 89 seasons.
San Diego may not have rushing star LaDainian Tomlinson, who has a torn tendon in his groin, but it will have Darren Sproles, who had 328 all-purpose yards against the Colts.
The Steelers, on the other hand, will have quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was carried off with a concussion in the final regular-season game but has been practicing all week. The key may be how well he's protected by an offensive line that has been Pittsburgh's weak link all season.
It hasn't been a good season for Roethlisberger. A year after throwing 32 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, he has had just 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
"The big thing is we can drive up and down the field, but we have to be able to put the ball in when we get down there," he said.
The surprising Cardinals will have to be at full throttle if Arizona hopes to beat Carolina. Kurt Warner, who threw for 381 yards in a 23-17 loss in Charlotte, has the best receiving trio in the NFL: Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. Boldin, however, is nursing a hamstring he pulled on a 71-yard touchdown catch last week and will possibly have to play on a slippery field with showers in Charlotte.
Carolina took advantage of its bye week to heal up. Starting defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis should be back and so should rookie Jeff Otah, the starting right tackle on offense.
"The Giants from last year are in that locker room over there," New York's Pro Bowl defensive end said at Giants Stadium.
"The team in Philadelphia," Tuck added, "is the Eagles of this year."
The scene sets a compelling second-round NFL playoff match-up, the third meeting of the season between the defending champion and its NFC East rival from 145 kilometers down the New Jersey Turnpike.
As Philadelphia is trying to do this year, New York had to win three road games before upsetting unbeaten New England 17-14 in the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia handed New York its only home loss, 20-14 on Dec. 7. It was a game that some of the Eagles think was their best this season, and the Giants consider one of their worst. It came the week after Plaxico Burress, the Giants' main receiving threat, shot himself accidentally in the leg and was suspended by the team for the rest of the season.
What also makes it compelling is the nature of the NFC East, probably the consistently best division in the NFL for the last 25 years. It has had eight teams in the playoffs in the last three seasons and, from 1990-1992, had three teams win Super Bowls: The Giants, Washington and Dallas.
Philadelphia is the only division team without a Super Bowl victory - Dallas has five and New York and Washington three each. But for most of this decade, with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, the Eagles have been consistently good, missing the playoffs just twice. They defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in the first round last weekend.
The Eagles and Giants meet on Sunday, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the San Diego Chargers. On Saturday, it's Tennessee Titans vs. Baltimore Ravens, then Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals.
The Tennessee-Baltimore clash should be a low-scoring game between teams who emphasize defense and running.
The Titans beat the Ravens 13-10 on Oct. 5 with Kerry Collins engineering a late 80-yard drive for Tennessee's only touchdown that was sustained by a dubious blow-to-the-head penalty on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs.
Titans versus Ravens
That was the third straight loss for the Ravens. But they have won 10 of 12 since as rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has matured, Le'Ron McClain has emerged as a power running back and the defense, led by Ed Reed, has become an offensive force.
Defense? Baltimore had five takeaways last week against a Miami team that tied for the league lead with just 13 giveaways. One of the touchdowns came on a 64-yard interception return by Reed, who has four scores on defense this season.
"It's just natural at this point," Reed said. "You want to score. We talk about it on defense, we do it in practice."
Collins has been careful with the ball, too, and it's one of the reasons he's starting ahead of Vince Young, the NFL's rookie of the year in 2006. He's thrown just seven interceptions. It helps that the Titans have run so well. They're sixth in the league in yards rushing behind the tandem of Chris Johnson, the only rookie to make the Pro Bowl, and LenDale White.
Last weekend, San Diego eliminated Indianapolis 23-17 in overtime, its fourth victory in its last five meetings with the Colts.
But the Chargers have always had trouble on the East Coast, including an 11-10 defeat in Pittsburgh in November, the only game with that score in the NFL's 89 seasons.
San Diego may not have rushing star LaDainian Tomlinson, who has a torn tendon in his groin, but it will have Darren Sproles, who had 328 all-purpose yards against the Colts.
The Steelers, on the other hand, will have quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was carried off with a concussion in the final regular-season game but has been practicing all week. The key may be how well he's protected by an offensive line that has been Pittsburgh's weak link all season.
It hasn't been a good season for Roethlisberger. A year after throwing 32 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, he has had just 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
"The big thing is we can drive up and down the field, but we have to be able to put the ball in when we get down there," he said.
The surprising Cardinals will have to be at full throttle if Arizona hopes to beat Carolina. Kurt Warner, who threw for 381 yards in a 23-17 loss in Charlotte, has the best receiving trio in the NFL: Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. Boldin, however, is nursing a hamstring he pulled on a 71-yard touchdown catch last week and will possibly have to play on a slippery field with showers in Charlotte.
Carolina took advantage of its bye week to heal up. Starting defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis should be back and so should rookie Jeff Otah, the starting right tackle on offense.