Monday Night Spotlight
Philly Eagles
VS
New York Giants -3 / 35.5
First things first, when handicapping a game, you cannot overlook the obvious. The Giants have beaten the eagles in nine straight games and the winner in monday night football covers the number at an alarming rate. (I don't have the number offhand but feel free to post it)
Secondly both teams have outstanding defenses and run the ball very well, thus pointing to the under. So at first look you would have to lean to the giants and the under, but before jumping in I like to look around a bit more.
So Let's start with the Gmen.
Although they lost last weekend against the rams the giants opened eyes around the league by keeping up with the rams in St. Louis, by playing sound defense and smart offensive football. However in the long run they were frustrated by losing the game, but Head Coach Jim Fassel will make sure that frustraion does not carry over to this week's game."Coach Fassel has done a great job of not letting us think about that game against the Rams," safety Shaun Williams said. "He reminded us if we don't focus on this game it will be two weeks in a row we're very disappointed."
That is not the only thing the Giants will have to keep focused on. They play horrible on monday nights, and manage to give up alot of points in the process. The Giants are 15-24-1 on Monday Night Football but have played only 12 times at Giants Stadium on MNF. They have lost four of their last five, dating back to the 1995 season-opener, by a combined score of 128-34. The Giants have allowed 31 points in each of their last three MNF appearances.
Now on to the birds
The eagles are also coming off a difficult loss as Jake plummer and the cards came back in the final seconds to beat the eagles again. Then they had a bye week to think about it. The eagles also know of the streak of losses to the giants, and the claim it does not bother them. Every year is different in the National Football League," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, who lost three times to the Giants last year. "With that you put out of mind the things that happened in the past and you move on. If it becomes a distraction with me or with the players, it's a mistake."
Quarterback Donovan McNabb added, "That's something [the media] may get caught up in, but we don't."
And this from DE Hugh Douglas: "To us, it's just another game."
Hogwash, I think it is in the mind of the eagles, especially Mcnabb who always tries to his best aginst the Giants, and hates to lose to them.McNabb spent the offseason getting leaner, quicker, more accurate, more educated, more technically sound. . .all with the Giants on his mind.
Certainly, the preparation will help against all of the Eagles' opponents, but it was the Giants who were the subject of the inspirational T-shirts McNabb had printed in the offseason.
Injury Update
Giants Tiki Barber is listed at probable, but not only was it announced he will play this week, there was even talk of him returning kicks. (Do they not remember the "little" experiment with Seahorn returning kicks?)Other Giant Notables:QUESTIONABLE: CB Will Allen (ankle); WR Ron Dixon (ankle); DT Keith Hamilton (shoulder). PROBABLE: RB Tiki Barber (hamstring); MLB Mike Barrow (hip).
Eagles Duece Staley also make his return tonight for the eagles, but they should take it easy on him as replacement Correll Buckhalter, who is averaging 71.2 yards per game, with one touchdown, as played well in his abscence. Other Eagle Notables
ROBABLE: C Hank Fraley (shoulder); DE Ndukwe Kalu (ankle); P Sean Landeta (knee); WR Gari Scott (ankle); RB Duce Staley (shoulder).
Inside the Numbers
the Giants defense his intense and last week showed great form by sacking Kurt Warner six times and shutting down the rams ground game. New York possesses the top rushing defense in the league, allowing only 80.6 yards per game on the ground. They also only allow an impressive 14.2 points per game. However, the Giants passing defense is second to last in the league. New York is allowing 254.4 yards per game in the air and has permitted opposing QBs to complete more than 55 percent of their passes. This stat could get even worse tonight as rookie CB will allen will be replaced by another rookie CB.
With the giants as good as they are the eagles lead them in sevral categories to include, Passing offense, rushing offense, scoring offense, and total offense, but what could be more suprising is in what categories the beat the ginats on the defensive side of the ball. These categories include, scoring defense and total defense.
Matchup to Watch
Strahan VS Runyan
Strahan embarassed Runyan in the last meeting during the game and after the game in a interview with the media. This has been a sore spot ever since to the point where Mcnabb refuses to talk about in the media, and will end an interview if it comes up. Giants guard Glenn Parker was mentioning the "R" word last week. Does he think Runyan could use some help tonight?
"He's had big games against Runyan, but Runyan is a very good ballplayer," Parker said. "I don't know how much they'll change if at all, but they'd be kind of crazy not to."
Final Analysis
Mcnabb and Co. have circled this on the calender for awhile, and although they had a bye week they may have been caught looking ahead in the loss to the cardinals. Mcnabb has been quoted as saying this is the biggest game of his career. The last time a young QB said this about a monday night game it was Jeff garcia, just before his team beat the jets on the road this year. I look for coach reid to help runyan with double teams, and mcnabb has much more mobility than warner and should avoid some of the sacks he had to take. Also mcnabb his facing a pass defense that is less than impressive, as mentioned above. The O-line will give mcnabb to throw, and eat should eat up the secondary.
On the other side of the ball the eagles defense should be able to stack the front line and beat up an already banged up Giant backfield. In the air the eagles have the number one passing defense, and they go against Keryy Collins.He has completed six TD passes, but he has thrown for seven interceptions. He has also taken a beating off 13 sacks. Collins' 70.1 passer rating is the worst among QBs who have started every game this year. The eagles look to come out early and light up the scoreboard and if they can do this it will be a long night for the giants.
+3
With the trend of the underdog not only covering but winning, I will also back them on the moneyline.
FINAL: Eagles 31 Giants 16
Also I am going to play the eagels in the first quarter AND in the first half.
The Eagles are hoping ending the Giants knack for early leads will help end the nine-game losing streak. "There are some obvious statistics that say if you're ahead at the end of the first half, you have a pretty good chance of being ahead at the end of the game," Reid said. ?Therefore, you want to get yourself moving."
Said McNabb: "It would change the course of the game if we come out and set a tempo and put some points on the board and have them play catch-up. That's something we need to do in order to try to change everything that's been going on. If we can establish the tempo early, maybe it'll be a different game."
"We have to have a sense of urgency going. I think it's real important for the offense to go out there real fast and make plays and be successful early," said WR James Thrash.
Again, sorry for the lenghty report, and I hope I didn't drag on too much.
JT
Sneaks
Philly Eagles
VS
New York Giants -3 / 35.5
First things first, when handicapping a game, you cannot overlook the obvious. The Giants have beaten the eagles in nine straight games and the winner in monday night football covers the number at an alarming rate. (I don't have the number offhand but feel free to post it)
Secondly both teams have outstanding defenses and run the ball very well, thus pointing to the under. So at first look you would have to lean to the giants and the under, but before jumping in I like to look around a bit more.
So Let's start with the Gmen.
Although they lost last weekend against the rams the giants opened eyes around the league by keeping up with the rams in St. Louis, by playing sound defense and smart offensive football. However in the long run they were frustrated by losing the game, but Head Coach Jim Fassel will make sure that frustraion does not carry over to this week's game."Coach Fassel has done a great job of not letting us think about that game against the Rams," safety Shaun Williams said. "He reminded us if we don't focus on this game it will be two weeks in a row we're very disappointed."
That is not the only thing the Giants will have to keep focused on. They play horrible on monday nights, and manage to give up alot of points in the process. The Giants are 15-24-1 on Monday Night Football but have played only 12 times at Giants Stadium on MNF. They have lost four of their last five, dating back to the 1995 season-opener, by a combined score of 128-34. The Giants have allowed 31 points in each of their last three MNF appearances.
Now on to the birds
The eagles are also coming off a difficult loss as Jake plummer and the cards came back in the final seconds to beat the eagles again. Then they had a bye week to think about it. The eagles also know of the streak of losses to the giants, and the claim it does not bother them. Every year is different in the National Football League," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, who lost three times to the Giants last year. "With that you put out of mind the things that happened in the past and you move on. If it becomes a distraction with me or with the players, it's a mistake."
Quarterback Donovan McNabb added, "That's something [the media] may get caught up in, but we don't."
And this from DE Hugh Douglas: "To us, it's just another game."
Hogwash, I think it is in the mind of the eagles, especially Mcnabb who always tries to his best aginst the Giants, and hates to lose to them.McNabb spent the offseason getting leaner, quicker, more accurate, more educated, more technically sound. . .all with the Giants on his mind.
Certainly, the preparation will help against all of the Eagles' opponents, but it was the Giants who were the subject of the inspirational T-shirts McNabb had printed in the offseason.
Injury Update
Giants Tiki Barber is listed at probable, but not only was it announced he will play this week, there was even talk of him returning kicks. (Do they not remember the "little" experiment with Seahorn returning kicks?)Other Giant Notables:QUESTIONABLE: CB Will Allen (ankle); WR Ron Dixon (ankle); DT Keith Hamilton (shoulder). PROBABLE: RB Tiki Barber (hamstring); MLB Mike Barrow (hip).
Eagles Duece Staley also make his return tonight for the eagles, but they should take it easy on him as replacement Correll Buckhalter, who is averaging 71.2 yards per game, with one touchdown, as played well in his abscence. Other Eagle Notables
ROBABLE: C Hank Fraley (shoulder); DE Ndukwe Kalu (ankle); P Sean Landeta (knee); WR Gari Scott (ankle); RB Duce Staley (shoulder). Inside the Numbers
the Giants defense his intense and last week showed great form by sacking Kurt Warner six times and shutting down the rams ground game. New York possesses the top rushing defense in the league, allowing only 80.6 yards per game on the ground. They also only allow an impressive 14.2 points per game. However, the Giants passing defense is second to last in the league. New York is allowing 254.4 yards per game in the air and has permitted opposing QBs to complete more than 55 percent of their passes. This stat could get even worse tonight as rookie CB will allen will be replaced by another rookie CB.
With the giants as good as they are the eagles lead them in sevral categories to include, Passing offense, rushing offense, scoring offense, and total offense, but what could be more suprising is in what categories the beat the ginats on the defensive side of the ball. These categories include, scoring defense and total defense.
Matchup to Watch
Strahan VS Runyan
Strahan embarassed Runyan in the last meeting during the game and after the game in a interview with the media. This has been a sore spot ever since to the point where Mcnabb refuses to talk about in the media, and will end an interview if it comes up. Giants guard Glenn Parker was mentioning the "R" word last week. Does he think Runyan could use some help tonight?
"He's had big games against Runyan, but Runyan is a very good ballplayer," Parker said. "I don't know how much they'll change if at all, but they'd be kind of crazy not to."
Final Analysis
Mcnabb and Co. have circled this on the calender for awhile, and although they had a bye week they may have been caught looking ahead in the loss to the cardinals. Mcnabb has been quoted as saying this is the biggest game of his career. The last time a young QB said this about a monday night game it was Jeff garcia, just before his team beat the jets on the road this year. I look for coach reid to help runyan with double teams, and mcnabb has much more mobility than warner and should avoid some of the sacks he had to take. Also mcnabb his facing a pass defense that is less than impressive, as mentioned above. The O-line will give mcnabb to throw, and eat should eat up the secondary.
On the other side of the ball the eagles defense should be able to stack the front line and beat up an already banged up Giant backfield. In the air the eagles have the number one passing defense, and they go against Keryy Collins.He has completed six TD passes, but he has thrown for seven interceptions. He has also taken a beating off 13 sacks. Collins' 70.1 passer rating is the worst among QBs who have started every game this year. The eagles look to come out early and light up the scoreboard and if they can do this it will be a long night for the giants.
With the trend of the underdog not only covering but winning, I will also back them on the moneyline.
FINAL: Eagles 31 Giants 16
Also I am going to play the eagels in the first quarter AND in the first half.
The Eagles are hoping ending the Giants knack for early leads will help end the nine-game losing streak. "There are some obvious statistics that say if you're ahead at the end of the first half, you have a pretty good chance of being ahead at the end of the game," Reid said. ?Therefore, you want to get yourself moving."
Said McNabb: "It would change the course of the game if we come out and set a tempo and put some points on the board and have them play catch-up. That's something we need to do in order to try to change everything that's been going on. If we can establish the tempo early, maybe it'll be a different game."
"We have to have a sense of urgency going. I think it's real important for the offense to go out there real fast and make plays and be successful early," said WR James Thrash.
Again, sorry for the lenghty report, and I hope I didn't drag on too much.
JT
