Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants NFL Odds & Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd

eagles-giants

The stakes weren’t really any higher in last Sunday’s Wild Card matchup with Minnesota than they had been as the Eagles have been playing do-or-die football for quite some time now. Philadelphia used the momentum it created by winning four of its final five games to come up with a 26-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Now, the Eagles will have to face NFC East rival and defending Super Bowl champion New York to decide which team heads to the NFC championship game. The New York Giants are 4-point favorites with the total set at 40.

The Eagles knew they had to stop the run to win last week and that they did. Outside of a 40-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Adrian Peterson, the Eagles shut down the All-Pro, holding him to just 43 yards on his other 19 carries. The mission will be the same for the Eagles this week as the Giants have an even stronger running attack with more than one weapon to turn to. The Eagles have had success against the G-Men, and particularly Eli Manning. The Eagles held Manning to a low 51.7 percent completion rate and he averaged only 5.41 yards per attempt in the two regular season games. With last Sunday’s victory, the Eagles have held the opposing QB to a less than 50 percent completion rate as its nasty blitz packages have been a nightmare for the opposition.

Offensively, the Eagles know they need to be sharper than they were a week ago, especially QB Donovan McNabb who turned the ball over twice. He played strong in the second half completing 12 of 15 passes, but he’s going to have to put together an entire game to take down the mighty Giants. The running game can stand to do more work as well. Getting yards on the ground is only going to help McNabb out in keeping the vaunted Giants pass rushers from breathing down his neck. Minnesota held the Eagles to just 2.9 yards per carry on the ground.

The Eagles beat the Giants just about one month ago in New York and they will be able to draw confidence from that. If you like Philly to take down the defending Super Bowl champs, bet the Eagles at +4 at Bookmaker and receive a 20% cash sign up bonus.

While the New York Giants might put up a strong front and say that it doesn’t matter who they play, I’m sure they would have rather played the Vikings than the Eagles. Giants come into this game having lost three of its last four games while the Eagles are red hot with five wins in their last six contests. Philly played New York tough in both matchups this year and dominated them worse than the score would have you believe in a December 7th matchup in New York.

The Giants have gained plenty of experience from last season’s run to the title and have also benefited from an extra week of rest with several banged up players, though.

Offensively, the Giants will hope that QB Eli Manning can play as well as he did in the 2008 playoffs. Manning had his best season as a pro, throwing fewer picks, tallying a higher completion percentage, and a better passer rating. He was able to do all that without much help from go-to wideout Plaxico Burress. Burress missed time throughout the season and then missed the final four games due to shooting himself in the leg - it might as well have been the foot.

The Giants running game is what makes everything else tick offensively. If New York is able to run the ball on the Eagles, it will likely be a long day for Philly fans. Both Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward broke the 1,000-yards mark for the season as the Giants set a franchise record with 2,518 rushing yards on the year.

New York’s defense, and particularly its pass rush, were the biggest reasons for its postseason success a year ago. While Michael Strahan retired, the Giants did not lose a step with Justin Tuck, who earned a Pro Bowl berth with 13 sacks. The Giants were dealt another blow with the loss of Osi Umenyiora, but Mathias Kiwanuka stepped up with an 8.5-sack campaign. The Giants came up with 10 less sacks than they did a season ago, but they were still among the best in the league in that department. Their pass rush also helped produce two more interceptions than it did a season ago. This will be the most important aspect of the defense Sunday as McNabb’s ability to get hot through the air poses the largest threat to New York. If you like the reigning Super Bowl champs to move one step closer to defending their crown, bet the Giants at -4 at Bookmaker.

Jimmy Boyd’s NFL picks will lead you to the most winners against the NFL odds this weekend. Do you NFL betting with the best and rest easy knowing you’re on the right side!


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