The Giants get set to take on the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday at 1pm in the NFC divisional game. Early weather forecast is a decent but cold day, with a high of 27 and a low of 19 degrees. The Giants are coming off their first round bye, and really almost 2 full weeks of rest because the last game of the seaosn was played like a 3rd preseason game. After playing 10 straight games against teams with winning records, they certainly needed the rest, but hopefully it is not too much rest and they didn’t forget how to play football. You see it every year with teams who rest their entire team and they lose the first playoff game, case in point the Colts, who seem to rest everyone to an extreme degree and also seem to lose in the first round very often.

This is the 3rd game against the Eagles this year, and both teams know each other very well. Neither team will be tricked by any play or surprised by any tactic. It comes down to beating the hell out of the guy in front of you. Heres my 3 keys to the game-

1- Stop Brian Westbrook. We are all familiar with the dynamic running and receiving abilities of this player. nuff said

2- Pressure McNabb. The last game against Philly we couldnt sniff McNabb and he sat back there and completed every 3rd down in the game. Hit McNabb early in the game and he gets all nervous and holds on to the ball and goes down. It would be great if Justin Tuck has a Osi-like performance this week. The return of a healthy Fred Robbins in the middle should help this, as he will definately eat up some double teams.

3- No pick 6′s. Asante Samuel is a big game player who thrives on the pick 6. Because of this he is also capable of being burned by the double move and getting beat deep. Hixon has to take advantage of this and Eli has to hit him deep so that the safeties have to respect the pass a bit more and dont stack the box to stop Brandon Jacobs, as they did in their last outing.

Finally, the Giants better win this game so i dont have to listen to, or deal with, the trash/scum/incompetent Philadephia Eagles fans who pollute the world with their low class nonsense.

For those of you who dont check your email, all Season Ticket waiting list holders have a chance to buy a limited amount of tickets for the Divisional game.

This happens January 6, 10am. Its done online, the link is in the email, if you are on the list but didnt get the email or whatever and need the link, email me. Hopefully one of us can snag a bunch of tickets , i hear they are like $125-$150.

And i checked my spot, im 17,000 in line for season tickets. Good Times, 30 more years.

With the new year upon us I thought we should look back at a couple memorable quotes from 2008.

#2: “That’s my quarterback, man”

That will never… EVER… get old.

#1: “We’re only gonna score 17 points? <dumpy laugh>”

Sorry Tom… you didn’t even get to 17.

Feel free to add!

Giants are obviously the #1 seed and have home field throughout the playoffs.

The divisional playoff game, first reported by Vinny, will take place on Sunday January 11 at 1pm. The Giants opponent will be either Atlanta/Arizona/Philly, depending on who wins the Wild Card Round.

So take off of work now, cancel your vacations, etc. Hopefully we can get a good GNP presence there.

Also, around the NFL, Tony Romo chokes once again, and the Cowboys fail to make the playoffs.

Go Blue

Giants clinched home field by defeating the Panthers in overtime yesterday. A fitting end to the tailgating season, after the best tailgate of the year, it was followed up by the best game all year. It was bitterly cold out but everyone dressed appropriately and had a good time. The Giants ran the ball down the Panthers throats the whole game and Eli made some clutch 3rd down conversions the whole game.

The pictures are up, as usual

Biggest game of the year, winner gets Home Field advantage throughout the playoffs. Giants are all beat up with Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, Domenik Hixon, Sinorice Moss, Kareem McKenzie, Fred Robbins, and Gerris Wilkinson all questionable to play. Of course we are already without Plaxico Burress. Carolina brings in a power running game which has been unstoppable the last few weeks, along with Steve Smith, who no one can cover. Julius Peppers anchors the John Fox-led defense, which is always solid.

The game is 8pm of course, and the weather will be a factor. As of now the high/low temperatures are predicted to be 40/17, with freezing rain/snow. Dress warm, and be loud in the stadium, it will keep you warm. I didnt think id be colder than the eagles game, but this has the potential to be real cold.

And good luck to the Richmond Spiders tonight going for the national championship. Richmond is of course Dan’s alma mater, where he starred on the D-Line. And possibly the best nickname for a school, the spiders.