Sunday Night Test Against Eagles

Last week the Giants put together an emotional win over the Redskins. The defense stood tall all day, especially when it mattered, stopping Washington four straight times on a first and goal at the 1 with only 58 seconds remaining in the game. Washington, 2-0 heading into the game, was leading 17-3 at the half. Those were the only points they would score all day. The Giants limited the Redskins to 80 total yards and zero points in the second half.

Eli Manning (21-36, 232) and the offense got their act together at the same time, converting seven straight third down conversions and three touchdowns to seal a 24-17 win on the road. Ward, 26 for 94 yards against Washington, has rushed for 273 yards on 54 carries in three games and sports a gaudy 5.1 average. It's no wonder Brandon Jacobs had some sort of miracle recovery and returned to full practice by the end of this week.

I've felt badly for Brandon. After enduring all the off season talk - and questions - about his potential, to go down in the 2nd series of the very first game had to be very difficult to swallow. And while Ward's success has been a great thing for the team, it can't be easy watching someone else standing in what was supposed to be your limelight. But Jacobs is a far too valuable asset to risk just because he's itching to get back on the field. If Brandon is the real deal - and I think he is - he'll get plenty of opportunities to showcase his talent once that knee is fully healed.

Tonight the 1-2 Eagles come to town, fresh off a 56-21 thrashing of Detroit. McNabb (21-26, 381) had a near perfect game. Amazingly, despite the powerhouse offense that put up those 56 points, it was probably the Eagles defense that had the more impressive performance, shutting out the Lions in the second half while recording 9 sacks. The strength of the Eagles defense is the defensive line and DT Brodrick Bunkley is a monster who will likely give the interior of the Giants line fits. That means Diehl will probably get very little help handling Cole. This will be a major test for the Giants offensive line and the Giants will need have success in the running game to keep the Eagles pass rushers a bit off balance if the Giants hope to have any chance keeping Eli upright.

Even if the offense holds up its end of the bargain, the game is likely to be won or lost by the kind of pressure the Giants can bring to bear on McNabb. To protect a weak secondary (although I would note that Madison fared pretty darn well back there last week), the Giants must find a way to get into McNabb's face all day long. That's no easy task when your linebackers are struggling protecting against the quick hits over the middle, especially to the TE (although the Eagles Smith is supposedly out for tonight's game). The pass rush can't work if the linebackers consistently give the QB "quick freebies" before the rush can get there. Whether the Giants can mount consistent pressure on McNabb will, in my opinion, be the final determining factor in the outcome.

Winning those match ups, however, is likely to be decided, not on talent, but on pure will power. This is an Eagles-Giants game and talent on either side of the ball means far less than the will to win. I've always believed that football, more than most sports, is less about the physical skills and talents of individual players and more about heart, inner competitive spirit, and an overriding will to win. Organizations with the uncanny ability to see who a person is on the inside and find ways to stock their roster with those types of competitors, routinely knock the socks off teams filled with more individual talent. It is that extra something that can't be seen - is difficult to define - but is critically important in the creation of a true team.

It's too early to yet know what kind of team the Giants have this year - but one of the two teams meeting tonight will be 1-3 by tomorrow morning and may never get the chance to ever know.