The New York Giants took advantage of mistakes better than the Eagles. The Eagles defense played well enough for the the team to win, but Donovan McNabb looked clueless again and a big special teams play helped pave the way for the Giants to advance to the NFC Championship game next week. New York will host Minnesota on Sunday at 12:30. Although the Eagles were 2 for 15 on third downs, the Giants themselves were only 2 of 13 themselves. It was not rocket science that beat the Eagles, it was an offense that was confused by a relentless Giants' defense. The Eagles passing attack was stopped a number times by drop balls, by both Na Brown and Torrance Small during the first half. Two plays defined the entire game. One, Ron Dixon's 97 yard touchdown on the opening kickoff started the Giants 7-0 on the very first play. Second, Jason Seahorn's 32 yard INT return for a 17-0 lead right before the half really killed any hopes of another win in a great season that was predicted by many to be a 7 or 8 win season.

The Giants offense was not effective all game long on a consistant basis. The Giants scored only 6 points offensively all game long. Moreover, it was a complete lack of offense on the other side as Donovan McNabb's protection broke down on almost every play it seamed, especially in the first half. The Giants came to play as did the Eagles, but it was the Giants who turned the Eagle' turnovers into points. Philadelphia had a number of opportunities to get back in the game only for the Giants to stop the Birds on third down. Michael Strahan had a big game as he recorded 2 sacks and 3 tackles and forced McNabb in to hurried throws all game long. John Runyan is a big force, but for the third time this year, Big John looked ordinary against Strahan. I don't know what to say about this third ugly loss to the Giants, but for the third and final time, the Giants proved again to be the better team. Three wins this year and now nine in a row have proved that for now, the New York Giants are the better team and deserve to be playing Minnesota in the NFC Championship game next Sunday.

Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid will have to devise a better game plan which will help solve the mystery to why Philadelphia can not beat the Giants. For one, the Eagles must find 1 or 2 wide receivers to help the young receivers like Na Brown and Todd Pinkston to become more enept in the Eagles version of the West Coast Offense. The Eagles could use a Eric Moulds or possibly even a Jerry Rice to give the Eagles passing game a better chance of providing relief for Donovan McNabb and allow him to grow both as the quarterback and captain of the offense. The Eagles should keep Charles Johnson because he brings both leadership and hard work to an otherwise outmatched group of receivers. A running back should be considered if either Chris Warren or Duce Staley is not up to the task. The offensive line should be kept in tack, but perhaps a veteran guard could be added to give both John Wellborn and Jermaine Mayberry some rest during the game. On the defensive side, the Eagles first goal is to sign Jeremiah Trotter to a long term contract, then go out and sign a defensive end to help shore up a better run defense and leviate the attention of Hugh Douglas who was a basic non-factor against the Giants in all three games as the Giants shown that 2 blockers are better than one.

As for this year, it was a huge sucess story as the Eagles won 12 games compared to the 8 games the Eagles won all of the last 2 years. They also had a 6-2 record on the road. This was significant as the Eagles only won twice in the last 4 years. Philadelphia will be a team to reckon with for a long time into the future. And if the Eagles figure out how to beat the Giants next year, perhaps they will be challenging to be in the Super Bowl and have the "Home Field Advantage" next year instead of either the Vikings or Giants. It will be an interesting off season as the Eagles are in great shape as they have $15M to spend on bettering themselves while both Washington and Dallas are in big trouble as both are over the cap for next season.