Tiki Barber gave the Giants a fantastic going away present with an awesome season.  He rushed for over 1,000 yards for the 6th time in his career and he also caught over 50 passes for the 7th time.   Barber started all 16 games and carried the ball 327 times for 1,662 yards (5.1 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 58 passes for 465 yards (8.0 avg).  For his career, Barber played in 154 games (109 starts) and he carried the ball 2,217 times for 10,449 yards (4.7 ypc) with 55 TD runs.  He also has caught 586 passes for 5,183 yards (8.8 avg) with 12 TD catches.

Brandon Jacobs was the Giants jackhammer as he carried the ball in most of the short yardage situations and goal line sets.  He played in 15 games this season and carried the ball 96 times for 423 yards (4.4 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  He also caught 11 passes for 149 yards (13.5 avg).  For his career, Jacobs has played in 31 games and has carried the ball 134 times for 522 yards (3.9 ypc) with 16 TD runs.  He also has caught 11 passes for 149 yards (13.5 avg).  Next season Jacobs might get his big chance….and I think he will succeed big-time as the feature back.

Chad Morton was mostly a special teams player for the Giants.  He had 1 carry this season for 22 yards.  For his career, Morton has played in 93 games (5 starts) and he’s carried the ball 89 times for 382 yards (4.3 ypc).  He also has caught 48 passes for 419 yards (8.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Fullback Jim Finn did the blocking for Barber and Jacobs, and he did a good job.  Finn played in all 16 games and carried the ball 2 times for 14 yards (7.0 ypc).  He also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg).  For his career, Finn has played in 106 games (45 starts) and he’s carried the ball 11 times for 30 yards (2.7 ypc).  He also has caught 60 passes for 423 yards (7.1 avg) with 1 TD catch.

When you consider all the injuries that hit the defense for the Giants you have to give Coughlin credit for getting the Giants to the playoffs.  The Giants finished at 8-8 on the season and lost their playoff game to the Eagles 23-20.  Tom Coughlin’s career record now stands at 93-83 (52.8%) and he’s 4-6 in the playoffs.  With the Giants Coughlin is now 25-23 (52.1%) in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs.

Eli Manning had wild swings in the past season, some good and some awful.  The Giants really need Manning to be a more consistent QB to give them a better chance to win every week.  Manning started all 16 games and completed 301 of 522 passes (57.7%) for 3,244 yards with 24 TD passes and 18 interceptions  (77.0 QB Rating).  He also ran the ball 25 times for 21 yards (0.8 ypc).  For his career, Manning has played in 41 games (39 starts) and he’s completed 690 of 1,276 passes (54.1%) for 8,049 yards with 54 TD passes and 44 interceptions (73.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 60 times for 136 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Jared Lorenzen has been Manning’s back-up for two years but he’s only appeared in two games and has carried the ball 1 time for 2 yards.

The Giants gave it their all yesterday, but they fell just a tad short.  Things were not looking good for the Giants as they trailed 20-13 early in the 4th quarter.  Eli Manning then directed a 13 play, 80 yard TD drive that took 7:09 to tie the score with 5:04 seconds left.  The Giants would never get the ball again as the Eagles drove the ball 46 yards in 10 plays to set up David Akers for the game-winning FG (38 yards) that sailed through the uprights as time expired.

Eli Manning didn’t play great hitting 16 of 27 passes for 161 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception, but he made alot of big throws in this game and performed alot better in the playoffs than he did last season.  Tiki Barber’s last game was a great one as he carried the ball 26 times for 137 yards (5.3).  Plaxico Burress continued his domination of the Eagles as he caught 5 passes for 89 yards and 2 TDs.

The problem on defense for the Giants is that they couldn’t stop the Eagles from running the ball.  Brian Westbrook carried the ball 20 times for 141 yards (7.1) with a TD run.

The Giants gave a good effort yesterday and alot of people didn’t think they had that in them.  http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270107021

This should be an interesting game as these two teams split during the regular season.  The Eagles outscored the Giants 60-52 in the two games these teams played against each other.  The Giants have thrown the ball really well against the Eagles this season as Eli Manning has hit 71.1% of his passes for 653 yards with 3 TDs and 3 INTs in the two games.  The Eagles have done a good job bottling up Tiki Barber as he carried the ball 40 times for 126 yards (3.2 ypc) and a TD.  He also caught 12 passes for 86 yards.  Plaxico Burress has caught 12 passes for 234 yards (19.5 avg) and a TD against the Eagles.  Jeremy Shockey also was busy with 10 grabs for 87 yards in the games.

The Eagles passes well in the games against the Giants.  McNabb threw for 350 yards in the first meeting and Jeff Garcia passes for 237 yards in the second game.  The Giants run defense had problems against Brian Westbrook as he carried the ball 38 times for 165 yards (4.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 12 passes for 96 yards.  TE LJ Smith did well against the Giants with 11 grabs for 165 yards.  Donte’ Stallworth (6 rec, 86 yards, TD) and Reggie Brown (5 rec, 100 yards, 2 TDs) both played well against the Giants.

Look for the Giants to switch gears in this game and feed the rock to Tiki Barber.  Barber has carried the ball 327 times this season for 1,662 yards (5.1 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Look for Brandon Jacobs in the short and goal line situations as he has 423 yards rushing (4.4 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  The Eagles run defense is allowing 136.4 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry this season.  Jeremiah Trotter will be the main guy chasing Barber and Jacobs around as he piled up 112 tackles this season.  Eli Manning (3,244 yards passing) should play well against the Eagles, but he must be careful around Brian Dawkins (93 tackles, 4 interceptions) and Lito Sheppard (6 INTs) who are big-time playmakers in the secondary.  Plaxico Burress (63 rec, 988 yards, 10 TDs) has done major damage to the Eagles this season so look for them to seriously consider doubling him alot.  Jeremy Shockey (66 rec, 623 yards, 7 TDs) should be ready to go after missing last week’s game and the Giants need him to loosen up the middle of the field. 

Jeff Garcia has been outstanding for the Eagles this season and look for him to attack the Giants down the field.  The Giants allow 228.1 net yards passing per game, so the Eagles should be able to get their passing game going.  Look for LJ Smith (50 rec, 611 yards) and Brian Westbrook (77 rec, 699 yards) to handle the short stuff.  As soon as the Giants sneak up to stop the short stuff, look for the Eagles to throw the ball deep to Donte’ Stallworth and Reggie Brown.  The Eagles also should have success running the ball as the Giants allow 114.4 yards rushing per game.  Brian Westbrook (1,217 yards rushing, 5.1 ypc, 7 TDs) and Correll Buckhalter should have decent games on the ground.  The Giants LB Antonio Pierce (137 tackles) will be chasing the Eagles’ backs all over the field.

The special teams for the Giants have been o.k. this season.  Jay Feely hit 23 of 27 FGs which is pretty good.  Jeff Feagles averages 40.2 yards per punt, but a 37.0 yard net avg.  Feagles has pinned the opposition inside the 20 yard line 27/77 times.  Chad Morton returns both punts and kick-offs for the Giants.  Morton has returned 29 punts for 268 yards (9.2 avg) and 31 kickoffs for 670 yards (21.6 avg).

The Eagles special teams haven’t been great either.  David Akers hit 18 of 23 FGs this season.  Punter Dirk Johnson averaged 42.6 yards per punt, but he only averages a net of 34.9 yards as the Eagles don’t cover punts well.  Johnson has pinned the opponent inside the 20, 21 of 78 times.  Reno Mahe handles the returns and averages 9.4 yards per punt return and 22.2 yards per kickoff return.

The Eagles are at home and they’re coming into the playoffs smoking….but….the Giants will want to win this game for Tiki Barber.  So, I have a feeling that this will be a much closer game than most people think it will be.  I still like the Eagles, but it will be a good football game.