So the Eagles are on to the Divisional Round to face the hated Giants in what should be a frigid Giants Stadium on Sunday. The game against the Vikings last week was one of the most predictable games imaginable. If you asked before the game what I expected to happen, I’d have probably said, “Both defenses will play solidly, Peterson and Westbrook will both break a long touchdown, Tarvaris Jackson will throw a killer pick, and the Eagles will win by about 10 points because they’re slightly better on defense and much better at QB.”
Also predictable was the way Andy and Brad Childress attempted to manage the clock at the end of the first half. It was like watching two blind guys match up in a chess match.
Anyway, here are my BSB Keys to the Game for the Birds on Sunday:
1. Keep the Giants running game in check: I know, I know, Eli won a Super Bowl last year. I noticed. But when I think of what scares me about playing the Giants this week, the thought of Eli going deep to Domenick Hixon isn’t really 
one of the first things that comes to mind. Now more than ever (thanks Plax!), their offense is driven by the ground game. The scary thoughts I have involve Brandon Jacobs taking 6 yards at a time up the middle, and Derrick Ward coming off-tackle for 15.
Luckily, this Eagles defensive unit is one of the best Jim Johnson has had at stopping the run. Bunkley and Patterson are clogging the middle, the linebackers’ strength has been run-stopping and, of course, there’s always Mr. Dawkins coming up to the line and flinging his body haphazardly at opposing backs. Johnson will need to temper his blitzing tendencies a bit, and Stewart Bradley and Chris Gocong will need to have big days.
2. Contain the Giants pass rush: Of course, the other strength of the Giants is attacking the quarterback, and the Eagles struggled in protecting McNabb last week. Along with Jacobs and Ward, the third player popping up in my visions is Justin Tuck (luckily, both Jacobs and Tuck are hurting, but should be ok for the game). Tuck’s a monster, and Steve Spagnuolo will be sending his boys after Donovan in this game. With Shawn Andrews out and Jon Runyan banged up, the Eagles O-Line is not looking too great, and the unit will definitely be a key to the game.
3. Don’t fall behind early: This will be important for two reasons. It will prevent the crowd from getting too much into the game and, more importantly, it will prevent Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg from giving up on the run. If the Eagles are willing and able to continue handing the ball off to Westbrook and Buckhalter, the Giant defense will not be able to attack as much as they would like, and that will go a long way toward attaining Key #2. In their win at Giants Stadium last month, the Eagles were able to keep a slim lead throughout and put it away in the 4th quarter. They’ll most likely need to repeat that scenario this week.
An Idea for Playoff Seeding
Due to the lopsided divisions in both conferences this season and a team like the 11-5 Patriots missing the playoffs, there has been a lot of talk about changing the playoff format. Some people have called for seeding based solely on record, while others have said that a team should have to have a winning record to get a playoff berth. Someone else has probably thought of the idea I’ve come up with, but I’ll throw it out there anyway.
In my plan, the criteria for making the playoffs stays exactly the same. I think the rivalries that arise from the division format are great, and that each division champ has to get a berth, no matter how bad their record may be. However, I would make a change to the seeding process. I would seed each team according to record, with a couple exceptions. First, a team must win their division to get a first-round bye. In other words, if the two best records in the conference are in the same division, the second-place team would get the #3 seed. Also, the first tie-breaker would be whether or not a team won their division, with the next tie-breakers following as currently used.
Under this format, the seedings this season would look like this:
AFC: 1. Tennessee, 2. Pittsburgh, 3. Indianapolis, 4. Miami, 5. Baltimore, 6. San Diego
NFC: 1. New York, 2. Carolina, 3. Atlanta, 4. Minnesota, 5. Philadelphia, 6. Arizona
Regarding key #3: To what extent do you think the participation of the crowd affects the outcome of the game? Don’t get me wrong, I like to clap and “wooo” as much as the next fan, but I tend to place that noise along with lucky jerseys and playoff beards. They’re all just ways for us helpless and uncoordinated ordinary people to believe that we have control over events totally remote from us.
Doogan, that playoff seeding is interesting, and I’ve never heard quite that twist on the seeding and, honestly, I think it’s the best I’ve heard. Interestingly, the first-round byes and the wild card matchups would have been the same (with the only difference being that the SD-Indy game would have been in Indy and the Arizona-Atlanta game would have been in Atlanta). Then, if the same teams had won in the WC round (a big “if” because of the difference in home-fields), then the matchups that ‘should’ be happening this week will happen. The #1 seeds are completely being punished this week. Honestly, if you are the Giants, how much would you rather face the Cardinals in 20 degrees? And, don’t you think the Titans would rather have the 8-8 Chargers than the red-hot Ravens? The one thing that I don’t like about the playoff format is that if the two best teams in the conference are in the same division, the odds are against them meeting up in the Conference Championship game because they will probably meet earlier
Yeah, if the actual two best teams are in the same division, then it doesn’t work perfectly. But, if the two best records come from the same division, that could possibly be because teams in the same division tend to have similar strength of schedule. This year, I’m pretty sure the four teams in the AFC East had four of the easiest schedules, coming into the season. And also, when it comes right down to it, I just think that to get that huge advantage of a first-round bye, you need to win your division.