Eli Manning's improvement

Eli Manning used to be good for a few things every game: a throw off his back foot; a forced pass into coverage, often resulting in an interception; an unwise decision that led to a penalty, play-clock violation or botched play.

Those mistake-filled days vanished just before 2007 expired. During a loss to New England, Manning blossomed into the quarterback everyone expected he one day would become. It was a loss that led the New York Giants all the way to a Super Bowl victory.

That night at Giants Stadium, against a team no one had defeated all season, Manning was on fire, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes - including four that went for touchdowns - and finishing with his highest passer rating of the season.

Through the playoffs, Manning orchestrated a controlled, patient offense that churned yards, ate the clock and tired defenses. It wasn't the flashy, big-play offense of the Patriots, but in the end, when it mattered most in Super Bowl XLII, it was enough to beat the Patriots and make Manning the Super Bowl's most valuable player.

That five-game stretch turned Manning into a believer. Where he had been skeptical, he now understood. Small ball can win championships. Patience can prevail.

The Giants have avoided a Super Bowl hangover, and on Sunday will bring their 7-1 record to Lincoln Financial Field for the first of two divisional dates with the Eagles.

Sunday's game is big for both teams. The Eagles are looking to build on a three-game winning streak and close the gap on the Giants, who have two fewer losses than the Eagles and the Washington Redskins, while New York is looking to open a brutal second-half schedule with its third NFC East win.

The Giants have a tremendous defense, with perhaps the best front four in the NFL. The running game has been effective at eating yards and the clock.

But it is Manning, 27, who makes the team go.

"You can definitely see him maturing into the quarterback he has become, which is a pretty good one," Eagles safety Brian Dawkins said.

"He is still doing some of the same things" he did at the end of last season, Dawkins said. "The runs that need to be run against certain formations, the passing sets, where the ball needs to go, he is doing it. He has turned the ball over a couple of times, but, all in all, he is not doing it on a consistent basis."