Eagles Notebook: Akers ready to weather any conditions at Giants Stadium

It was really, really cold last week in Minnesota, the wind chill at minus-16 just before the Eagles and Vikings kicked off Sunday afternoon.

Since the game was played inside the Metrodome, though, that circumstance was just a footnote, instead of the trigger to some sort of historic struggle against the elements, like the 1967 "Ice Bowl" between the Cowboys and Packers.

This week, when the Eagles visit the Giants in a divisional round playoff game, nobody on the field is going to be wondering what the weather outside Giants Stadium is like. The winter wind comes whistling through the swamplands down into the open bowl, with not much in the way of trees or nearby buildings to slow it down.

Current forecasts are for temperatures in the low 30s and winds in the teens for Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford, N.J., after snow on Saturday, which also is forecast for the Philadelphia area.

"I never do any of that stuff," Eagles kicker David Akers, who has fared worse at Giants Stadium than any other NFL venue, said yesterday, when asked if he'd been checking on the weather. The two makes and two blocks from the Birds' Dec. 7 victory there, in winds above 20 mph, made Akers' N.J. field goal tally 11-for-22 lifetime. "Maybe check it once or twice, see what's happening, kind of laugh at it, but for the most part, you can't control it . . . I'm going to get in and do what I can to make the kicks when I'm called upon."

Akers was a perfect 4-for-4 inside the dome last week, including a 51-yarder that broke his own record for longest Eagles postseason field goal. Oddly enough, Akers made a 51-yarder in that December game at Giants Stadium, where in 2007 he made a 53-yarder.

"A lot of it has to do with where the wind is coming from," Eagles special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest said. "If it's in your face, if it's right to left, left to right, depending on what the situation is there. Both of those guys [Akers and punter Sav Rocca] have kicked in windy conditions before and had success there."

Rocca also was a dome beneficiary last week, averaging 44.3 yards on his four punts, each of which was downed inside the Vikings' 20.

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg yesterday said wind is a bigger factor for an offense than cold, rain, or snow, but when asked about the legend of the Giants opening the tunnel that leads into the East end zone to make the winds trickier for opponents driving to that end, Mornhinweg was dismissive.