Inside the Eagles: Eagles, Reid should take a tip or two from Giants

INDIANAPOLIS - If Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning had difficulty digging through the confetti and making sense of their improbable run to another Super Bowl title, then the Eagles are unlikely to gather much from the Giants' victory here and apply it to their chances for next season.

Coughlin and Manning, as winning coach and MVP of Super Bowl XLVI, met with reporters Monday, a mere 10 hours after the Giants had "upset" the New England Patriots, 21-17.

And while their answers were expansive and soaked from the euphoria of their second championship together, they did little to reveal a hidden secret to their success. Because, really, a bounce here, a caught pass there, and Bill Belichick and Tom Brady could just as easily have been basking in their fourth title instead of ending the season as the Eagles and 30 other NFL teams did.

Andy Reid and the Eagles brass could look back at last season and take the premise that if two plays were reversed - perhaps Jeremy Maclin's fumble against the 49ers and Jason Avant's fumble at Buffalo - they, too, could have been in the Giants' shoes.

And while there may be some legitimacy to that thinking, there are certain truths to be taken from the Giants' triumph: There is no player as valuable as a quarterback who can perform in the clutch and there is no substitute for a defense that is physical, despite the league's attempts to neuter defenders.

The Eagles, of course, have a quarterback that is on the un-clutch side of the ledger and a defense that is on the softer side, but that does not preclude them from having a shot. It does, however, mean that they have to alter their formula for winning.

Reid is right that passing offenses win in the NFL, but only if you have Manning, Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees throwing the football. Michael Vick will turn 32 in June. While this offseason will be an important one for the Eagle quarterback, to still say that Vick has time to change would be delusional.

To steal a player phrase, he is what he is. The Eagles will not win with Vick throwing 40 times a game as Manning and Brady both did on Sunday. With LeSean McCoy at running back, Reid has good reason to tip the scales - just ever so slightly - to a more ball-control offense.