Brandon Jacobs

Staying with the run: The Eagles only averaged 2.1 yards per carry against the Giants, but Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg stayed with the run. The Eagles ran the ball 28 times. Can the Eagles stop the Cardinals' red-hot passing game?: The Eagles haven't given up a passing touchdown in the last five games. But Kurt Warner threw three of them in the Eagles' Thanksgiving night win over the Cardinals. Those touchdown-saving tackles: Cornerback Sheldon Brown made a touchdown-saving shoestring tackle on Brandon Jacobs at the tail end of a 24-yard run in the second quarter, and wide receiver Kevin Curtis saved a TD when he tripped up Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins after he intercepted a pass early in the third quarter.

I'D GIVE the Eagles a puncher's chance at making the rest of their season relevant by pulling off a huge upset. That's what it would be, with the Giants rolling along so well. Maybe you get a little more from Brian Westbrook, they get a little less from Brandon Jacobs, and Eagles fans can rejoice. I sure wouldn't bet on that happening. Not much bothers the Giants these days. The Eagles are a team that last week showed signs of finally starting to put it all together. The Giants are a team that has it all together.

The majority of the world believes that Brian Westbrook is the most dangerous player involved in the game Sunday, but he isn't. The first time these teams met, back in Week 10, the Giants beat the Eagles 36-31, and it wasn't even that close. The G-Men racked up 370 yards on offense to the Eagles' 255, and if it wasn't for settling for three John Carney field goals, the game could have been over a lot earlier than when the Eagles failed to convert on a 4th and 1. In that game Brandon Jacobs rushed for 126 yards and simply punished the Eagles' defense in route to two rushing touchdowns.

The Eagles thought they had forced the Giants to attempt a field goal when Eli Manning was called for an illegal forward pass on a third-and-10 play from the Eagles' 20 late in the third quarter. Manning had scrambled and his right foot appeared to be in the air when he threw a 17-yard pass to Kevin Boss. Coach Tom Coughlin challenged the call and it was reversed, giving the Giants a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Brandon Jacobs scored a touchdown to give New York a 27-24 lead.

The formidable three-headed monster known as the running game of the New York Giants consists of a guy with power, a guy with speed, and a guy with a little of both. Tomorrow night at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles will come face to face with the NFL's No. 2 rushing attack. "The bottom line is only one of them can run the ball at a time, so whichever one is back there, that's the one we're prepared for," linebacker Omar Gaither said yesterday. The roster of Giants running backs is led by Brandon Jacobs, a 6-foot-4, 264-pound load and the league's fifth-leading rusher with 680 yards.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Jason Pierre-Paul blocked a 47-yard field-goal attempt by rookie Dan Bailey to let the New York Giants survive, 37-34, against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. Dallas had appeared to tie the game with a successful 47-yarder as time expired, but New York had called a timeout. The move worked, preserving a lead Eli Manning had created in the final minute, ending New York's four-game losing streak. The Giants scored two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes, 14 seconds in a showdown for first place in the NFC East.

WHAT IT WAS: The pair of Aaron Ross interceptions WHERE AND WHEN: On third-and-6 for the Eagles from the Giants' 19 at 8 minutes, 59 seconds in the first quarter, and first-and-10 from the Eagles' 20 at 8:07 in the fourth. THE BREAKDOWN: Ross' first interception arrived after a nice play by Michael Vick to elude a linebacker blitz. However, Vick's sidearm pass intended for former Giants wideout Steve Smith got snagged by Ross at his own 8-yard line and returned 19 yards to the 27. His second came courtesy of a deep ball intended for DeSean Jackson from backup Mike Kafka.

Even before his release from prison yesterday, the questions about Plaxico Burress' football future had been emerging for weeks. Various reports had the Eagles being interested in Burress, although nothing can happen until the labor imapasse is resolved. Burress' former New York Giants teammate, Brandon Jacobs, said Burress wanted to play for the Eagles. There was the connection between Burress and Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, both in their backgrounds and their attempts to resurrect their NFL careers after prison.

New Jersey State Police are investigating allegations that two state troopers ushered a high-speed parade of luxury sports cars - including one reportedly driven by former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs - as they recklessly tore down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City in March. Early the afternoon of March 30, witnesses reportedly saw two patrol cars, lights on, speeding down the Parkway with a pack of more than two dozen cars including Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Sunday.

Paul Domowitch's report card on the Eagles-Giants game: RUSHING OFFENSE: D Eagles rushed for 106 yards on 21 carries, but 35 of those yards came on Donovan McNabb scrambles. Brian Westbrook managed just 26 yards on 13 carries and was stopped on a do-or-die fourth-and-1 at the end. PASSING OFFENSE: C Not one of McNabb's better days even though he did throw 3 TD passes. Missed on his first six passes and completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes for the first time this season.

New Jersey State Police are investigating allegations that two state troopers ushered a high-speed parade of luxury sports cars - including one reportedly driven by former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs - as they recklessly tore down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City in March. Early the afternoon of March 30, witnesses reportedly saw two patrol cars, lights on, speeding down the Parkway with a pack of more than two dozen cars including Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Sunday.

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ers added another member of last season's Super Bowl-champion New York Giants on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with veteran running back Brandon Jacobs on a 1-year contract. Jacobs was released March 9 by the Giants after he failed to reach agreement on a restructured deal. He is expected to play behind Frank Gore and could share the backup role with second-year pro Kendall Hunter. Jacobs spent seven seasons with New York, winning two Super Bowls and beating the 49ers, 20-17, in overtime of the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park on Jan. 22. The 29-year-old Jacobs ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns last season as a backup to Ahmad Bradshaw.

DENVER - With TV cameras tracking the airplane, then the silver SUV, that carried Peyton Manning to Denver Broncos headquarters Friday, the league's only four-time MVP opened his free-agency tour of NFL suitors. About 48 hours after being released by the Indianapolis Colts, Manning met with another Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Broncos vice president of football operations John Elway, and coach John Fox. The three chatted while taking a tour of the team's practice field and heading to the weight room.

NEW YORK GIANTS running back Brandon Jacobs apologized last night for telling reporters Tuesday that Gisele Bundchen should "stay cute and shut up. " Jacobs, speaking on ESPN's The Doug Gottlieb Show, said he should respect Tom Brady's wife. "Given the fact that it's a colleague of mine's wife, I do apologize for saying that, because I shouldn't have said that," Jacobs said yesterday. "It's his wife and I should respect that just as much as anyone else. " Jacobs, however, stood by his comments on Bundchen's appearance, again calling her "cute.

Sports fans bet $93.9 million at Nevada casinos on Sunday's Super Bowl matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, the most wagered in the last decade. The Gaming Control Board said that unaudited tallies show 184 sports books won a little more than $5 million on the football action. New England was about a three-point favorite, but the Giants won, 21-17. It was a different story for Nevada casinos when the same teams played in the 2008 Super Bowl. The Patriots opened as 14-point favorites four years ago, but Giants backers bet the line down to 12 points and were paid when New York earned a 17-14 win. Nevada casinos lost the most money ever on the Super Bowl that year - $2.6 million.

INDIANAPOLIS - This is where it stands as the New England Patriots and New York Giants finally get down to playing Sunday's 46th edition of the Super Bowl: The Patriots are bloodthirsty for revenge after the Giants embarrassed them four years ago and thwarted their run to 19 games of perfection. Bill Belichick, despite his efforts to say the contrary, has used that loss to motivate his players. As relaxed as the New England coach has seemed this week, Belichick has a chance to win his fourth title and warrant mention as the greatest coach the game has ever had. The same holds true for the Patriots' Tom Brady, who would join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It's the week of the NFC Championship Game and it's New York, so a minor illness to the starting quarterback becomes headline fodder. After Eli Manning was limited in Wednesday's practice because of a stomach bug, the front cover of the New York Daily News read "Big Flu" with an illustration of a bedridden quarterback. Don't make your bets yet, though. Manning returned to practice yesterday, said he took every rep and feels well. There is no concern about the quarterback missing Sunday's game against the 49ers.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Timing, the New York Giants know, is an incredible force. In the NFL playoffs, it's not enough to have strong parts on your team. Those parts also have to excel at just the right time. The Giants have made that happen for the last three weeks, culminating with a bruising, 24-2 win over the Falcons in a wild-card playoff game here Sunday. The run has been enough to help the Giants win the NFC East and now, in some corners of New York, inspire comparisons to their 2007 championship run, when the pieces also fell into place at just the right time.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Rex Ryan was brash and confident all week, insisting his Jets were the kings of New York. Well, the Giants shut him up in a big way - taking the city bragging rights and setting up an even more important showdown with the Dallas Cowboys next weekend with a 29-14 victory Saturday. The Giants victory, which eliminated the Eagles from playoff contention, set up a season finale with Dallas on Jan. 1 to decide the division title and which team makes the National Football League playoffs.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If the New York Giants miss the playoffs once again, they have only themselves and the Washington Redskins to blame. Rex Grossman threw a touchdown pass and the Redskins put a major hurt on the Giants and their playoff hopes with a dominating 23-10 victory yesterday in a game in which New York showed little desire with much on the line. "I'm very disappointed in how we played today," coach Tom Coughlin said after the Giants (7-7) fell a game behind Dallas (8-6)