You Talking to Me? The Birds' chances against the Giants aren't good

From: Gonzalez, John

To: Fox, Ashley; Sheridan, Phil

Subject: The Birds

Donovan McNabb played much better last week, and so did Brian Westbrook. Meanwhile, Brandon Jacobs is banged up for the Giants, and Plaxico Burress is suspended following his now-infamous plaxident. So what kind of, uh, shot do you give the Birds to beat New York?

From: Sheridan, Phil

To: Fox, Ashley; Gonzalez, John

Subject: The Birds

I was at the Giants game at Washington last Sunday. The thing that kept reoccurring to me was: These guys are good. Like, really good. That shouldn't be a surprise when you're talking about the defending Super Bowl champions, but it still amazes me the way the Giants morphed from a so-so wild-card team into world beaters in the playoffs and then raised it another notch this season.

They can beat the Eagles in a shoot-out - as Eli Manning proved last month and again in Washington. And they can beat the Eagles in a slugfest, which the weather might dictate today.

To win this, and really the Eagles have to win this, they have to play very close to a perfect game. In the Meadowlands. Based on the season so far, they have as good a shot as Plax has of being on the cover of Guns & Ammo next month. Giants 20, Eagles 16.

From: Gonzalez, John

To: Fox, Ashley; Sheridan, Phil

Subject: The Birds

I'm not sure that losing Plaxico hurts the Giants all that much - at least not against the Birds. In the first game, he had just one catch for 17 yards, and New York still managed to put up 36 points.

Jacobs is another matter, though. He crushed the Eagles the first time around. How his knee feels, and how he plays, could mean the difference between the Eagles staying in the game or getting blown out. Giants 31, Eagles 21.

From: Fox, Ashley

To: Sheridan, Phil; Gonzalez, John

Subject: The Birds

The Giants are no joke, and I just don't see the Eagles putting it all together to derail them. Plaxico being gone really shouldn't be a factor. If the weather today is as bad as they've been predicting, it's going to come down to the running games, and forgive me for having just a little more faith in the Giants' ability to move the football than the Eagles'.

I'd love for the Eagles to win this one to keep things interesting heading down the stretch. Nothing would be more fun than that Dallas game actually meaning something. But I don't see it. Giants 24, Eagles 13.