NEW YORK — The NFC East is built on storied rivalries and Saturday night’s NFC divisional round playoff clash between two teams separated by less than 100 miles down the Jersey Turnpike provides plenty of ill-will and history to draw from.
This will be the 179th meeting between the franchises — only one fewer than the total the Giants have played against Washington — including four playoff games.
The rivalry brings up more heartache for Giants fans and former players (Joe Pisarcik is known to dread it when his phone starts buzzing around this time).
The pain runs deep from Chuck Bednarik’s 1960 blindsided hit that knocked Frank Gifford out of the game for 18 months to the Miracle at the Meadowlands involving Pisarcik to Randall Cunningham’s escape from Carl Banks to DeSean Jackson’s punt return to Doug Pederson sitting Jalen Hurts for Nate Sudfeld in the second half of the season finale, the latter three contributing directly to the Giants missing the playoffs.
And that’s just the regular season.
No one can forget the last time they met in the playoffs when Philly spoiled the Giants’ chances at repeating as Super Bowl champs following the 2008 season.
DEC. 27, 1981
GIANTS 27, EAGLES 21
— The season: The 1981 season marked the first signs of the Giants franchise turning things around from its darkest era (mid-1960s to the late-’70s).
With Mara family infighting over the football operations not helping the cause for years, the NFL stepped in to help one of its founding franchises. When the Maras couldn’t decide on a GM to succeed Andy Robustelli following the 1978 season, the league suggested George Young, who had worked in the front offices of the Colts and Dolphins, as a compromise.
Ray Perkins was hired in 1979 as coach. The 1981 team’s staff featured Bill Parcells as defensive coordinator and Bill Belichick as special teams and linebackers coach.
By 1981, the Giants were competitive, middling through most of the season with a young aspiring quarterback in Phil Simms and the rookie season of No. 2 overall draft pick Lawrence Taylor added to a defense anchored by future Hall of Famer Harry Carson. Simms eventually got hurt and backup Scott Brunner helped them win four of their last five games, including beating the Cowboys in overtime in the season finale to eke into the playoffs at 9-7.
Dick Vermeil’s Eagles were coming off their first trip to the Super Bowl in the previous season and returned the core of that group, including Ron Jaworski, Harold Carmichael, Wilbert Montgomery and a staunch defense.
— The game: Playing in Philadelphia, the Giants didn’t look like a franchise that had missed the previous 18 postseasons.
Big Blue jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter on Brunner touchdown passes to Leon Bright and John Mistler and Mark Haynes’ fumble recovery in the end zone on a kickoff when Wally Henry muffed his second kick of the quarter.
After Jaworski connected with Carmichael on a 15-yard TD in the second quarter, Brunner answered back with 22-yard score to Tom Mullady for a 27-7 halftime lead and they then leaned on running back Rob Carpenter (161 rushing yards) in the second half while the Eagles used two Montgomery touchdown runs to make it interesting as Big Blue held on for a 27-21 win.
— The aftermath: The Giants advanced to play at the No. 1 seeded San Francisco 49ers. It was the beginning of the Bill Walsh-Joe Montana dynasty and Montana threw for 304 yards and two scores as San Francisco built a 24-7 lead in the second quarter and never saw its lead drop below seven points for a 38-24 win on its way to winning Super Bowl XVI.
It would take the Giants three years to return to the playoffs. Perkins left after the 1982 season to succeed his mentor Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama. Parcells took over and survived a 3-12-1 1983 season before the franchise truly turned the corner a year later.
For the Eagles, this marked the end of the successful run of four straight playoff appearances under Vermeil, who would retire citing burnout after the strike-shortened 1982 season.
JAN. 7, 2001
GIANTS 20, EAGLES 10
— The season: Coach Jim Fassel’s seat was warm after going 15-17 over the previous two seasons, but the outlook for 2000 was promising.
The Giants had found their quarterback in Kerry Collins and they had established a Thunder (rookie Ron Dayne) and Lightning (Tiki Barber) rushing attack. Michael Strahan, Keith Hamilton, Jessie Armstead and Jason Sehorn led a strong defense.
The Giants opened the season with a 7-2 record, but consecutive home losses to the Rams and Lions made Giants fans — and pundits — a little restless.
That’s when Fassel famously said, “I’m raising the stakes right now. This team is going to the playoffs.” The Giants didn’t lose again until the Super Bowl, winning the final five regular-season games to win the division and earn the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
The Giants swept the season series with the Eagles, 33-18 at Philly and 24-7 at Giants Stadium. To this point, Fassel held a 4-0 record against Eagles coach Andy Reid.
At 11-5 Philadelphia was making its first of five straight playoff appearances under Reid with quarterback Donovan McNabb emerging as a star and a defense led by Hugh Douglas, Brian Dawkins, Jeremiah Trotter and Troy Vincent.
The Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 21-3, in the wild-card round the week before, led by McNabb’s three touchdowns — two passing, one rushing.
— The game: Fassel’s early dominance of Reid aside, when Giants returner Ron Dixon took the opening kickoff and burst through a big hole untouched for a 97-yard touchdown, the game was essentially over in a defensive battle the Giants dominated.
Strahan sacked McNabb twice, the second time forcing a fumble, and added another tackle for loss. The game saw its true separation when Sehorn made an incredible athletic play, intercepting McNabb while juggling the ball in the air in a somersault and racing down the sideline for a 32-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 1:40 left in the first half.
McNabb would throw a 10-yard touchdown to Torrance Small in the final two minutes of the game, but that was inconsequential as the Giants reserved a date in the NFC Championship Game.
— The aftermath: The Giants rolled over the Minnesota Vikings, 41-0, in the NFC Championship Game the following week before their magical run hit a wall in the historically great Baltimore Ravens defense in the Super XXXV. The Giants’ only score in a 34-7 rout came on a Dixon kickoff return to open the second half. Collins threw four interceptions and was sacked four times.
The Eagles’ first trip to the playoffs in four years wouldn’t be the last for Reid and McNabb. Philadelphia won the NFC East and reached the NFC Championship Games in each of the next four seasons, going to the Super Bowl following the 2004 season. In all, Reid’s teams would make the playoffs in nine of 11 seasons.
JAN. 7, 2007
EAGLES 23, GIANTS 20
— The season: In Year 3 of the Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning era, the Giants were coming off an NFC East title in 2005 only to lose their opening playoff game in shutout fashion to the Carolina Panthers.
They looked to be on their way to building on that success in 2006, starting the season 6-2.
Some key injuries combined with Barber announcing that he would be retiring at season’s end to pursue a media career made things unsettling. A game that exemplified the difficult season came against the Tennessee Titans, when as the Giants were blowing a 21-point lead, first-round draft pick Mathias Kiwanuka appeared to sack Titans QB Vince Young, only to let go before any whistle blew, allowing Young to run for a first down and continue the comeback for a Tennessee win.
In the regular-season finale at Washington, Barber put the Giants on his back, rushing for 234 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-28 win as Big Blue squeaked into the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
McNabb played exceptionally well to start the season just to get the Eagles to 5-4, but suffered a season-ending injury in a loss at Tennessee. After they lost the next game at Indianapolis, Philly shifted its focus to the running of Brian Westbrook and the game management of Jeff Garcia as the team ended the season on a five-game winning streak — including a 36-22 win at the Giants — to claim the division.
Like this year, the division put three teams in the playoffs — Eagles, Cowboys, Giants.
— The game: As far as the playoff history between these teams goes, this game was the most competitive, a see-saw affair that was won on the game’s final play.
The Giants took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, scoring on a 17-yard pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress. The Eagles didn’t answer until Westbook broke free for a 49-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. After the teams traded field goals, Garcia found Donte’ Stallworth for a 28-yard touchdown with 1:07 left in the half for a 17-10 lead.
After an exchange of field goals again from Philly’s David Akers and the Giants’ Jay Feely, the Giants went on a 15-play, 80-yard drive, chewing up much of the fourth quarter before Manning connected with Burress again for an 11-yard score with 5:08 left. Barber contributed 51 total yards on what would be the final drive of his career. He would finish with 178 total yards for the game (137 rushing; 41 receiving).
Philadelphia then rode their workhorse Westbrook to get into field-goal position as Akers nailed the 38-yarder as time expired for the 23-20 win.
— The aftermath: The Giants’ midseason collapse made Coughlin’s seat warm up in the offseason. Coughlin adjusted his militaristic style entering the 2007 season and Barber’s departure seemed to ease some tensions in the locker room as the Giants went 10-6 to earn a wild-card berth and ending the regular season with 38-35 loss to the undefeated New England Patriots. Buoyed by that game, the Giants set out on their greatest playoff run ever, beating the Bucs, the top-seeded Cowboys and then the Packers in a historically frigid atmosphere at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game to set a rematch with the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, which the Giants won, 17-14, in one of the biggest upsets in the big game’s history and earn Big Blue a third Lombardi Trophy.
The Eagles lost the next week, 27-24, at New Orleans in the divisional round and would miss the playoffs with an 8-8 record in 2007. The Eagles then reeled off three more playoff appearances, including an upset over the Giants following the 2008 season.
JAN. 11, 2009
EAGLES 23, GIANTS 11
— The season: After their epic Super Bowl season in 2007 and Strahan’s retirement, the Giants hit the ground running in 2008, looking like the best team in the league, starting 10-1 with Manning looking sharp and a ground game bolstered by Brandon Jacobs (1,089 yards), Derrick Ward (1,025 yards) and Ahmad Bradshaw.
However, an off-field incident would alter that promising season. On the night of Friday, Nov. 28, Burress, while out at a club in New York City, accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unregistered gun. Although the wound was not life-threatening, the Giants’ top receiving threat would be suspended for the rest of the season and he eventually would serve 20 months in prison and never play for the Giants again.
Although the Giants won that week’s game at Washington to improve to 11-1, they lost three of their final four games to finish 12-4 and still managed to win the NFC East and secure home-field advantage. One of the losses in that stretch came against the Eagles, 20-14, which would be an omen of things to come in January.
Philly began the season 5-5-1, but won four of its last five — including the win at Giants Stadium, where the defense really shone, holding Big Blue (which averaged 157 yards rushing per game) to just 88 yards on the ground.
In the wild-card round, the Eagles won at Minnesota, 26-14, with a McNabb 71-yard touchdown to Westbrook midway through the fourth quarter making the difference.
— The game: Much like the late regular-season meeting, the Eagles prevailed in a defensive struggle where the Giants managed just three field goals on three trips to the red zone.
Big Blue appeared to get off to a lightning start when Bradshaw returned the opening kickoff to the Eagles 35. That resulted in a John Carney 22-yard field goal and a 3-0 Giants lead.
On their next possession, Manning was picked off by Asante Samuel at the Giants’ 27 and Samuel returned it to the 2-yard line where McNabb snuck it in three plays later for a 7-3 lead.
The Giants would score a safety when McNabb, under pressure from Justin Tuck, was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
The lead would change hands four times as the teams exchanged field goals, but when Philly’s David Akers hit a 35-yarder with 7:45 left in the third quarter, the Eagles led, 13-11, and never lost it.
A McNabb 1-yard pass to Brent Celek gave Philly breathing room and Akers tacked on another field goal late. In between those scores, the Giants couldn’t convert on two fourth-and-shorts near midfield to put salt on the Giants’ wounded season.
— The aftermath: The Eagles played at the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game the following week and took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter on a 62-yard pass from McNabb to Jackson, but Kurt Warner’s 8-yard touchdown to Tim Hightower with 2:53 left ended the Eagles’ chances at reaching their second Super Bowl in five years.
The Giants felt the effects of this loss and missed the playoffs the next two seasons, going 8-8 in 2009.
In 2010, the Giants appeared to get back on track only to see Philly suck the life out of their playoff dreams.
Holding a 9-4 record entering a key matchup with the Eagles in their last game at the old Giants Stadium. Leading 31-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Big Blue collapsed under the onslaught of a comeback spurred by Michael Vick, who resurrected his career in Philly that season after McNabb was injured early. Vick engineered three scoring drives to tie the game at 31 with 1:16 remaining.
When the Giants went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, they had to punt from their own 29 with 14 seconds left. Matt Dodge was instructed not to kick the ball near Philly’s dangerous returner in Jackson, but Dodge hit a line drive that Jackson dropped, but picked up at his own 35, he escaped a tackle and found a seam and burst down the right sideline and then ran along the goal line for a few seconds to make sure the clock ran out before scoring the winning touchdown. The second Miracle at the Meadowlands essentially knocked the Giants out of the playoffs as both teams finished atop the NFC East with 10-6 records, but Philadelphia won the division by virtue of a 2-0 head-to-head record.
