Eagles beat Giants to advance to NFC championship game

The Philadelphia Eagles denied the New York Giants an opportunity to defend their Superbowl title with a dominating 23-11 upset victory of the 2008 champs on Sunday at the Meadowlands.  Donovan McNabb outplayed Eli Manning to put the Eagles in next Sunday’s NFC Championship games against the upstart Arizona Cardinals in Tempe, AZ. 

Neither quarterback had overwhelmingly impressive statistical performances, but McNabb made the big plays that made the difference in the game while Manning did not.  McNabb would finish with 217 yards on 22/40 passing with 1 TD pass and two interceptions.  Manning finished with 15/29 for 169 yards with no TD passes and two interceptions.  Despite the lackluster statistical showing, McNabb has the Eagles in the NFC championship game for the fifth time in eight seasons.  After the game, Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid offered this praise for his signal caller:

"He is the best quarterback in the NFL. I don't think I have to say anything more than that."

By contrast, Manning failed to get it done as the Giants came away empty handed on three trips to the “red zone”.  They were also 3-13 on third down conversions.  After the contest, a disappointed Manning offered this candid assessment of his team’s performance:

"When we needed to get something done, get a spark to make a big play, that's when we didn't do our best. It all comes down to what you do in the playoffs. That makes your season a good one or a disappointment. This is a disappointment.  We felt this was a special team that could go far. The defense played outstanding today and gave us opportunities. Offensively, we didn't do our job. We didn't score enough points."

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin spoke of missed opportunities after his team became the first defending Superbowl champion to lose their first playoff game with a #1 seeding:

"I am very, very disappointed. I am sorry to see the season come to an end. There is remorse for opportunities lost."

In the winning locker room, the Eagles McNabb spoke of the excitement in Philadelphia over his team:

"In the locker room, there was so much energy in there. We were ready to play early in the week. The city of Philadelphia is buzzing; this team is buzzing."

They’ll now have to contend with another “buzzing” city as they travel to Tempe, AZ to play on the Arizona Cardinals tough home field.  After the victory, the Cards sold out 20,000 tickets to the NFC Championship game in just six minutes.