Watch Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants Live Online

The Giants hope to make Donovan McNabb uncomfortable in the pocket.

Last meeting
Philadelphia handed rival New York its first home loss of the season by getting 203 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns from running back Brian Westbrook in Week 14.

Streaks
The Giants have won six of the past nine matchups and own an 81-68-2 overall series advantage, including the playoffs. See a breakdown of the last five meetings.

Last week
A visit to Minnesota was undaunting for the soaring Eagles as they won their wild-card battle with the Vikings, 26-14. ... The Giants reaped the benefits of a 12-4 season by getting a first-round bye.

Keep your eye on ...
McNabb on a mission: The main reason the Eagles have won five of their past six games is QB Donovan McNabb. In those five wins, McNabb has thrown 10 touchdowns with only two interceptions, while passing for an average of 243 yards per game.

New York's pass rush: The best way for the Giants to neutralize McNabb is to get pressure on him. When New York swept Philadelphia in 2007, it was largely due to its 15 sacks of McNabb. This year the teams split the season series, and the Giants were unable to take down McNabb a single time in either game.

Watch New York GIANTS vs New England PATRIOTS Live Online - SUPER BOWL XLII 42 Preview

The Patriots are looking to cap an 18-0 season with their fourth Super Bowl victory in seven years. Led by quarterback Eli Manning, the Giants are hoping to fool the football prognosticators, spoil the Pats' perfect season and begin building a legacy of their own.

That all sets the stage for a great game, local football fans say.

"It ought to be a good one. They (the Giants) beat the Packers and the Cowboys, and they are the right team to be representing the NFC," said Bill Crandall, who manages the Just Sports apparel store at Westgate City Center, an entertainment district just a few hundred yards from University of Phoenix Stadium. "I think there would have been more fans here if it was the Packers, but I still think it will be crazy chaos."

Local organizers are expecting 125,000 visitors to set foot in the Valley just to take part in Super Bowl festivities, from the family-friendly NFL Experience theme park next to the stadium to dozens of VIP parties in Scottsdale.

Sunday's AFC and NFC championship games sealed the deal for some fans. On Monday, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee sold more than a dozen $7,500 Super Bowl ticket packages to Giants fans Monday.

"From a competitive standpoint, it's a great matchup. From a visitors and economic-impact standpoint, they (New York and New England) are the largest markets and have the most media coverage," committee President Bob Sullivan said. "I think we'll see a groundswell of people coming in from the Northeast."

For months, Camelback Inn, Arizona Biltmore and other popular Valley resorts have been booked solid for Super Bowl weekend, Jan. 31 through Feb. 4. So Super Bowl fans making hotel arrangements after Sunday's playoff games have been left with few options.

Watch Super Bowl XLII Live Online 2008

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Mike Carey will also become the first black referee in Super Bowl history.

The officials of Super Bowl are chosen based on merit, with the highest ranked at each position getting the assignment. Carey, who in his private life runs a skiing accessories company, has been among the NFL's top crew chiefs for a decade and has been a Super Bowl alternate, but has never been the referee.

Black officials have been increasing in number over the years. This season there were 26 on the 17 crews, a single-season high.

Blacks also have been well-represented in the Super Bowl at other positions, starting with Burl Toler, a former player, who was involved of several of the early games.

Watch New York Giants vs Green Bay Packers Live Online - NFL NFC Championship Game Preview

The Giants and Packers met in Week 2 at the Meadowlands, with Green Bay winning, 35-13. Since that game, many things have changed for both teams.

The Giants turned things around after an 0-2 start, but it's actually the Packers who have been doing things differently since then as they have gone from a pass-first offense to a more balanced attack. Green Bay threw the ball 247 times in the first six weeks -- an average of 41 attempts per game. That figure dropped to 33 attempts per game in the last 10 regular-season games. For the Giants, the biggest change has been an improved running game -- they rushed for 94 yards in that first meeting but are now averaging 134 yards per game. And the play of Eli Manning has improved as the season has progressed.

You can probably make up an all-star team of unrestricted free agents from this weekend's games, and these two are near the top of the list. In Week 2, Grant was still a third-stringer and he had no rushing attempts and one reception for 21 yards in the game. In his first six games, he rushed for a total of 27 yards. In the next 10 regular-season games, he rushed for 929 yards -- and added 201 in last week's playoff win. Grant has the strength to run inside and the speed to run outside and has shown the ability to avoid tacklers in the open field. He is also a good receiver coming out of the backfield and will flank out as a wide receiver when the Packers try to create matchup problems.

Pierce came into the NFL as an unrestricted free agent in 2001 as an outside linebacker, and he was signed by the Giants in 2005 as a restricted free agent. He has started at middle linebacker the last three seasons for the Giants and has been their leading tackler. He leads by example and is very vocal. He's a smart player who is very competitive. He had 12 tackles and one pass defended in the Week 2 meeting. Pierce should be a big factor in the Giants' run defense if they are to win this game -- though he did not play all that well against the run in Dallas last week.

Watch New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys Live Online - NFL Playoffs Preview

It will be huge. As explosive as Dallas has been all season, the Cowboys owe a great deal of their success to the fact that Owens remains one of the elite receivers in the NFL. The bottom line is that when he's on the field, he makes life easier for everybody else on offense. Without him, quarterback Tony Romo isn't likely to play with the same swagger and the Cowboys' offense isn't going to be chewing up yardage by the chunks.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Monday that T.O. is a "game-time decision." He apparently has been rehabilitating his high ankle sprain so relentlessly that he was meeting with trainers on Christmas Day and New Year's. If we had to wager, we'd assume Owens will be dressed Sunday. His ankle probably won't be 100 percent -- such injuries tend to linger -- but his presence alone makes all the difference for the Cowboys' offense.

There's still good reason to be skeptical of Manning -- mainly because he was playing lousy during the final month of the regular season -- but the Giants have to love what they've seen from him lately.

Aside from one critical interception, Manning played brilliantly in a season-ending loss to New England and he was equally impressive in Sunday's wild-card win over Tampa Bay (20-for-27 for 185 yards and two touchdowns). If he can perform that well against Dallas, the Giants could very well pull the upset.

Remember, Manning enjoyed a huge day against Dallas in a season-opening loss (312 yards, four touchdowns, one interception). He was mediocre in the rematch, but the Dallas defense can give up big plays.

The key here is how well the Giants protect Manning and how well he makes decisions. One thing that is definitely certain is that he won't lack for confidence heading into this contest.

Watch New York Giants vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Live Online - NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

The New York Giants haven't won a playoff game since 2001. Jeff Garcia has played a big part in that -- and gets yet another chance to extend that drought Sunday.

Garcia leads the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) against the fifth-seeded Giants (10-6) in a wild-card matchup at Raymond James Stadium.

Garcia will make his third playoff start against the Giants in as many uniforms, and the sight of the veteran quarterback likely won't be pleasing to New York. Garcia has engineered two playoff victories over the Giants in the past six seasons, most recently last year.

Filling in for an injured Donovan McNabb, Garcia completed 17 of 31 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown to help Philadelphia defeat New York 23-20 in a wild-card game last Jan. 7. That performance, however, is hardly his most memorable one against the Giants in the postseason.

On Jan. 5, 2003, Garcia helped lead the second-biggest playoff comeback in league history, throwing for 331 yards and three touchdowns, and rushing seven times for 60 yards and a TD to help San Francisco rally from a 38-14 deficit and defeat New York 39-38.

"I don't think that I really look at those games as feeling like I -- or believing that I -- have an edge up on the Giants," Garcia said. "It is not like that at all. I feel like what we did those days we were able to make enough plays to win the football game, but it is going to be a battle."

Now the Giants again face the 37-year-old Garcia, who won the Bucs starting job this season after being signed away from the Eagles as a free agent in March. He threw for 2,440 yards, 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions to help Tampa Bay return to the top of the NFC South for the first time since 2002 -- the season the team won its only Super Bowl.

Garcia posted a 94.6 quarterback rating, seventh in the league, as the Bucs returned to the playoffs after a year off. Tampa Bay was 4-12 in 2006.

"He certainly has done an outstanding job for them. He is the guy that you have to try to do something about," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Wednesday. "You have to get pressure on him; you have to contain him; you have to get up in his face. You have to do all of those kinds of things. And of course they are always trying to create opportunities for him to be able to be in a position that he can take full advantage of.

"So we definitely know of the strengths of Jeff Garcia, how well he is playing. And we will spend a week trying to do something about it."

Watch New England Patriots vs New York Giants Live Online - NFL Football Preview

The only thing on the line for the Giants, who are locked into the NFC's fifth playoff seed, is their ability to keep the Patriots from making history as the first team to go through a 16-game regular season undefeated.

Patriots WR Randy Moss vs. Giants CB Sam Madison.
Expect to see Tom Brady air it out to Randy Moss from beginning to end. Judging from last week's game against the overmatched Dolphins, the Patriots appear intent on breaking every record within reach. Moss is one touchdown reception away from tying Jerry Rice's single season mark of 22 set in 1987. Brady is just one touchdown pass away from tying Peyton Manning's record of 49.

The task of preventing these accomplishments falls to Madison. After struggling against Washington's Santana Moss in Week 15, Madison played much better against Buffalo. He will have to be at his absolute best, though, against the league's top receiver, who will be targeted often by the league's top passer.

Watch New York Giants vs Buffalo Bills Live Online - NFL Football Preview

Buffalo's roster is full of young and inexperienced players who must use these final two weeks to try and establish themselves and secure a future with the franchise. For New York, this week's game holds more immediate concerns. With a Week 17 matchup against the undefeated Patriots looming, the Giants would like to clinch their playoff spot this Sunday and not have to worry about having to beat New England to secure a spot. Check out the full playoff picture.

Mother Nature vs. Giants QB Eli Manning. Throughout his inconsistent four-year career, there has been one constant for Manning. His play tends to wain when the temperature drops. He typically begins the season on fire and leads the team to great starts, only to fade down the stretch. Perhaps the best example of this came in Sunday's loss against the Redskins. Dealt with frigid conditions and a stiff wind, Manning seemed to get frustrated, and his play suffered as a result. He threw the most incompletions (34) of any quarterback since 1967, and while his receivers did not help him out with several drops, his decision-making was suspect at times. He does not figure to get much help in regards to the conditions at Buffalo. If he does not learn how to deal with the cold by Sunday, the Giants could be in for another long day.