The Giants hired Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator a couple years back as a reaction to facing the defensive schemes of his mentor, Eagles blitz guru Jim Johnson.
Spagnuolo's defense in turn humiliated Andy Reid's offense, sacking Donovan McNabb an absurd dozen times in one awful 2007 night at the Meadowlands. It is no coincidence that Giants players have been talking all week about the Eagles' new tendency to keep extra men in to pass block now - Spagnuolo forced that adjustment on Reid and his staff.
Meanwhile, the Eagles responded to their twice-a-year struggle to contain Plaxico Burress (and other big receivers, of course) by going after free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel last off-season. Samuel became the final piece in a retooling of a defense that had lost some of its swagger in recent years.
The Giants and Eagles aren't quite the Red Sox and the Yankees in competing directly against each other in the off-season. The Dallas Cowboys and, to a lesser extent recently, Washington also factor into the approaches Reid and Tom Coughlin take in upgrading their teams. But there is no doubt the fates of the Eagles and Giants have become more intertwined in the last few years - especially their defenses.
So which is better? The answer is: the Eagles', barely.
During the regular season, the Eagles had the third-ranked defense in the NFL based on yards allowed per game. The Giants were fifth. The Eagles allowed 31 touchdowns, fifth fewest in the NFL. The Giants allowed 34, which tied them for eighth.
But there's a lot more to a defense than stats. Truly great defenses have an aura about them, a sense of intimidation and potential for mayhem, and these Eagles are just starting to reach that level.
The Giants? They had it during their Super Bowl run last year. If it has slipped a bit, that's because of attrition. The retirement of Michael Strahan and the season-ending injury to Osi Umenyiora would have been devastating to any team. If anything, Spagnuolo and his players deserve a lot of credit for holding it all together as well as they did after absorbing those losses.
The formula for a dominating defense varies, but there are a few constants: scheme, talent and a certain swagger.
"It's all about confidence and feeling yourself and knowing that you can go out and make plays," said Samuel, who played on a great defense in New England before signing with the Eagles. "It's all been working lately."
In building the defense that went to the Super Bowl four years ago, Jim Johnson had a group of talented and smart veterans: Troy Vincent, Hugh Douglas, Ike Reese, Jeremiah Trotter, Brian Dawkins. They were guys who didn't just know what they were supposed to do on a given play, they understood why and were able to adjust when the offense did.
It really is remarkable how completely the Eagles have flipped their personnel on defense. It took a few years for the younger talent - Mike Patterson, Trent Cole, Stewart Bradley, Chris Gocong, Quintin Mikell - to catch up to Johnson's scheme. But they have.
"It's a good scheme," Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said yesterday. "It's well thought out, it's well-executed, it's done by some terrific players, and [Johnson] has some players that are particularly well-versed and have been with him for a long, long time, so maybe some more flexibility exists in what they do. . . . You have to be at your very best and you have to be mentally on the top of your game to have a chance to handle it."
Back in 2002, Johnson's first-generation Eagles defense crushed the then-powerhouse St. Louis Rams, 10-3, in a must-win December game at the Vet. For the current version, the equivalent coming-out party was last month's must-win game against Dallas at the Linc.
The Giants' defense is still dangerous. Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka can give the Eagles' blockers fits. Antonio Pierce is still a force at linebacker. The secondary isn't as star-laden as the Eagles' but it's solid. Spagnuolo has done a very good job of bending the scheme he brought from Philadelphia to fit his talent.
The nod goes to the Eagles - barely - but the victory will likely go to the defense that is seen the least Sunday.
"The best defense is the offense," Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "Ours has been doing a good job of keeping us fresh by driving the football. Even if they aren't scoring touchdowns, it keeps us off the field."
That is the best place for even the best defenses to be.
at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com. Read
his recent work at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.
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