Sports Tonight: Giants don't want 0-2 but thrived after it once

Considering the Eagles, Cowboys and Washington are each 1-1, the New York Giants game against Detroit at 8:30 tonight on ESPN doesn't seem like a "must-win" scenario.

Sure, the G-Men, who lost their season opener to Dallas, don't want to start in a two-game losing streak, but how much could a 0-2 start hurt when it would leave you just a game out of first place in the NFC East?

Well, actually, judging by NFL history, a team losing its first two games puts itself in serious jeopardy of not making the playoffs.

Yes, it seems silly to think that with 14 games remaining and six playoff spots available, a team would have almost no shot at making the postseason with a 0-2 start. If you believe in the numbers, however, that's exactly what they tell you.

Since 2006, 87 teams have lost their first two games. Only 10 (8.7 percent) turned things around enough to make the playoffs.

Still, if one franchise doesn't mind, it would be the Giants. In 2007, New York bounced back from 0-2 to become the fifth seed in the NFC and then upset the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Here's how you forget about an 11-game losing streak: Beat your arch-rival in its own park to clinch a playoff sport and then travel across the country to win a road series against the team expected to be the top competition for the National League pennant.

That's what the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will play the Phillies at 7:05 tonight at Citizens Bank Park (TV: CSN; radio: 94 WIP), have done in the past five games.

Last Tuesday, the Dodgers snapped their longest losing streak since moving from Brooklyn in 1958 by winning in San Francisco. It also clinched at least the second wild card in the NL playoffs.

The Dodgers lost Sunday to the Washington Nationals but still took two of three games at the home of the team with the second-best record in the NL.

With Arizona 9 ½ games back, the Dodgers could clinch the NL West during the four-game series against the Phillies.

The Eagles are 1-1, and staff writer Jeff McLane tells us what we learned about the Birds during Sunday's loss to Kansas City.

Young quarterbacks struggle in the NFL. They experience highs that can be quickly followed by lows. Staff writer Paul Domowitch examines how Carson Wentz is learning on the fly.

That Maikel Franco has swung the bat productively for the Phillies in recent games is like hitting a lead-off home run in the ninth inning when your team is down 10 runs. Staff writer Matt Breen talks to Franco about finishing strong.

Jerry Jones is one of the more powerful owners in sports and is rarely shy about throwing his weight around, even at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The top Dallas Cowboy, however, tells Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News that he's not holding up negotiations on a contract extension for Goodell.

Sometimes, the video says all that needs to be said.

Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star examines the Eagles' loss Sunday from the Chiefs' perspective.

The controversial split-decision draw in the fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez had fans upset and left  Vegas sports books working overtime.

There are a lot of people in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame who didn't have a great or any NBA career. Don't laugh, but Stephon Marbury, who had a better-than-average career in the NBA, might deserve to become one of them.

The difference between current Eagles coach Doug Pederson and former Eagles coach Andy Reid is that while both favor passing the ball, "Big Red" makes sure he actually has quality running backs available should he choose to use them.

During his tenure with the Birds, Reid had running backs Duce Staley and Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy, who are all in the top five in Eagles history. Reid should have run them more, but he did use them enough times for them to get there.

Pederson inherited the aged Darren Sproles and saw Wendell Smallwood and diminutive Donnel Pumphrey come in as fifth- and fourth-round draft picks. In Sunday's loss to Reid and his Kansas City Chiefs, Pederson ran Sproles and Smallwood  13 times combined for 48 yards, no touchdowns, and a long of 12 yards. Free-agent signee LeGarrette Blount had no carries.

Reid ran rookie running back Kareem Hunt, a third-round pick from Toledo, 13 times. Hunt gained 81 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Pederson again said the Birds need to fix the running game, but that's impossible to do without quality backs.

Baseball
Dodgers at Phillies, 7 p.m. (CSN; WIP-FM 94.1, WNPV-AM 1440)
Twins at Yankees, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)

NFL
Lions at Giants, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Preseason Hockey
Islanders at Rangers, 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
Wild at Jets (joined in progress), 9:30 p.m. (NHL Network)

Baseball
Phillies vs. Dodgers, 7:05 p.m., Citizens Bank Park