The Sports Xchange

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.Y. — To New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, every game is a big game.

When that game just so happens to be against a division rival on the road, in prime time and in one of the most hostile environments in the league, well, it doesn’t get any bigger than that.

That’s exactly what lies ahead for Coughlin’s young Giants team when they make the trip down the turnpike for a Monday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that last year embarrassed the Giants on national television with a 27-0 loss.

With a win, the first-place Giants, who have been pumping in crowd noise at practice to prepare for the conditions expected at Lincoln Financial Field, will remain perched atop of the NFC East.

It won’t be easy, though. Hostile environment aside, the Eagles are a better team than their record (2-3) indicates.

For starters, the Eagles haven’t lost any game by more than 10 points; and in fact have lost their three games by a combined 15 points. Their defense has been very aggressive, forcing 13 takeaways for a plus-three margin, and they have the league’s 10th best run defense.

They also have some weapons on that side of the ball such as running backs DeMarco Murray and Darren Sproles, receivers Jordan Matthews and Riley Cooper and tight end Brent Celek, all of whom are capable of inflicting damage on a defense under the direction of quarterback Sam Bradford.

“They’re a well-rounded overall very good football team in our division,” Coughlin concluded.

With that said, the Eagles aren’t invincible. Their pass defense is allowing 279.6 yards per game, the seventh highest average in the NFL, and are tied with the Giants for eighth in the number of big pass plays of 20 or more yards surrendered.

That would make the Eagles a really good matchup for the Giants’ seventh-ranked passing offense, assuming of course the Giants have both Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle, their top two receivers who are nursing hamstring injuries, available to exploit the matchup.

“There’s no team that’s invincible, so if you see an opportunity, you just have to strike,” Beckham said of attacking the Eagles’ defensive secondary. “I think the main focus is going to be executing. I don’t think there’s anything different you do going into the week. You just get prepared for them.”

Defensively, the biggest challenge for the Giants will be containing the short passing game the Eagles are likely to run with Sproles.

Last week, the 49ers, perhaps borrowing a page from the Cowboys’ Week 1 game plan against the Giants, dinked and dunked their way down the field, attempting all but two of their 35 pass attempts on shorter throws.

With Sproles as a weapon, it wouldn’t be a stretch to anticipate the Eagles doing more of the same against a banged-up Giants defensive unit that will likely be without strong-side linebacker Devon Kennard for a second game in a row.

“His quickness and his size; he can hide behind his linemen, his blockers, which makes him tough sometimes to pick out of the pile,” said safety Landon Collins when asked what makes Sproles so difficult to defend against.

Then there is the Eagles’ downhill runner, DeMarco Murray, in his first season in green after jumping over in free agency from the Cowboys.

“He looks good,” Coughlin said of Murray, who despite missing some time with injuries, has 130 yards on 49 carries, second on the team behind Ryan Matthews.

“He’s got great vision, he’s an outstanding runner, he catches the ball out of the backfield. He’s grown as this offensive team and people getting to know one another from the idea of new players at new positions. And you can see the improvement.”

No matter who both teams put on the field for these matchups, the Giants and Eagles have certainly played some classic games in their history. Coughlin is expecting Monday night to be another hard-fought battle in which the victor will find itself in a very comfortable position on Tuesday morning.

“I think the significance of your divisional games is well-known and well-stated,” he said. “I think the excitement of playing within the division is always there. At this point in the season, with the teams all bunched up like they are, this is a big game.”

SERIES HISTORY: 161st regular-season meeting. Giants lead series, 82-76-2. The Eagles swept the season series last year and have won nine of the last 12 regular-season meetings dating back to 2009. The Giants will be seeking to avenge an embarrassing 27-0 road loss during a prime-time game last season. These two teams have also split four post-season matchups.

GAME PLAN

–With cornerback Prince Amukamara set to miss Monday’s game, it might behoove the Giants’ sluggish pass rush, which has posted two sacks in its last two games, to extend that streak to three to help the back end of the defense.

Fortunately for the Giants’ front four, they’ll face an Eagles offensive line that, per Pro Football Focus, has allowed seven sacks among its 48 quarterback pressures thus far this season and that is tasked with protecting a quarterback, Sam Bradford, whose lack of mobility probably surpasses that of his Giants counterpart.

Offensively, the league’s 26th-ranked running game (91.2 yards per game) continues to struggle. The sad thing is that there’s no one consistent reason behind the running game’s struggles, which is not a good thing to have happening when it’s about to face the league’s 10th-best run defense (96.8 yards per game).

With receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle both ailing with hamstring strains, the Giants will likely get both Shane Vereen and tight end Larry Donnell heavily involved in the short passing game this week, especially against an aggressive Eagles defensive pass rush.

Last week, Vereen had his best receiving performance since singing with the Giants as a free agent, catching all eight of his pass targets for 86 yards and one touchdown, with 66 of his receiving yards coming after the catch.

Donnell caught a season-high six passes for 25 yards and the game-winning touchdown in last week’s win. He has now caught at least one pass in 14 consecutive games.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

–Giants offensive line vs. Eagles defensive front.

The Giants’ offensive line has been mostly solid in its pass protection of quarterback Eli Manning, allowing just 4.0 sacks this season, second fewest in the NFL, but 47 quarterback hits, fifth-most in the league. This week, however, they’re going up against perhaps one of their toughest customers to date against an Eagles 3-4 defense whose front three — ends Fletcher Cox and Cedric Thornton and nose tackle Bennie Logan — have combined for 6.0 of the team’s 11.0 sacks this season. Cox, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, has been playing lights-out ball this year, and, if he stays at right defensive end, will have a solid matchup against Giants left guard Justin Pugh and rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers, the latter of whom is still working through a gimpy ankle.

–Giants run defense vs. Eagles RB Darren Sproles.

Last week, the Giants sorely missed key edge run-stoppers such as linebacker Devon Kennard and defensive end George Selvie. Last week, the Giants were gashed on the edge by 49ers running back Carlos Hyde, who picked up 59 of his 93 rushing yards running outside of the tackles. With the Eagles sporting the ever dangerous Sproles, their outside rushing threat who is averaging 4.1 yards per carry (107 yards on 26 carries with 53 of those yards coming outside of the tackles), New York will really need projected starting outside linebacker Mark Herzlich to bring his A-game if Kennard has to miss another week.