New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagle Preview
Posted by Jay Horne on October 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
NFL Football Betting Preview
New York Giants (5-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)
Sunday November 1st, 1:00PM Eastern
Betus.com betting line – New York -1, 44 O/U
The New York Giants were on top of nearly every power rankings poll and NFL rankings scale imaginable just a few weeks ago after starting off the season 5-0. The Giants appeared to be back to dominate NFC form. However, a thrashing from New Orleans two weeks ago opened some eyes and last week’s disappointing loss to the Cardinals turned some heads. Perhaps the Giants are not quite as good as they were made out to be or are they? The Giants may have failed to grab a strangle hold of the entire NFC, but they will get their chance to firm their grip on the NFC East this Sunday when they host the 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles took down Washington last Monday night 27-17, but that was a week after an embarrassing upset from the Oakland Raiders. Similar to the Giants, Philadelphia has lost to New Orleans and experienced an upset type defeat. There are still many questions revolving around both teams, but one will emerge Sunday as the potential front runner in the division.
The New York Giants offense has been stellar all season averaging 393 yards per game and 28 points per game. QB Eli Manning is throwing the ball well with 12 touchdowns and 6 picks on the year. The offense more importantly is getting help from the young wide receivers in Mario Manningham and Steve Smith. Smith ranks 3rd in the NFL with 594 receiving yards with an impressive 45 catches on the year. Manningham also has 439 yards and both players have 4 touchdowns a piece. Also, rookie Hakeem Nicks has gained nearly 200 yards receiving in the last two weeks and has 4 touchdowns on the year as well. These stellar young wide outs make up the best young group of receivers for any team in the league and QB Eli Manning should be ecstatic with the opportunity to build around these guys.
However the problem on the year has not come from the offense, but rather the defense. The Giants defensive woes were exposed against the Saints allowing 48 points, but that poor performance was given in most credit to the Saints talented passing game. However, last week’s similar performance to the Arizona Cardinals raised more questions? The Giants defense has carried them to most of their success over the past few years. The offense is performing well, but they are not explosive enough to win on offense alone. The Giants defense may be as talented as any in the league, but in their 3 biggest games this year against Dallas, New Orleans, and Arizona the Giants have allowed 34 points per game. The defense must play better and keep opponents out of the end zone if they are to get back to their winning ways.
The Eagles on the other hand are starting off slow on offense similar to the way they started 2008. Rookie LeSean McCoy is the leading rusher on the team with a pitiful 212 yards and 1 score. Running back Brian Westbrook has been ineffective all season. Westbrook possibly a better receiving back has only 327 total yards on the ground and receiving through the first 1/3 of the season after compiling nearly 1,500 total yards in 2008. WR DeSean Jackson is the only player posing the potential homerun threat. Jackson has 423 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns along with a hand full of big special teams plays. The Eagles will be considered slight underdogs this Sunday, but keep your eyes on Jackson as he can change the entire game in literally the blink of an eye.
Pick – This is the perfect rebound game for the Giants defense after a disappointing two game stretch. The Eagles offense will struggle and the Giants win convincingly.
Mirror Travel: HAWAII DIVE-O FOR WHALES.(Features)
The Mirror (London, England) March 16, 2002 Byline: RICHARD WALLACE THE first sign was just a handful of foaming white flecks on the horizon. Seconds later what looked like a mini tidal wave headed towards our boat. And then they were all around us.
Here we were, in the middle of the Pacific, getting up close and personal with about 50 dolphins, which gave a faultless display of “aquabatics” as they cavorted all around us. bigislandhawaiinow.com big island hawaii
One minute they tore off in to the distance, the next they hung back, gliding below the cobalt surface to let us catch up.
This was just one side of Hawaii, seven volcanic pinpricks forming America’s 50th state – a serene place of extraordinary beauty and compulsory casualness.
Hawaii is a place of contrasts.
Take the Blade Runner-style bustle of Oahu (which means Gathering Place) where the neon-lit streets of Honolulu – America’s 11th largest city – are crammed with shopaholics gutting the designer stores.
Or Kauai (Garden Island), probably the most beautiful of the islands, with deserted white sand beaches snaking along the edge of lush greenery and hiding the startling Waimea Canyon, described by Mark Twain as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
Then there’s Maui (the Valley Isle), where you can seek out unspoiled mountain scenery (Jurassic Park and Harrison Ford’s Six Days, Seven Nights were shot here) on a breathtaking helicopter tour swooping through valleys only accessible by air. Tours are about $100 a throw and worth every dime.
And on the Big Island – Hawaii proper – there’s the active Kilauea volcano, a two-mile wide cauldron which last erupted in 1983. It acts as a vent for Mauna Loa, a snowcapped peak nearly 14,000ft above the sea.
When you watch pungent fumes rise high above the jet black lunar landscape, Mother Earth doesn’t seem such a sweetheart after all.
But the awesome Waipio Valley, a sheer-sided 1,000ft chasm where Polynesians first beached their canoes 1,500 years ago, soon eases the mood. go to website big island hawaii
And barely an hour’s drive away you’re back at base on the Kohala coast, relaxing by the ocean and being gently massaged by the good people of The Orchid at Mauna Lani hotel. Accommodation in Hawaii can be as economic or extravagant as you like. Even budget hotels are of a consistently high standard – European hoteliers take note.
The Orchid is the perfect place to be pampered, whether it’s an outdoor massage while gazing over the hotel’s private lagoon or firing up a stogie in one of the wood-panelled lounges.
The hotel’s management should be proud of their staff, who deliver some of the most discreet but efficient service I’ve ever encountered.
It was just off the Big Island where we met our very distant cousins the dolphin, during a two-and-a-half hour trip.
Their sudden arrival brought a big, stupid grin to everyone’s face but they were almost a sideshow compared to our encounter with whales just moments later.
As it was October we were about two months too early to see the gigantic humpback whales which migrate from the freezing Atlantic to give birth around the islands.
Our captain, Dan McSweeney, commutes between Alaska and Hawaii studying whales, so if anyone could track some down…
As if on cue we had an unexpected encounter with a school of black pilot whales, considerably smaller than humpbacks but just as awe-inspiring. They seemed as fascinated with us as we with them – bobbing sedately alongside the boat, one huge, unblinking eye trained upon us. Light grey calves clung like limpets to the cows.
The only sound was the lapping of the ocean and the odd blast from their blow-holes. Magical.
Our brief encounter with whales and dolphins was only one of the highlights of our tour of the islands but a common thread was the sheer hospitality of the people – the personification of laid-back.
When you’ve made the hefty 17-hour flight from London (via Los Angeles or San Francisco) and lost a day in the process because of the 11-hour time difference, laid-back is just what the doctor ordered.
Hawaiians are a mix of many races – Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Chinese – many brought in originally to work the sugar and pineapple plantations. Your only problem is getting your tongue around some of the names – for instance, the official state fish is called Humuhumunukunukuapua.
Coupled with year-round balmy temperatures – 85F is about average – the Aloha State is more a state of mind than a holiday destination.
THE BOTTOM LINE THE Orchid at Mauna Lani, Big Island, Hawaii Tel: 001-808-885-2000 or www.mau nalani.com Dan McSweeney’s Whale Adventure, Big Island, Hawaii Tel: 001-808-322-2732 or www.ilovewhales.com Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau (0208-941-4009).
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PARADISE: The sun-kissed setting of the Orchid Hotel at Mauna Lani
