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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -If there was one team that was going to get the New York Giants' attention in the NFC semifinals, it was the Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia embarrassed the defending Super Bowl champions 20-14 at Giants Stadium in a game that really wasn't that close. Andy Reid's team will bring one other scary factor up the New Jersey Turnpike on Sunday when they face New York (12-4): the Eagles appear to be this year's version of the Giants. Books have set Philadelphia as a 4-point underdog.

They are playing well at the right time, just as the Giants did in their improbable run to a title last year.

''I think the Eagles are the hottest team in the NFL right now,'' Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said after Philadelphia beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in the NFC wild-card game. ''They may be the sixth seed, but they sure aren't playing like it.''

The Eagles have resurrected themselves after a brutal 36-7 loss to Baltimore on Nov. 23, a game in which quarterback Donovan McNabb was benched. They won their next four and, after a loss to Washington in the penultimate game of the season, they clinched a playoff berth with an impressive 44-6 win over Dallas.

''We know them well, which is a good thing, but they know us well, too,'' Tuck said. ''I'm glad this game is going to be at home because I know our fans will be into it. It's going to be the tough NFC East battle you'd expect, and we are really looking forward to it.''

The Giants, the NFC's top-seeded team for the playoffs, outlasted the Eagles 36-31 in their first meeting in Philadelphia on Nov. 9 in a game in which Eli Manning and the offense gained 401 total yards. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns and Manning passed for 182 yards and two scores, including one to the now-suspended Plaxico Burress.

The second meeting - a little more than a week after Burress shot himself in the thigh in a New York City nightclub - was dominated by the Eagles' defense and halfback Brian Westbrook, who accounted for 203 yards from scrimmage.

New York was limited to 211 yards total yards. Jacobs was forced out at halftime after aggravating a knee injury and the Eagles held the ball for almost 35 minutes with Westbrook scoring on a 30-yard run and a 40-yard pass from McNabb.

The only thing that kept New York in the game was a blocked field goal that Kevin Dockery returned for a touchdown. The Giants' other TD was a meaningless one scored in the closing seconds.

''The Eagles are a very good football team that has done a tremendous job of battling back during the latter part of the season,'' Manning said. ''Obviously, we had two very tough regular-season games against them.''

The good news for the Giants is that they have had an extra week off to get ready and recover.

Jacobs hasn't played since Dec. 21 and a lot of the starters, including Manning and Tuck, were lifted at halftime in the regular-season finale against Minnesota, a game New York lost on a last-second field goal.

''Last week was good for us,'' Manning said. ''We got some good work in during those two practices, but it's good that we now know who we are playing. We are excited to get to work this week. We need a good week of practice and preparation because it's about execution at this time of year, especially against a team we face twice a year in games that always seem to come down to the fourth quarter.''

The extra week off didn't help the Cowboys last season, when the Giants surprised them in the NFC semifinal.

This will be the fourth postseason game between the Giants and Eagles.

Philadelphia won the last one in an NFC wild-card game on Jan. 7, 2007, in Philadelphia. David Akers kicked 38-yard field goal on the final play to give the Eagles a 23-20 win.

New York beat the Eagles 20-10 in the NFC semifinal on Jan. 7, 2001, en route to the Super Bowl.

The teams first played each other in the postseason on Dec. 27, 1981, when the Giants upset the Eagles 27-21 in a wild-card game at Philadelphia.

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The days of home underdogs in the NFL playoffs are over.

All four home clubs this weekend are favored. The biggest is Carolina -10 hosting Arizona. The smallest is Tennessee laying three to Baltimore.
This is quite unlike last week’s opening round, where the four road teams opened as favorites.

“The lines will be tighter now,” Las Vegas Sports Consultants senior oddsmaker Mike Seba said about home clubs.

Seba said it’s important that bookmakers don’t allow the public to get a bargain when backing a home favorite. Bookmakers lost big on Sunday when a pair of favorites, Baltimore and Philadelphia, each covered the spread.

Seba’s number on the Philadelphia-New York matchup, for instance, was Giants -6. LVSC’s opening line recommendation to its Nevada hotel clients was Giants -5.5. The line has settled in with the Giants as 4-point favorites.

The Eagles knocked off the Giants at Giants Stadium on Dec. 7 in cold and windy conditions, 20-14. The Eagles know the Giants well.

Donovan McNabb is playing well again and Philadelphia has its confidence up after back-to-back big victories versus Dallas and Minnesota.

“The Eagles are the hot team right now,” Seba said. “People are going to play them catching +4 or +4.5.”

Seba, though, believes the Giants are the right side. The Giants may have played their worst game when they lost to the Eagles. They were distracted at the time by the Plaxico Burress shooting incident and were minus their best running back, Brandon Jacobs. He’s expected to play this time.

“You have to basically throw out that last meeting,” Seba said. “It didn’t mean much to the Giants. In my opinion, the Giants are sitting in a good spot this time having been off last week.

“People are not taking them as seriously as they should. The Giants didn’t really have a lot of motivation in their last few games. I trust Tom Coughlin. I think he’s a very good coach. He’ll have them ready. You’ll see a different Giants team.”

There could be some upper movement on the Steelers, who are laying six to San Diego. Some places, including the Las Vegas Hilton, were up to 6.5 on Monday afternoon.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if it did go higher,” Seba said. “The Chargers are banged-up and in a bad spot. The Steelers defense is as good as we’ve seen in the last few years.”

Those betting San Diego lucked out the first time the Chargers met the Steelers on Nov. 16. The Yellow and Black failed to cover as four-point home chalk because a touchdown return off an errant lateral on the final play by Troy Polamalu was incorrectly disallowed.

The Steelers won 11-10, despite out-gaining the Chargers by 192 yards and controlling the clock for 36 minutes and 31 seconds.

The Panthers opened either 9.5 or 10 at home to Arizona. By Monday afternoon the first option had all but vanished. This line could keep climbing, especially if Cardinals star wideout Anquan Boldin can’t play because of a hamstring injury suffered on Saturday against Atlanta.

“If we knew he (Boldin) was out, we would move the line to 11,” Seba said.

Arizona has been tough at home. But the Cardinals still have yet to prove they can win consistently on the road, or against upper-tier competition. They have lost four games by at least 21 points. Their secondary gave up a staggering 36 touchdown passes, easily the most in the NFL.

The Cards did play the Panthers tough in a 27-23 road loss on Oct. 26. They lead 17-3 but failed to even cover as 4-point dogs. Kurt Warner threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns.

“Arizona is dangerous,” Seba said. “The Cardinals could steal a game if Carolina isn’t ready. The line is so high because the Cardinals are on the road, they have a bad defense and Carolina is rested.

“Carolina’s DNA is to be conservative. I can see not wanting to lay a lot of points with the Panthers, especially with Arizona being able to score at any time.”

The most competitively-priced game is Baltimore-Tennessee. It also has the lowest total at 35. Seba said he rates the Ravens and Titans nearly even. The line is a field goal because the Titans are rested and have home field.

“I can’t imagine it coming off three,” Seba said about the betting line on the game.

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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin has a strained left hamstring and his status is uncertain for Saturday night's NFC divisional playoff game at Carolina.

''We'll see how it goes this week,'' coach Ken Whisenhunt said at his Monday news conference.

Boldin was injured on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner in the second quarter of Arizona's 30-24 wild-card playoff victory over the Atlanta Falcons last Saturday. He returned to play one more series, then limped off the field for good.

''When you're dealing with hamstrings you just never know,'' Whisenhunt said. ''I've seen guys that have come back and played a couple of days later, I've seen guys who are out three or four weeks.''

Boldin was voted to his third Pro Bowl this season despite missing four games with injuries. Steve Breaston would move up to starting wide receiver along with Larry Fitzgerald if Boldin can't play. Jerheme Urban probably would be the No. 3 receiver, with rookie Early Doucet possibly seeing some playing time.

Whisenhunt said he thought the hamstring injury was related to Boldin's inability to practice at full speed for the final two weeks of the regular season because of a shoulder injury.

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