The Eagles, who beat the Vikings, 26-14, in Minnesota last night, pose perhaps the greatest threat to a Super Bowl defense. They've already won at Giants Stadium this season, they won't be shackled by any winter weather the Northeast can throw at them, and they are as familiar with the Giants as any NFL team is.

Had the Eagles lost to the Vikings, the Giants would have hosted the Cardinals, for whom none of the above applies.

"The Eagles are the hottest team in the NFL right now," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "They may be the sixth seed, but they sure aren't playing like it."

It will be the fourth playoff meeting between the Giants and Eagles, and the second in three years. Two years ago, the Eagles handed the Giants a 23-20 loss in a wild-card game in Philadelphia. That was the last postseason defeat for the Giants, who won the previous two postseason meetings.

The Eagles (9-6-1 in the regular season) won last night's game in much the same way they won Dec. 7 against the Giants: with big plays. They scored touchdowns on a 43-yard interception return by Asante Samuel and a 71-yard reception by Brian Westbrook. When the Eagles beat the Giants, 20-14, it also was on the back of Westbrook. He had TDs on a 30-yard run and a 40-yard reception.

That was the first of three losses in the final four games for the Giants (12-4). It also unveiled a startling trend. In the last four games, the Giants have allowed 12 touchdowns, and seven have been for at least 30 yards. In the first 12 games, the Giants allowed four offensive touchdowns of at least 30 yards.

"A lot of the big plays that we had against us are things that we messed up, our mishaps," defensive captain Fred Robbins said. "We need to get those straightened out and do a better job of tackling."

In Week 14, the Eagles kept the Giants' offense out of the end zone until the final seconds. In a game in which Brandon Jacobs left early in the second half with a knee injury, the Eagles held the Giants to a season-low 211 total yards.

One of the things the Giants have in their favor is rest. They had two practices last week and a bye this weekend. That has allowed some of their cranky injuries to heal and given them time to work on their fundamentals.

Now, though, it's all about the Eagles.

"We got some good work in during those two practices, but it's good that we now know who we're playing," Eli Manning said.

"We're 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 Giants knew that of the three possible opponents heading into this weekend, the Eagles would pose the biggest challenge. But the Giants also probably would like another shot at the Eagles, to whom they lost with their leading rusher sidelined for almost a half and in the days following the legal proceedings surrounding the Plaxico Burress shooting accident.

Only once in NFC playoff history has a top seed lost in a divisional round, and that was last year, when the Giants knocked off the Cowboys. Like that game, this will be a third meeting between divisional rivals.

"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."

Even if - and maybe even because - it's not the easiest of paths.

NFC PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

DIVISIONAL

PLAYOFFS

Saturday

Arizona at

Carolina

8:15 p.m., Ch. 5

Sunday

Philadelphia

at Giants

1 p.m., Ch. 5

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, Jan. 18

3 p.m., Ch. 5

All games on WFAN (660)