--Giants' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spent eight years on the Eagles' coaching staff before moving to the Giants in 2007. His last position was linebackers coach, and he worked all that time under Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who calls him: "A brilliant defensive mind and a hard-working coach." He might also add "an outstanding student" since Spagnuolo categorizes Johnson as his most effective teacher.
--Two members of the Giants are former Eagles, punter Jeff Feagles (1990-1993), which gave birth to his famous introduction -- "I'm Feagles of the Eagles, nice to meet you" -- and far more recently, DE Jerome McDougle, the team's No. 1 draft pick (15th overall) in 2003.
--WR Amani Toomer, who through his 12 seasons with the Giants has had some of his most productive games against the Eagles, just smiles: "Those games are always so intense, no matter where we play them," he said. "It's fun to go against them. Their fans are like ours, very loud."
--One of the greatest plays in the series occurred in a divisional playoff game in 2000 (one of only two such post-season meetings in the entire series), when CB Jason Sehorn tipped a pass from McNabb into the air as he was falling, jumped up and caught it before it hit the ground and returned it for a touchdown in a 20-10 Giant victory. The next week the Giants shut out the Minnesota Vikings, 41-0, to go to Super Bowl XXXV.
--QB Eli Manning's best career game in terms of completions and yardage came against the Eagles on Sept. 17, 2006, when he completed 31 passes for 371 yards. Also, he has nine touchdown passes vs. the Eagles in his career, second most against a single team (13 vs. Dallas).
--MLB Antonio Pierce is an advocate of head coach Tom Coughlin's sermon that the next game is the biggest one of the season and that it is the only game the players should think about. "That's a good thing," he said. "Now I can finally think about the Eagles without feeling guilty."
--Not only Tom Coughlin (1984-1985) and Spagnuolo (1999-2006) but another Giants' assistant coach also worked for the Eagles -- Peter Giunta (cornerbacks, 1991-1994).
BY THE NUMBERS: 6/15 -- The Giants have scored six more points than the Eagles(226-220) and allowed 15 fewer, 129 to 144. Clearly, there is little to choose from; and both have played eight games. The Giants are 7-1, the Eagles 5-3.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Being 7-1 is a great place to be, we couldn't ask for much better. But nobody plays a perfect game and we keep making a lot of mistakes, so we have to keep improving and get back to playing 'Giants football.' We did a lot of good things last year and we have to do them again." -- Giants' QB Eli Manning.
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