Under Andy Reid, the Eagles' goal has always been to get better as the regular season goes on, ideally peaking as the playoffs approach. Look at their 2008 season casually and it seems as if the Eagles were following that formula. They won four of their last five regular-season games - including big wins against two NFC East rivals, New York and Dallas - to claim the last wild-card berth.

Anyone who followed the team's crazily inconsistent season, though, knows better. The Eagles didn't steadily improve from training camp through Sunday's playoff victory in Minneapolis. They veered wildly from side to side through September and October, then appeared to hit the wall in November games at Cincinnati and Baltimore.

It was desperation, not design, that motivated the Eagles to play better and smarter in the season's final five weeks.

As they prepare for a playoff game against those same Giants, the Eagles seem to have the advantage of momentum. As the Giants themselves proved in winning the Super Bowl last year, it isn't as important to be the best team as it is to be the team playing its best at the right time.

As for the Giants, they lost three of their last four regular-season games. If the Eagles are hot, it follows that the Giants are cold.

Or does it?

"I don't think this team really looks at it like we lost three of the last four," Giants center Shaun O'Hara told reporters Monday. "We are done with last year. That was 2008 and this is 2009 now, and it doesn't matter what you did during the season. . . .

"Momentum, fine, whatever it is, confidence, whatever that is, the bottom line is it is the team that wants it more, the team that plays harder on Sunday and makes the plays."

O'Hara's point is fine as far it goes. The Giants' final regular-season game - in Minneapolis - didn't matter much to them. Coach Tom Coughlin pulled many of his starters in the second half, and that's the team the Vikings rallied to beat. That game had more impact on the Eagles - it set up their wild-card opponent - than on the Giants.

But there is a bit more to the Giants' December slide than a throwaway regular-season finale. Their loss to the Eagles on Dec. 7 snapped a seven-game winning streak. The next week, a Dallas team with its own December issues took the Giants apart, 20-8, at Texas Stadium.

Those two games weren't played in a vacuum. They were played as the Giants tried to cope with the loss of star wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in the leg on Thanksgiving weekend.

Forget for a moment the distraction question, which is real enough. In pure Football terms, the Giants' offense was without its one truly dangerous wide receiver. Meanwhile, running back Brandon Jacobs was dealing with a knee injury.

Slow the running game a bit and eliminate Eli Manning's most explosive target and there will be an adjustment period. The Giants beat Washington in their first game without Burress, but it was played almost immediately after the incident, before either New York or opponents had time to react.

Against the Eagles and Cowboys, the Giants scored just one offensive touchdown, and that was with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Eagles.

"I don't think we have anybody that is trying to fill Plaxico's shoes," O'Hara said. "I don't think anybody is going to sit here and say, 'I have to do this because Plaxico did that,' but I think that as an offense as a whole, there are going to be times when we are going to need guys to step up and make big plays. That could come from anybody."

Against Carolina in Week 16, it came from Jacobs, who had three touchdowns, and running back Derrick Ward, who gained 215 yards. That 34-28 overtime win was the Giants' only victory in December. There's no way to know whether it proved the Giants' offense had gotten back on track - not until this weekend.

Ultimately, there isn't much to the idea of momentum. The Eagles proved that themselves during their mid-decade run of division titles and first-round byes. Reid routinely sacrificed momentum and continuity to rest his starters in meaningless December games. Recovery from injury and effective game plans have much more impact on playoff games than any carryover from the regular season.

The Giants have the advantage of the bye week this time around. That's two weeks of rest for Jacobs and other players nursing nagging injuries. Meanwhile, the Eagles are coming off a very physical game on an especially unyielding artificial surface.

December won't matter on Sunday. The absence of Burress just might.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan

at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com.

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com