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'Bring 'em on' New York letting Philadelphia do all the talking
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles can yap all they want about how things will be different this time against the New York Giants. Not only aren't the Giants buying it, they are not even reacting to the chatter coming out of Philadelphia that New York's eight-game winning streak against it is going to end. "They're doing a lot of talking, so let them talk," New York defensive tackle Keith Hamilton said Monday as the Giants (12-4) started getting ready for the NFC semifinal at Giants Stadium. "I'm not getting caught up in that, whatever their perception of us is," the nine-year veteran said. "They can holler about what they are going to do about this and that. We'll see on Sunday." The Eagles, who lost two one-sided decisions to the Giants in the regular season, were cocky about their chances after beating Tampa Bay 21-3 on Sunday to earn a trip up the New Jersey Turnpike. "Bring 'em on, bottom line," linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said after the wild-card game. "I'm ready to play now." Brian Mitchell was even more inflammatory. "I'm glad they dominated us so far," the Eagles running back and return specialist said. "They're going to go into the game with that in their mind. No matter what they say, they're human beings. They're going to think it's going to be easy. But this is a much better team than the last two times we played them." There is no denying that. Since being beaten 24-7 by the Giants on Oct. 29, the Eagles have posted a 7-1 record. The only loss was a 15-13 decision to Tennessee, which is the Super Bowl favorite among the eight teams left in the postseason. "I'm not in fear of this team being overconfident, not really at all," Giants head coach Jim Fassel said. Returning to work after a rare weekend off, the Giants chose their words carefully. There was nothing even close to a bulletin board quote. Linebacker Jessie Armstead insisted beating the Eagles a third time this season would be extremely difficult. "The odds aren't in our favor if you look at it," Armstead said. "You can write how we beat them eight times, but this here is the playoffs. Those eight times mean nothing. You lose this and you're out of here. I'm sure they're focusing on this, thinking they can erase eight losses by winning this one." Despite controlling the ball for 39 minutes in a 33-18 win Sept. 10 and for almost 44 minutes in the second win Oct. 29, center Dusty Zeigler guaranteed a tough game. "They are going to come in here with a vengeance," Zeigler said. "We beat them twice and that's probably still sticking in their gut. They are going to come in here pretty mad about it." Even Mitchell's comments that the Eagles won't hesitate to go after running back Tiki Barber's broken left arm didn't evoke much comment, even from Barber. "I know what I can do," said Barber, who plans to practice all week. "I can fight through things so I don't really worry about it. I'm concerned about getting ready for this game, not how they are going to attack me." Barber, who set a team record with 2,085 all-purpose yards, broke his arm against Dallas on Dec. 17, but he played in the regular season finale against Jacksonville. The Giants earned the NFC's top seed for the playoffs and a first-round bye by closing the season with a five-game winning streak, a run that Armstead said makes New York as confident as Philadelphia. "You have two trains coming at each other with confidence, which one will the wheel break?" Armstead said.
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