5 questions with Bleeding Green Nation

BGN: Andy Reid said today that "he's improving but still day-to-day."

BBV: Which are the real Eagles, the ones who dropped 56 points on the Lions or the ones who lost their first two games?

BGN: The short answer is neither. They aren't going to hang 56 on people every week, but they also aren't going to be limited to 13 points a week. I do think that they are closer to what we saw last week because of what I saw from McNabb. Although I'll expand on that in the next question.

BBV: Similar question about Donovan McNabb. He wasn't good in the first two games, but was oustanding against Detroit. How healthy is he, and how much does he have left?

BGN: The first two weeks he was clearly not confident, he was checking down too fast and not letting his receivers get open, he was not moving well thanks to a giant brace on his knee, and his accuracy was just shocking. He was missing wide open receivers by several feet. However, this past Sunday it was like a different player. He took off the knee brace and the Eagles gave him some extra protection and it seemed to boost his confidence immeasurably. He completed over 80% of his passes, he was going deep, he was every bit the vintage McNabb. It's hard to quantify just how much more healthy he looked last week than he did the first two. Some are saying that the giant brace he was wearing was slowing him down and maybe that's true. After the first two weeks I'd have told you he wasn't healthy enough to play at all, but he really turned me around last week and it's safe to assume the knee is only going to get stronger as the season wears on. Everyone who has had knee surgery has said that the one year mark is when you truly are back to 100%, for McNabb that should be sometime around mid-season.

As for how much gas he has left? The guy is relatively young, he's only just 30 this year which for a QB is really your prime. Assuming he can avoid any more major injuries (which is a big if) I see no reason why he couldn't play for several more years at a high level. Whether he does that here or not remains to be seen.

BBV: Are there any new faces on this team that Giants fans might not be familiar with, but whom they should watch out for on Sunday night?

BGN: After last week the obvious guy is Kevin Curtis, the Eagles' highest priced free agent this offseason. He had a jaw dropping 11 catches for 222 yards and 3 TDs last week and rarely seemed to have a defender within 5 yards of him. Now, that was obviously a career day but he did show many of the reasons we got him in the offseason. He's got alot of speed, he's runs routes very well, and had he has great hands. It was so frustrating last season when the Eagles led the league in drops for most of the year, so it was not surprising when they went out and got a WR with a reputation for holding onto the ball.

The other guy is Juqua Thomas, who has been on the team for awhile but is really coming out this year. Jevon Kearse is a shell of his former self right now and Thomas has stepped in for him admirably. He already has 3 sacks this year while Kearse has not registered one. Each week Thomas has taken more and more playing time from Kearse and I suspect you'll see alot of him in the Giants game. The other main guy is last year's first round pick, DT Brodrick Bunkley, who has been an absolute monster in the middle so far this year. He barely got on the field last year and was labeled as a guy with a lazy attitude and no technique. He has made an amazing transformation this offseason and is playing like a man possessed this year, I've been telling people that I don't think I'm a homer by saying he could make the pro bowl this year.

BBV: Do you see it as an advantage for the Eagles that the Giants defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, learned his craft under Philly's Jim Johnson? Or is that really meaningless?

BGN: I think it's meaningless. These teams play each so much that they pretty much know everything about one another anyway.