Eagles Out to Snap Streak Against Giants

Mark Bavaro, the New York Giants tight end, has made the Philadelphia Eagles look bad often enough, but Coach Buddy Ryan remains unimpressed.

The Eagles’ coach said he will concentrate his efforts on stopping Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor before worrying about Bavaro in tonight’s game. The Giants (3-2) have beaten the Eagles (2-3) 6 straight times, and Bavaro has been a factor in the last 4 wins over Ryan’s team.

Last year, in 20-17 and 23-20 New York victories over the Eagles, Bavaro caught 13 passes for 235 yards and 1 touchdown.

Bavaro, however, hasn’t been used often in the first 5 games of this season.

Coach Bill Parcells said last week that the Giants weren’t going to Bavaro as much because quarterback Phil Simms was spreading the ball among the wide receivers.

But the Giants are hurting at wide receiver, having lost Odessa Turner (10 receptions for 128 yards) and Mark Ingram (10-137) in the past 2 weeks.

Simms might turn to Bavaro, who has 16 catches for 185 yards and 1 touchdown, against the Eagles’ pass defense that is 26th among the league’s 28 teams.