Tonight

Philadelphia at New York Giants

6 p.m., Channel 7

The line: New York by 3.

Story line: Philadelphia needs a victory to grab first place in the NFC East and finally end a losing streak of nine games to the rival Giants.

Keys to the game: The defensive lines will play a major role, particularly Eagle tackle Jon Runyan and end Hugh Douglas and Giant end Michael Strahan and tackle Lomas Brown. In three meetings against New York last season, Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb struggled against a defense that sacked him 13 times, held him to a 46.7 completion percentage and allowed the Eagles an average of only 58 yards rushing. Do the Eagles have enough of a passing game to keep the Giants from loading up at the line of scrimmage? The fierce Philadelphia secondary looks to tarnish New York quarterback Kerry Collins’ mark of never having been intercepted in five career games against them.

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MATCHUPS PHI NYG Points scored 26.0 (6) 18.2 (17) Points allowed 15.5 (8) 14.2 (6) Passing Off. 259.2 (6) 205.6 (22) Rushing Off. 117.2 (14) 110.6 (16) Passing Def. 171.2 (2) 254.4 (30) Rushing Def. 121.5 (21) 80.6 (3) Time of Poss. 31:14 (10) 30:27 (13) Turnover Ratio 0 (16) 1 (14) Sacks14 (6)15 (4)

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The pick: New York. The Giants have the intangibles to win a game in which the defenses should dominate. Field position, turnovers, the running game and home-field advantage will make the difference for the NFC champions.