Giants aim for McNabb

An optimist might say that the New York Giants have averaged 3 3/4 sacks in their last four games against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hey, that’s pretty good.

But the guys up front for the Giants know better. And so do the Eagles. Because in the last two games -- both this season -- the Giants have had zero sacks against Donovan McNabb. Zero.

It’s that 12-sack game last year that brings the average up so high. In the three games since that prime-time pasting that the Giants gave to their NFC East rivals, they’ve managed to take down McNabb only three times.

Did we mention zero this season?

“You get angry,” defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “You think about getting the sacks the next time.”

The next time is today, in a divisional playoff game at Giants Stadium.

After allowing McNabb to skate in the two previous meetings, the Giants know that one of the ways to slow down the Eagles’ offense is to pressure the quarterback. It’s one of the core strategies against any opponent, but with McNabb, who can elude tackles and find receivers on the run, it’s especially important.

The Giants failed to register a sack in only five of their last 36 regular-season and postseason games the last two years. Two of those five have been against the Eagles.

“That’s something that’s been nipping at us a lot,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “We’re putting a huge focus on it.”

Of more concern to the Giants than their zero sacks might be the health of Tuck. He practiced Thursday in a limited capacity after missing Wednesday’s workout because of a knee and lower leg injury. But Tuck, the team’s leader with 12 sacks, said he’ll play today.

At what speed is yet to be determined. He has slowed tremendously in sack production as the season has gone on. In the last four games, he has had only half a sack. He has had 3 1/2 in the last eight games. The last time he put his hooks into a quarterback was the Dec. 14 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

“I’m not going there,” Coach Tom Coughlin said when asked if Tuck’s nagging injuries have diminished his production. “I just think that he is excited about looking forward to this weekend.”

Tuck has also become the target of almost continuous double-teaming, something that players such as Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora dealt with in previous years. And he has sought advice from Strahan on the subject.

“The best advice is just to go out there and beat both of them,” Tuck said. “It really isn’t any hidden doctrine or new language as far as beating double-teams.

“There are people that did it all their careers, so there is no reason to complain about it.”

It may seem strange to see McNabb run so free against the Giants. For years he routinely found himself underneath Strahan -- the future Hall of Famer sacked McNabb more often than any other quarterback in the league -- and that 12-sack game in September 2007 was the culmination of that trend.

Since then, the Eagles have changed their approach against the Giants.

“I would hope so,” New York defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. “They had a lot of people in and had only a few receivers running routes.”

Said Cofield: “When you give up a ton of sacks like that, you expect the team to adjust, and I feel like they have.”

They have more people stay in to help protect the quarterback, whether they are backs or tight ends. Lost in the focus of Antonio Pierce’s coverage on Brian Westbrook on the 40-yard touchdown reception in December is the fact that Westbrook stayed in for a few beats to help with the protection and that Kiwanuka nearly grabbed McNabb as he whooshed behind him without affecting the pass.

“Listen, they had 12 sacks against us and [tied] an NFL record, so that is enough for about five years all in one game,” Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. “They are great at the pass rush. There is nothing wrong with their pass rush.”

The Giants finished with 42 sacks, sixth-most in the NFL. The Eagles gave up 23 sacks, the seventh-fewest. But last weekend the Minnesota Vikings managed to put some pressure on McNabb, mostly up the middle. They had three sacks, the most any team has managed against McNabb since September.

And in case you missed it, the Giants have zero against him this season.

“He’s been a little too comfortable,” Cofield said. “We’ve got to do whatever it takes to make life more difficult for him, regardless of how many people stay in, how many backs chip or how many people stay in to block.”

Added Tuck: “We just have to continue to go out there and just pound the rock. If you keep pounding the rock, it will break.”