Brent Celek leads the Eagles with 14 receptions. Photo by Pete Lerro.

The
Eagles face their toughest test of the 2012 season when they take on the
defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on
national network television on Sunday Night Football (8:20 PM ET, NBC).

First
and foremost the Eagles offense must do is to stop turning the ball over.

A
broken-record point but is not going away until the fumbles stop and
quarterback Mike Vick must improve his ball security dramatically if the Eagles
are to get their third win and make a statement in the NFC East.

Vick
has thrown six interceptions and lost a fumble (Arizona scored after recovering
the football). LeSean McCoy has fumbled twice in three games. The Birds have
given the rock away 12 times in three games and are somehow 2-1.

One way
to stop the bleeding is to protect Vick and having said that, the Eagles signal
caller has to get rid of the ball quicker and his coach must put him in a
better position with better play calling.

Tight
end Brent Celek, who leads the team with 14 receptions for 261 yards (18.4 YPC)
says the line has to do better as does Vick.

“We
have to do a better job of protecting him,” Celek said. “And he has to protect
himself. We’ve all got a hand in that. It’s not just Mike, it’s not just the
o-line. It’s everybody involved with that. If we do a better job of executing
he won’t be on his back as much.”

Andy
Reid was asked if identifying blitzes from the secondary has been a point of
emphasis this week: Obviously keeping teams from blitzing successfully will
help the passing game.

“You
have to identify it first and then you’ve got to block it or you get the ball
out before that person gets there,” said Reid who has a lifetime record of
16-13 against the Giants. “That’s the way it is with most blitz situations. But
you have to identify it. Number one is identifying it.”

Reid
was asked if the team has stressed identifying blitzes of all kinds as they
prepare for Big Blue.

“The
things that they show we’ve tried to work on,” Reid said. “I’m sure they’ll
have a new wrinkle in there and we’ll be ready for that.”

Offensive
Coordinator Marty Marty Mornhinweg was asked whether Vick getting hit s’o much
factored into his decision-making.

“Sure,
certainly,” Mornhinweg offered. “However, in this game, you have to play lights
out and play in an attack mode. You can do that in the running game and do it
in the passing game. You just can’t because Mike gets hit a few times, and some
of those are him running into some hits, but you just can’t pull back and get
really conservative because of that. Otherwise, you have no chance. We were
just trying to have a chance to win that game when we were down [by] 17 or 24.”

With
Hakeem Nicks out for the game Sunday night, one would think the Birds coaching
staff will focus on containing Giants standout wide receiver Victor Cruz.

Reid
was asked if he expects the Giants will try to match up WR Victor Cruz and CB
Brandon Boykin, a rookie, in the slot:

“That’s
what they do,” Reid said. “They do that against everybody so we understand
that. Hes one of the best slot players in the league and so you honor that and
you get yourself ready to play against that.”

The
Giants/Eagles games are almost always instant classics. Reid was asked why it
seems like games between these teams always go down to the wire.

“I
would tell you that [the rivalry helps the situation]. I think both teams know
each other,” Reid said. “It’s close vicinity, it’s [the] NFC East, and now you
add Sunday night onto it. You have to prepare yourself for four quarters of
tough football.”

Reid
was asked whether the Giants winning the Super Bowl adds more motivation for
the Eagles.

“It’s a
rival so that’s what it’s about,” Reid said. “Whether they’ve done that or not,
it’s a rival. That’s how it works. I think both teams get fired up for it no
matter what the situation is.”