Who do the Birds want?

By Pat Callahan

Let's go ahead and assume the Eagles beat Atlanta Sunday, to clinch the NFC East and lock up the Conference #3 seed. The question here is: who do the Birds want to see come to Philadelphia as the #6 seed? Of course, to a man the whole organization will issue the usual blather about how "it doesn't matter...we'll just take it one game at a time...every team will be tough..." And blah blah blah. But of course, it does matter: the object is to win, so which team, out of Atlanta, Carolina, St. Louis, Green Bay and the Giants would make the easiest foe a week from now? Who would be the toughest?

Here is my take, in order of easiest to toughest out:

1. Green Bay – like the other pretenders, this is not a good team. What makes the Packers most appealing as a first round opponent is their lack of a playmaker on offense, and that includes Brett Favre. No one on this offense scares you.

2. Carolina – like Green Bay, the Panthers have not gotten their offense in gear all season long, wasting a healthy Steve Smith in the process. The defense was never as fierce as predicted.

3. St. Louis – the Rams have won two straight, and both Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson are on fire right now. The defense, however, is awful and cannot stop any running attack, let alone Brian Westbrook.

4. Atlanta – the theory here is you don't want to have to beat the same team two weeks in a row. The odds are very long against this match-up, however; both Philly and Dallas would have to lose this Sunday.

5. New York Giants – again, it's about familiarity, as well as the notion that this team is assuredly the best of the bunch. If the Giants win Saturday in D.C. and the Birds win Sunday, this is your match-up.