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An upset in the quarterfinals of the Madden '13 cover voting has eliminated New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, the last remaining hope to represent our once-proud division on the cover of the iconic video game. San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, the No. 11 seed in his half of the bracket, obtained some small measure of revenge for the Giants' NFC Championship Game victory in January in San Francisco. Willis collected 55 percent of the vote in his third-round matchup against the second-seeded Cruz, whose vote totals in the first two rounds seemed to have put him on track for a semifinals matchup against Carolina's Cam Newton.

Cruz easily defeated Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo in the first round and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis in the second, but he was no match for Willis, who has so far knocked off Matt Forte, Maurice Jones-Drew and now Cruz in his improbable march to the semis. If he can upset Newton, he'll take on the winner of the Aaron Rodgers-Calvin Johnson semifinal for the honor of gracing the Madden cover.

I assume Kevin Seifert will have a full breakdown of the Rodgers-Johnson matchup on the NFC North blog, but for the NFC East, it is time to bid this competition farewell. Fun while it lasted and all of that. If you'd like to vote on the remaining matchups, feel free to do so here.

So we have this thing where you can go on and vote for who you think should be on the cover of "Madden NFL 13," and perhaps because it's March it's been set up as a bracket. There are 32 players in the bracket. The idea was that there'd be one for each NFL team, but as you can see the Patriots and Jets each now have two. All the Jets had to do to get their second was spend Wednesday completely embarrassing themselves.

But I digress.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is the 2-seed on the left side of the bracket, matched up in the first round against 15th-seeded Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo. We all like Orakpo, and he's sure to get a bit of a boost from the small measure of fame he's earned giving the caveman a hard time on the Geico commercials. But Cruz is the popular breakout star of the surprise Super Bowl champs, and he's sure to roll through the first round. In fact, as I break down the bracket, Doug Gottlieb-style, I don't see too many potential tough matchups for Cruz until the final. Fourth-seeded Larry Fitzgerald could give him a run, but I think the winner of that stellar second-round matchup between Fitz and the Philadelphia Eagles' LeSean McCoy is going to be spent. And I like Cruz's chances even against top seed Cam Newton in the semis. I'm picking Cruz to salsa right into the final.

McCoy is the fifth seed on the same side of the bracket, and he's got a tough draw. A first-round matchup against an underseeded Reggie Bush, who has a Kardashian history and may pull in some tabloid votes, is brutal. Then he's likely to see Fitzgerald in the second round and Newton in the third. If McCoy makes it to the semis, he'll have earned his way there, no doubt about it.

On the other side of the bracket, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is the No. 10 seed and matched up in the first round against No. 7 seed Jared Allen of the Vikings. I like Ware to pull the upset here, and while there's trouble looming in the second round from No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski, I think Ware's won enough "Madden" games over the years that he can upset Gronk as well. I have Ware in my Elite Eight, but that's where his dream ends. He's going to get either Tim Tebow, Arian Foster or Calvin Johnson there, and those guys are heavyweights.

My bracket has Cruz meeting Aaron Rodgers in the final and Rodgers getting his discount double-check revenge for the Giants' victory over the Packers in the NFC playoffs. But what do I know? I picked the Packers to win that game, and I never do well in the bracket pools.

Anyway, go vote. It'll give you something to do while you wait for London Fletcher to sign or the Giants to do something or whatever it is you're doing these days as a fan of a team in the super-quiet NFC East.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The man wasn't going to pretend. Everybody knows how LeSean McCoy feels about the New York Giants. So being here at the Super Bowl, where the Giants are actually playing and he was here simply to pick up the FedEx Ground Player of the Year award on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Eagles' star running back knew he was going to get asked for a prediction.

"I'm going to be honest," McCoy said, smiling a wan smile. "I really want the Patriots to win. But I feel like the Giants are probably going to win."

It's a tough time to be an Eagle, for sure. After the highest possible preseason expectations, Philadelphia fell almost all the way out of the race before rallying to win its final four games and finish 8-8, one game behind the division-champion Giants. The Eagles also beat the Giants at the Meadowlands in Week 11 behind backup quarterback Vince Young and gave away a fourth-quarter lead to them earlier in the year at home. The Giants stand as the last looming symbol of a season the Eagles still believe should have gone much better.

"It's hard, because you feel like you're better than they are," McCoy said. "But that's just words. They're actually doing it."

McCoy spoke about his Pro Bowl experience. Asked about Aaron Rodgers' criticism that NFC players didn't put forth enough effort, McCoy laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm one of those guys."

He spoke about Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie's angry postseason news conference: "I was kind of surprised, because every time I've seen Mr. Lurie he's had a smile for me. But I could see why he was upset."

He spoke about wide receiver DeSean Jackson's looming contract situation, saying he's been in touch with Jackson and believes things will work out between Jackson and the Eagles: "He's in high spirits right now, and I feel like they'll get something done. We need him and he wants to be here, so I feel like he'll be here."

He echoed what appears to be the prevailing sentiment around the Eagles, that the 2011 team would have been better if given more time to jell and that the right plan for 2012 is to keep the same group together the best they can: "I feel like we were jelling at the end. I feel like we started playing Eagle football. Early on, we were turning the ball over so much. It's hard to win in this league turning the ball over. I think this is the year to really do it. We want to do this thing the right way, and that means keeping our guys intact."

But he also admitted that the 2012 season will come with unprecedented pressure for the Eagles to succeed: "There's pressure for us to win some games and go to the Super Bowl, but sometimes pressure can be good for us. Philadelphia can be a tough place."

In the end, though, it kept coming back to that nagging, annoying fact of Eagle life that the Giants are about to play in the Super Bowl. Not much a disappointed rival running back can do but tip his cap.

"They got really hot," McCoy said of the Giants. "Just jelled at the right time. They're hot. The way they're playing, defensively and offensively, just great. Their offense reminds me of ours -- it seems like, at any given moment, they could go the distance. And [Eli] Manning's playing like his brother right now."

SOMEWHERE OVER PENNSYLVANIA -- Didn't make it back in time for the New York Giants' open locker room today, clearly, but the Giants are kind enough to send email transcripts of quotes from their coaches and players, and so I'm going through those on the plane. Came across some stuff from Giants center David Baas, who spent the last six years with the 49ers before signing with the Giants last offseason. Baas was asked about the emergence of 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft but took until this season to start living up to it.

"With Alex, I've always believed he's had it in him," Baas told reporters at the Giants' practice facility. "He just needed a lot more guys to believe in him. I feel like he's gotten that, and I feel like their approach with him, just being one of the guys, one of the teammates, trying not to do too much, has really worked for him."

After taking out Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers in elimination games the past three weeks, the Giants this week face Smith, who doesn't bring the same name recognition or remotely the same numbers. But Smith has led six fourth-quarter comeback game-winning drives this season, including one against the Giants in Week 10 and one Saturday night against the Saints. So while he's not the big name to which the Giants have grown accustomed, he is dangerous. The Giants, whose own quarterback has six game-winning drives this season, preached "finishing" last week. And after the way Smith and the Niners' offense came to life when they needed to against the Saints, the Giants would do well to pay attention to that this week too.

As for Baas, he's looking forward to seeing old friends, but that's about as far as he'll let the 49ers connection go.

"Congratulations to them," Baas said. "I know they're having really good success out there. But to be honest, I'm worried about the New York Giants and our team here."

Hey, so, bad news for all of you Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins fans. If you thought last week on the blog was Giants-heavy... you ain't seen nothing yet. Links.

New York Giants

Ian O'Connor points out that Eli Manning has now beaten Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers in playoff games in Green Bay, and that the only reason he didn't take out Bart Starr too is that he's too young to have had the chance. "Manning plays better than better quarterbacks," Ian writes, and while that's a nice way to put it, it seems pretty clear by now that Manning is a fairly great quarterback in his own right.

The play of Sunday's game may have been Hakeem Nicks' catch of Eli Manning's Hail Mary pass as time ran out in the second quarter. Brandon Jacobs said he saw Packers players walking to the locker room with their heads down and "pretty much knew they were done." Not sure about that, but the play had a strong whiff of significance. Kevin Seifert had just told me that the Packers specialized in scoring right before the end of the first half and then getting the ball to start the second half and scoring again. The opposite happened in this game. The Giants scored right before the end of the first half and the Packers turned the ball over on the first drive of the second. Game-changing stuff, that.

Philadelphia Eagles

The 700 Level looks at the likelihood of Steve Spagnuolo returning to the Eagles as defensive coordinator. With rumors now abounding that Gregg Williams will leave the Saints to join Jeff Fisher in St. Louis, you can add New Orleans to the list of interested Spagnuolo suitors. It won't be easy for the Eagles to get him, and there's also the troubling little fact that their defensive coordinator job is not, currently, open.

Sheil Kapadia wonders if Eagles defensive line coach Jim Washburn could go to St. Louis with Fisher, since the two had success together in Tennessee. Another reminder that the issues on the Eagles' defensive coaching staff are complicated and intertwined and don't seem to present any simple solutions.

Dallas Cowboys

Hudson Houck isn't saying the Cowboys will or should move Tyron Smith from right tackle to left tackle. But Smith's first NFL position coach, now retired, says that Smith could be "very, very good" at left tackle if such a move were made. With a new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach coming in, I imagine that decision has yet to be made. But it would seem to make a pile of sense, given Doug Free's struggles on the left side this past year.

Two weeks may be enough time to have softened some fans who were bitterly disappointed by the way the Cowboys' season ended. Blogging the Boys has a post expressing "rampant and disproportionate optimism" about the Cowboys' future and direction. Kind of refreshing, really.

Washington Redskins

Rich Tandler watched Saturday's Saints-49ers playoff game with an eye on some potential offseason targets for the Redskins, including Saints receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem. Mike Shanahan will definitely be looking for a No. 1 receiver this offseason, but as Rich suggests, the Saints' guys come with questions about whether they'd perform the same way in a different system.

Rick Snider ponders the idea of the Redskins bringing in Peyton Manning to play quarterback for them next year. Some say it's farfetched. I'm not sure it is. But I know they'd have to be sure he's healthy before they decided to do it, and I'm not sure how anybody's going to be able to be sure of that.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A few thoughts on the New York Giants' 37-20 playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

What it means: Well, it means the Giants are one game away from the Super Bowl. The defeated the 15-1 Packers on the Packers' home field and now get a chance to avenge another of their regular-season losses next week in San Francisco. It also seems to give credence to the theory that playing at playoff-level intensity in the weeks leading up to the playoffs can give a team an advantage.

Who are these guys?: These are not the same Giants that were losing four straight games to fall to .500 and into second place a little more than a month ago. We knew they were tough, and that Eli Manning was a fourth-quarter assassin. But during those tough November/December days, it did not appear as though the Giants had the manpower to win these kinds of games against these kinds of teams. They are healthier now, and they look as focused, driven and confident as any team left in the field. And they are a legitimate threat to bring home the fourth Super Bowl trophy in franchise history.

Discipline deep: The Giants looked lost in coverage in the first quarter, as they did for most of the season. But they tightened up in the second and made plays in the secondary all day when it counted. Green Bay helped out by dropping its share of passes, but Antrel Rolle led the way for a clearly fired-up Giants secondary, and for maybe the first time all year it looked as though the front four was feeding off what the guys on the back end were doing. Michael Boley got two sacks from the linebacker position as the Giants tried everything they could to get Aaron Rodgers to stop beating them with his legs. Most importantly, the Giants stayed disciplined in the secondary, so that even when they didn't break up the pass, there was a safety and/or a cornerback there to keep the gain from turning into a big, backbreaking one. It wasn't always pretty, but they did an excellent job of keeping the Packers' explosive offense in front of them, and they benefited as a result.

Winning the turnover battle: The Packers are plus-23 in the turnover category during the regular season. But the Kansas City Chiefs -- until Sunday, the only team to have beaten them -- didn't turn the ball over at all against them. And the Giants had a 3-1 turnover edge in Sunday's game. Manning threw an interception, but the Giants recovered three Green Bay fumbles to seize the edge in a category that routinely decides games in the NFL.

Who's No. 1?: Victor Cruz has been the headline-grabber in New York this year, and for good reason. But Hakeem Nicks showed everybody he's still the best wide receiver the Giants have. Nicks turned in the long catch-and-run that's becoming a Giants' staple -- a 66-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. He caught the Manning Hail Mary in the end zone that gave the Giants a shocking 20-10 halftime lead. He finished with seven catches for 165 yards and made the biggest plays of the day.

Big plays at the right time: The Giants were 8-for-15 on third-down conversions for the game. The Packers were 6-for-11, which might have been the story if the game had swung the other way. But on this day, the Giants had the better offense.

What's next: The Giants will travel to San Francisco, where they will play the 49ers in the NFC Championship game at 6:30 pm ET. The winner of that game will advance to Super Bowl XLVI two weeks later in Indianapolis.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Well, you're all going to want to talk about the call that should have been overturned and wasn't, and I understand being mad. Looking at the replay, I was 100 percent sure Greg Jennings fumbled the ball in the final minutes of the first quarter and that the New York Giants were going to get the ball back in Packers territory with a 10-3 lead. I can't explain why the call wasn't reversed on replay, and I understand that, if the Giants lose, that's what the vast majority of you will want to talk about all week. Maybe all offseason.

But I'd rather talk about Hakeem Nicks, who had five catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns to help the Giants take a 20-10 lead into the half of a playoff game that could send them to the NFC Championship Game. Nicks delivered the Giants' patented long catch-and-run touchdown with a 66-yarder in the first quarter, and he went up to catch Eli Manning's 37-yard Hail Mary as time ran out on the second quarter. Those two plays were the highlights of a dazzling offensive first half in which the Giants outgained the Packers 311 to 170 and in which many more good things happened for them than bad.

Even on the call, if you'll allow me to play devil's advocate (since that's part of my job description), the Giants weren't exactly blameless. That drive, you'll remember, started from the 40-yard line after Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes shanked a kickoff out of bounds. And the tackling by the Giants before and after the bad call was worse than the call itself. The Giants had chances to make plays that would have at least limited the damage to a field goal, and they did not.

Besides, to focus on the call would be to ignore the incredible number of things that went right for the Giants in the first half, in spite of their own poor tackling, Tynes' poor kickoff and Tynes' blocked field goal. The Packers' tackling was even worse. The Packers dropped at least four passes. The Giants' defense drastically improved its coverage and tackling in the second quarter, and even seemed to be working on ways to stop Aaron Rodgers from scrambling for third-down pickups against them.

The Giants were 5-for-9 on third down and possessed the ball for 16:38. If the defense can continue the improvement it showed in the second quarter, and if they can get any kind of running game going at all (23 of their 37 yards came on an Ahmad Bradshaw run just before the half-ending Hail Mary), they have a pretty good chance to cash this in and earn a trip to San Francisco to play the 49ers next week for a shot at the Super Bowl.

Rodgers and the Packers get the ball back to start the second half, so we'll see if the Giants can keep the momentum on their side.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Greetings from the frozen north, where Weather.com tells me it's 19 degrees right now outside my hotel room. And while, yeah, that's cold, the same site is telling me it's 18 degrees back at home in New Jersey. So you'll hear no complaining from me, and surely none from the New York Giants, who have to feel as though they caught a huge break drawing a Lambeau Field playoff game on a day with a high temperature of 28 and no precipitation.

I'll be headed over to Lambeau Field a little bit later, as will NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert, NFL columnist Ashley Fox and a cast of thousands from ESPNNewYork.com. So we'll have you covered from there. Seifert reports this morning that Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, who tragically lost his 21-year-old son earlier this week, will be at the game, likely coaching from the press box as he normally does.

The winner of this game gets the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. If the Giants win today, that game will be in San Francisco. If the Packers win today, the 49ers will travel to Green Bay for that game and this blog won't care nearly as much.

Meantime, though, a playoff edition of "How you feeling?" As you get ready for this afternoon's playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay, here's one reason for Giants fans to feel good and one reason for concern.

Feeling good: The Giants aren't going to be intimidated. First, there are a number of players left on the roster from the team that came in here four years ago and defeated Brett Favre's Packers (on a much colder day than this) in the NFC Championship Game. But perhaps more importantly, just five weeks ago this Giants team played Aaron Rodgers' Packers to the wire at home, tying the game with 58 seconds left and losing on a last-second field goal. That was the game that got the Giants feeling good about themselves again, even though they lost it. They're 4-1 since and playing defense at a much higher level than they played it in that 38-35 loss. And that game proved to them and everyone else that Eli Manning and the Giants have a good enough passing offense to go toe-to-toe with the Packers' own deadly air attack.

Cause for concern: Rodgers presents a challenge that's just different from any the Giants have seen in recent weeks. They were able to get pressure on Matt Ryan in last week's playoff victory over Atlanta, but Ryan is a stationary quarterback who hangs out in the pocket and isn't a threat to run. Rodgers isn't just mobile -- his legs are a legitimate offensive weapon. In the Week 13 game, Rodgers led the Packers in rushing with 32 yards on four carries. He picked up 6 yards on a third-and-5 in the third quarter. And he picked up 11 yards on a third-and-10 and 18 yards on a second-and-9 during a second-quarter touchdown drive. The Giants will need to get pressure on Rodgers with their great defensive ends, but they'll also need to make sure that pressure results in hits or sacks or hurried throws, because if they don't finish, Rodgers can escape and do them harm.

» Divisional Final Word: Saints-49ers | Broncos-Patriots | Texans-Ravens | Giants-Packers

Three nuggets of knowledge about Sunday's Giants-Packers divisional round game:

Run, Giants, run: The Giants, who averaged a league-worst 89.2 rush yards per game in the regular season, ran for 172 in their wild-card round victory over the Atlanta Falcons. It was the first time this season that the Giants had rushed for more than 150 yards in a game. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Giants have won their past 14 games in which they have rushed for at least 150 yards. So although the Week 13 results and the Packers' league-worst pass defense (299.8 yards allowed per game) could tempt Eli Manning & Co. into a shootout, the Giants' best bet may be to try to wear down the Packers' run defense, which gave up just 111.8 yards per game on the ground.

Vulnerable down the field: ESPN Stats & Info also reports that the Giants gave up 24 passing touchdowns this year when using five or more defensive backs -- the most in the league while in such formations. Just more proof of why the Giants don't blitz and rely on their front four to pressure the quarterback. They need all the help they can get on the back end of the defense, and in a game like this against Aaron Rodgers and his array of weapons, that's more true than ever.

Good playoff omens: The Packers this year scored 560 points, which is the second-highest single-season total in NFL history. The only team that scored more was the 2007 Patriots, who of course went undefeated until losing in the Super Bowl to the Giants. Also, Manning has three career playoff road wins (all in that 2007-08 postseason, and not counting that Super Bowl victory on a neutral field). If he wins this game, he'll tie the record for the most career playoff road wins, which is shared by Roger Staubach, Jake Delhomme, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco and Len Dawson. Flacco's playing at home this weekend, and the rest of those guys are off. Though I guess Delhomme is the Texans' backup, so if T.J. Yates got hurt, Delhomme could technically pick up a fifth and make this note moot. Hey, we're covering all bases here.

The pineapple is ... well, it's in a better place now. But the Giants are still alive and kicking. I'm back with my predictions for the Giants-Packers game and all of the rest of this weekend's NFL playoff action. Click on the video to see/hear who I picked to advance.

Last week: 2-2

Season to date: 30-27

The New York Giants you see before you -- a team that has made it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs -- are not the same New York Giants we watched for most of this season. Their enthusiasm and effectiveness bear little, if any, resemblance to that of the team that lost five of six games from mid-November to mid-December. What's the difference? Well, there are many. And each day this week, leading up to the playoff game Sunday in Green Bay, we'll take a look at a player or players who have helped turn these Giants from a mid-pack pretender to a Final Eight contender.

Today: LB Chase Blackburn

The Giants decided not to bring back Blackburn last offseason opting instead to go with a rookie corps at linebacker even once Jonathan Goff and Clint Sintim went down with preseason injuries. But the November injuries to Michael Boley and Mark Herzlich were too much, and so the Giants called their old friend and brought him back Nov. 29. He started the very next game -- the one against the Packers on Dec. 4 -- and came up with an interception of Aaron Rodgers. He wasn't even on the flip card yet, and he wasn't wearing his old uniform number. A week earlier, he was working out the details of a substitute math teaching gig in Ohio. It's possible his was the most surprising interception Rodgers threw all season.

"I think he'll know who No. 93 is this time," Blackburn said earlier this week.

Blackburn's return has brought stability to the Giants' middle linebacker position, which never attained that following the Goff injury. Rookies Greg Jones, Jacquian Williams and Herzlich all took their turns in the middle, but things remained unsettled, as they often do with rookies, and the Giants suffered for it. Had Herzlich not injured his ankle, they might have continued to roll with the rookies. They take the middle linebacker off the field on passing downs anyway, and they don't view it as the most essential position in their defensive scheme.

But having Blackburn back and manning the middle has helped in ways the Giants didn't foresee. The most important element he brings is familiarity. He's played here before. He knows the scheme, the system, the terminology.

"Think about it," Boley said. "You bring in a guy in Week 13 and he's never been here before, he has to spend a lot of time just learning what things are called. He's catching up. But with Chase, there was no catching up. The stuff we do is exactly the same as it was when he was here before. So he just slid right in."

The Giants' defense still runs off the big guys up front -- the four-man pass rush. And the play of the secondary is likely to matter more and get more attention this week in the playoff game in Green Bay. But Blackburn's contribution since he arrived Week 13 has been quietly significant, if for no other reason that it's allowed the Giants to stop moving pieces around as much as they were before he returned. He's made plays. He's fit in. He's been everything the Giants needed when they went out looking for a substitute linebacker in late November. And more, almost certainly, than they expected.

Looks as though they're getting their snow early in Green Bay. A bunch will be on the ground when we arrive this weekend, but the forecast for Sunday remains clear and for a relatively balmy 24 degrees. Given what the calendar says and where they're going, the Giants will sign for that. There's a difference between Tom Coughlin's face being red and Tom Coughlin's face being dear-god-get-that-man-to-a-hospital red. Anyway, links.

New York Giants

Ian O'Connor looked back at the Lawrence Tynes kick that delivered the Giants' last playoff victory in Green Bay four years ago and talked with members of Tynes' family about the tough times they've all endured and the toughness that lives in the Giants' kicker as a result. It's a real good story. Apropos of nothing, though, did you know this Sunday's will be the first playoff game at Lambeau Field since that one? Not just for the Giants, but for the Packers too. They were a wild-card team last year. Played 'em all on the road.

More trivia: Gary Myers writes that this will be the first-ever playoff game featuring two quarterbacks who have previously won a Super Bowl MVP award. Gary takes a look at the matchup between Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles lost their player personnel director Wednesday, as Ryan Grigson went off to run the Colts. So they'll need to restructure some things in their personnel department. Once they do, they have decisions to make on their own potential free agents, and Geoff Mosher runs through the list.

Those who assume the Eagles are sure to sign Steve Spagnuolo as their defensive coordinator simply because he used to work there have consistently ignored the obvious fact that the Eagles will have competition for the man's services. The Atlanta Falcons, who actually have an opening at defensive coordinator, have emerged as a strong suitor.

Dallas Cowboys

Remember when Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was a hot name for potential head coaching jobs? Calvin Watkins writes that the way the Dallas defense played down the stretch may have taken Ryan off some of those lists -- for this year, at least.

Todd Archer believes, as I do, that there's a real good chance the Cowboys take an offensive linemen in the first round of the draft. But if they're going to put that high a value on their interior line needs, Todd writes, might they spend what it takes in free agency to sign someone like Saints guard Carl Nicks? Intriguing.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins are hiring former Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris to coach their defensive backs, according to Mike Jones. Lots of good connections here. Morris has worked on the same staff as Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and under GM Bruce Allen before. He's 35 years old and likely still a hot coaching prospect, regardless of what happened this year in Tampa Bay. I'll be interesting to see which defensive backs stick around for Morris to coach. Safeties coach Steve Jackson and wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell won't be back, Jason Reid writes. Jackson was in Washington for eight years.

Redskins kicker Graham Gano broke two bones in his back making a tackle in the season finale. Gano is a free agent and, as he rehabs his back, he wonders what his own future holds in Washington.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — They gave up 360 passing yards the last time they played the Green Bay Packers, and that wasn't even the worst day of the season for the New York Giants' secondary. It is not the strength of their team, and the main reason it's looked better lately is the effective aggressiveness of the defensive line as it pressures quarterbacks. But while he's clearly not ready to proclaim that all is well on the back end, Giants coach Tom Coughlin believes his secondary will be better in Sunday's playoff rematch in Green Bay than it was in the 38-35 Week 13 loss at the Meadowlands.

"We're definitely going to be tested in the secondary, obviously," Coughlin said before Wednesday's practice. "There has been improvement — a plastering effect, if you will. Much better than it was a few short weeks ago. I think that's the growth of the confidence that comes from the pass rush, to the ability to stop the run and then to be able to execute on the back end — knowing full well that naturally there's yardage to be gained but nevertheless that we stay away from the big play."

Against the Packers, with their dynamic and myriad receiving threats and quarterback Aaron Rodgers' pinpoint accuracy, that's the best for which you can hope. The Giants must trust their pass rushers to harass Rodgers and then make sure their cornerbacks and safeties don't get burned for anything too deep. Rodgers can beat them by throwing short all the way down the field, but at least if you force him to play that way you're giving yourself more chances to make a play to stop him or get a turnover.

"We have to do our job in the secondary and make sure we take away their wide receivers," safety Antrel Rolle said. "I understand they're an awesome opponent, but then again so are we. I wouldn't put any opponent on a pedestal."

One thing the Giants have going in their favor is that they're much healthier on defense than they were in the first Green Bay game. That day, linebacker Michael Boley was still coming back from a hamstring injury. Chase Blackburn had just been signed off the street. Osi Umenyiora was out with an ankle injury. Safety Kenny Phillips hurt his knee in the second quarter and had to come out of the game. Safety Deon Grant said Wednesday he remembers the all-hands-on-deck feeling from a game in which he had to spend some time at middle linebacker.

"A lot of guys were just out there guessing," Grant said. "So I think the biggest thing this time will be the ability to play full-speed and just being concise on everything with everybody in the right place and knowing what they're supposed to do."

Will it be enough to slow down Rodgers & Co.? We'll find out Sunday. But the Giants definitely go into this game feeling better equipped to do so than they did six weeks ago.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Everybody wanted to know about New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross, who came out of Sunday's game with a concussion. Well, Ross has passed all of his tests and was cleared to practice with the Giants on Wednesday. It appears he'll be all set to play and start Sunday's playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay.

The only Giants who missed practice were running back D.J. Ware, who also had a concussion Sunday, running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who's only been practicing once a week for the past couple of months because of his foot injury, and linebacker Mark Herzlich, whose ankle injury has kept him out for a while. Ware has a history with concussions, so it's possible he might not be able to make it back in time for Sunday's game. The Giants have used Ware in the screen game and to take some of the pressure off of Bradshaw's bad foot, but they may not be able to count on him this week.

The Ross news is good for the Giants, who can't afford to be any more shorthanded in the secondary than they already are. If Ross couldn't play, that would mean more reps for rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara, who's been a favorite target of opposing quarterbacks when he has played this year. Having Ross healthy along with fellow starter Corey Webster, and then spotting in Amukamara as needed, gives the Giants their best chance against the aerial assault of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

The New York Giants you see before you — a team that has made it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs — are not the same New York Giants we watched for most of this season. Their enthusiasm and effectiveness bear little, if any, resemblance to that of the team that lost 5-of-6 games from mid-November to mid-December. What's the difference? Well, there are many. And each day this week, leading up to the playoff game Sunday in Green Bay, we'll take a look at a player or players who have helped turn these Giants from a mid-pack pretender to a Final Eight contender.

Today: DE Osi Umenyiora

The sack came right at the end of Sunday's playoff victory, with the game in hand and the Giants' defense focused only on maintaining what from its standpoint was a shutout. But it came nonetheless, as they always seem to when Umenyiora plays. It was a high-energy, hyper-athletic sack that required him to practically jump over the man who was blocking him and grab Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan up high before dragging both passer and blocker to the ground. It was not the type of sack you see other pass rushers make, and it reminded you why Umenyiora is not like other pass rushers.

Yeah, it looked as though the Giants were going to be all right without ol' Osi in the mix. Umenyiora missed four games in December with an ankle injury, but with Justin Tuck on one side and the year Jason Pierre-Paul was having on the other, you figured they could generate the edge rush they needed while Umenyiora hobbled around the training complex. But when you actually watched the Giants play without him, you could tell something was missing.

Aaron Rodgers picked them apart one week, Tony Romo the next, albeit in a Giants win. Rex Grossman didn't put up huge numbers, but he picked up every third-down conversion he needed in Week 15 as the Redskins dropped the Giants to 7-7 and into what looked like major trouble. A defense that lives off its pass rush was hurting for Umenyiora's absence. Dave Tollefson is a good, professional defensive lineman who can make a play and fits well in the Giants' scheme, but what he is not — and what Umenyiora is — is one of the best pass rushers in the world.

So when Umenyiora returned for the regular-season finale against Dallas, the whole thing looked different. The Giants were able to rotate all of their defensive ends, to play Tuck at an interior line position on third downs if they wanted to, to drop Pierre-Paul into coverage to confuse Romo, who by the way was sacked not once but twice by Umenyiora. Sunday brought more of the same, as a fully operational Giants pass rush made Ryan's day miserable and kept the Falcons' offense off the scoreboard.

"I think earlier in the year, when we were trying to find our identity and kind of struggling on defense, a lot of individual stuff was showing up," Tuck said after the game. "Now it's just all about team effort and playing together as a team."

Umenyiora's on the train. The contract dispute from last summer and the knee injury that cost him the first three games of the season have been shoved into a distant corner of his memory. Challenges await in the offseason, and there's no way to know whether the next game he plays will be his last as a Giant. Umenyiora said last week, though, that he doesn't care. He's enjoying this run. He's feeling healthy — or healthy enough, at least, to play playoff games — and most importantly for the Giants, he's making an impact. This is about more than just having all of their players back healthy. Few players make an impact the way Osi Umenyiora does.