Tonight, we get to see Vince Young make his first start as an Eagle. This is going to be interesting. The offense has struggled in the last two weeks, scoring just 27 points in those games combined. It is hard to say exactly what is wrong with the offense. DeSean Jackson's absence hurt last week, but all the players were on hand for the Bears game. Something just hasn't been clicking.

In steps Young. Maybe he can be the spark that will get the offense going again. The good news is that he practiced all week and the game plan will be built around him. That makes a huge difference. Just stepping on the field in the middle of a game is tough. Preparation is a huge part of success in the NFL.

I am curious to see how the offense will look different with Young. Every quarterback has strengths and weaknesses. Young doesn't have a favorite receiver. Think back to the preseason. The guy he seemed to connect with the most was Chad Hall. Young was working with the backup offense. Now, he gets the keys to the car. What kind of chemistry will he have with Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Brent Celek and Jason Avant?

It will be interesting to see what the game plan is. Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg have some options. They can focus on getting the ball to McCoy early on. He ran the ball a lot in the first Giants game. The game plan could be to focus on protection. Maybe they spread the Giants out and give Young lots of options. One thing I think they will do is let Young move around early in the game to get him into the flow of things. He's only played a handful of snaps this year. The best thing to do with athletic quarterbacks is let them run around on a couple of early plays.

Jeremy Maclin is out and that will hurt the offense. The return of Jackson will be a big help. His speed is something that teams have to account for. In the first game, the Giants played somewhat conservatively. They kept both safeties deep most of the time, taking away the threat of big plays. With Maclin out they have an option. They can simply double cover Jackson and go back to blitzing or they can keep both safeties deep and hope the front four is able to pressure Young.

Tommy Lawlor, goeagles99 on the Discussion Boards, is an amateur football scout and devoted Eagles fan. He was a finalist for Philadelphia's Most Influential Blogger Award and is the Editor of IgglesBlitz.com

The Eagles offensive line must come up big today. It sounds like Evan Mathis will start at left guard, meaning the best five linemen will be on the field. The Giants have an outstanding defensive line, but the Eagles have blockers capable of keeping them under control. The Giants will do some blitzing. Young has to see this and make good adjustments. The skill players must block well. McCoy struggled in pass protection last week and had some costly mistakes. Normally, McCoy is very good at blocking.

Back to Jackson for a minute. I'm sure he will be a major part of the game plan today. I can see the coaches trying to feed him the ball a lot, especially early in the game. Jackson has got to be desperate to get back on the field and make something happen. In the last week, he had to deal with interviews, excuses and apologies about missing a meeting and then being inactive for a game. That is misery for a proud playmaker like Jackson. The offense needs him to be more than just a threat to the defense. The offense needs him to move the chains and make some plays.

The Eagles defense is playing better football than it did when the teams met earlier in the season. Run defense has improved greatly. The Giants won't have Ahmad Bradshaw so that means the Eagles will have the challenge of dealing with Brandon Jacobs. A few years back that would have been a scary scenario, but Jacobs isn't the same guy. His best game this year is 18 carries for 72 yards. The Eagles should be able to keep him under control. Should. Danny Ware will also get some carries. He's big and runs hard. It wouldn't surprise me for the Giants to try and spread the Eagles out and then run Ware up the middle.

The nickel defense will have a new look. Keenan Clayton will play alongside Jamar Chaney at linebacker. Clayton has very good cover skills. I'm excited to see that part of his game. His ability to defend the run is what intrigues me. Clayton struggled with that in the last couple of preseasons. I want to see if that part of his game has improved. His presence is part of what makes me think the Giants will try to get the nickel defense on the field and then run against it.

Last week, Juan Castillo went blitz happy. Don't expect a repeat of that. The Giants mix in some max protection, but Eli Manning is a veteran quarterback and he likes to have plenty of receivers out in pass routes. The Eagles defensive line should be able to get pressure in this game without needing a lot of blitzing. It was fun to see some blitzing mixed in. We're Eagles fans and seeing the team blitz is something we've grown to love over the last 30 years.

The defense struggled with giving up big plays in the first Giants game. That's been an issue for much of the season. We'll see if tonight is different. Castillo continues to tweak the lineup and scheme to try and eliminate mistakes. One area that was a huge problem in the first Giants game was terrible tackling. That issue has largely been eliminated. Kurt Coleman had a disastrous mistake that led to a long Victor Cruz touchdown. Coleman has played much better since then. I look for him to have a good game. Nate Allen will return to the lineup after missing last week due to a concussion. His return should help the defense.

The defense needs Asante Samuel and Nnamdi Asomugha to play well. Manning has struggled with Samuel over the years. Asomugha had some struggles in the first Giants game. I'm sure he'd love to get some payback.  Joselio Hanson will be on the field due to an injury to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  I'm sure Hanson is excited to know he'll get to play a lot.  He's a good nickel corner and his presence should help the third-down defense. 

This is a game the Eagles must win if they want to keep any postseason hopes alive.  I've been waiting for the light switch to go on and this team to get on a hot streak.  They did win two games in a row, but followed that with two losses.  We're at the point now where you just deal with one game at a time.  Go win tonight and we'll deal with next week when it gets here.  I just want the team to go out and find a way to win. C'mon Eagles.  Give us a reason to be happy tonight.

For more dead-on analysis from Tommy Lawlor, check out the Fan-Demonium archive.