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PHILADELPHIA — Such is the nature of this blood feud between the Giants and the Eagles that even coach Tom Coughlin sounded as if he wanted to put a lick on Michael Vick when he set the tone for this brawlgame early in the week behind the blue door.
“It’s Philly Week! Let’s go!” Coughlin roared. “You guys should have been in here 30 minutes before me! You all should have been waiting on me!
“Because it’s Philly Week!”
It’s Eli Manning looking for a chance to win it in the fourth quarter. It’s Victor Cruz returning to the place where his fairy tale and his salsa began. It’s Osi Umenyiora and LeSean McCoy renewing hostilities. It’s Andre Brown and Ramses Barden aiming to open eyes again. It’s 60 minutes of hell.
It’s the Eagles craving what the world champion Giants have, and the Giants, who perish the thought of dropping to 0-2 in the division, determined to keep it, at a time when even from a distance, you can hear the barking at Vick, from a championship-starved city that fears he will throw and fumble away its Super Bowl dream and may soon be ready to run him out of town the way the Giants plan on running him out of Lincoln Financial Field tonight.
Whether it is the cumulative effects of violent hits on a 32-year-old body that is not built to last, or a misguided game plan last Sunday against the Cardinals that virtually ignored McCoy (13 carries, 70 yards rushing, three catches, eight yards receiving) and unnecessarily exposed Vick to the wrath of remorseless, frothing hitman, No. 7 finds himself nearing a crossroads, and the Giants would love nothing better than to commemorate this latest bloody installment of the Thrilla in Philla as the beginning of the end for Vick with the Eagles.
With the Big Blue secondary wounded, with Hakeem Nicks missing again, with Manning more dependent again on Barden, Cruz and tight end Martellus Bennett, with scrubs at left tackle and center serving as bodyguards for Vick, this is the perfect spot for defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s predators to awaken from their early-season slumber.
“Sometimes hard hits are mistaken for illegal hits by these replacement refs, so I think he actually has a better shot with the replacements than he does with the regular refs,” Mathias Kiwanuka said.
Kiwanuka, primarily a linebacker now, said he enjoys the view from behind Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Umenyiora much better than Vick will like the view in front of him.
“I think sometimes when you get guys who are pass rush-minded that can get so keyed into it that as a linebacker you have to be able to make adjustments and stuff,” Kiwanuka said. “But the beautiful part about it is when you have, for example, a play-action pass, and you have to turn and bust out and you’re running with your eyes away from the quarterback — and then you hear the crowd roar. And all of a sudden you realize you can relax now, because they got him. I don’t think they realize how big of an effect they have on the game by just getting pressure, just getting their hands up and batting a ball down. Those things mean a lot to us.”
The Eagles won’t be paying this Vick (six interceptions, three fumbles, 66.3 QB rating) $15.5 million next season. Coach Andy Reid hemmed and hawed this week about whether Vick, who has struggled mightily against the blitz, is or isn’t on a short leash.
“He’s still Vick,” Kiwanuka said. “He still has his speed, he still has his ability to extend the play, get out of the pocket. … We got to be able to contain him keep him in the pocket, make him read the coverage down the field, and then get after him.”
Ah yes, the old sic Vick game plan. But make sure you sic McCoy first.
“I think what makes him so dynamic,” Kiwanuka said, “is his ability to go from fullspeed, change direction, and get back to fullspeed.”
“Very shifty, fast, can make people miss,” Pierre-Paul said. “He’s a great running back.”
So who do you concentrate on, McCoy or Vick?
“I concentrate on both of ’em,” JPP said.
It’s Philly Week!
steve.serby@nypost.com