Fun facts about the Giants, from Dexter to Wink to Adoree’

The Eagles are playing consecutive games against the same opponent — the New York Giants — for the first time since the 2009 season, when they lost at Dallas in both the regular-season finale and the wild-card round.

In the 2001 season, the Birds won at Tampa Bay in Week 17 and beat the Bucs the following week at a raucous Veterans Stadium.

It’s hard to put any stock into the Eagles’ two wins over the Giants this season. New York’s defense was missing several key pieces in the first meeting, and the Giants were suffering a severe case of indifference in the Week 18 rematch since the game meant nothing to them. Just about all of their starters did not play.

The strength of the division will be on display this weekend as three of the conference’s final four teams come from the NFC East. The Eagles are the No. 1 seed, Dallas is No. 5, and New York is No. 6. The only outlier is San Francisco, the No. 2 seed.

Here are 20 things to know about the Eagles’ opponent, the big, bad, and perhaps dangerous Giants.

The Eagles are 2-2 against the Giants in the playoffs, winning after the 2006 and 2008 regular season, losing in the 1981 and 2000 postseason.

Trivia: Which former New York Giant holds the record for most rushing yards by an Eagles opponent in a playoff game? Hint: It happened in 1981. Answer below.

The Giants are a puzzling 1-6 against the Eagles when star running back Saquon Barkley plays. In three games against the Birds defense with Jonathan Gannon as coordinator, Barkley has 37 carries for 100 rushing yards (2.7 per attempt) and nine receptions for 58 yards (6.4 per catch). He did not play against the Eagles on Jan. 8.

Giants linebacker Jihad Ward, who grew up at 16th and Lehigh and attended Bok Technical High School in South Philly, played 31 defensive snaps and five others on special teams on Sunday against Minnesota. Ward, a seven-year pro, is in his first season with New York.

The Giants started 6-1, had a midseason slump of 1-4-1, and picked up a pair of wins in Weeks 15 and 17 to clinch a playoff spot. They lost four of their last five road games, although they did win at Minnesota last week.

New York kicker Graham Gano and punter Jamie Gillan are both from Scotland. Gano hails from the town of Arbroath, which also is the birthplace of Neil Arnott, inventor of the waterbed.

Gano sold his jersey No. 5 to rookie first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux for a $50,000 donation to Gano’s favorite charity, Puppies Behind Bars, which provides service dogs to first responders and wounded veterans.

» READ MORE: The Eagles did what they had to do in beating the Giants

Trivia answer: Giants running back Rob Carpenter ran for 161 yards in a 1981 wild-card game at Veterans Stadium to set the record for most ever by an Eagles opponent in a playoff game.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had a career-low five interceptions (in 16 games) and set the team record for quarterbacks with 708 rushing yards. Seems Big Blue’s quarterback of the future has been in front of their faces the whole time.

» READ MORE: How Giants coach Brian Daboll made a lasting impact on the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts — and Nick Sirianni

First-year coach Brian Daboll deserves a lot of the credit for Jones’ steady play this season. Daboll, a longtime NFL assistant who had been the offensive coordinator for the Bills from 2018-21, got his first job as a restricted-earnings coach at William and Mary in 1997. Two of the Tribe’s players were current NFL coaches Sean McDermott (Buffalo) and Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh).

Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was a fourth-round pick of the Eagles in 2010, playing in four games for the Birds in 2011. This makes him another branch of the Andy Reid coaching tree.

The Giants have two Pro Bowlers — Barkley and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. The Eagles have eight (Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Haason Reddick, and Darius Slay).

Backup safety Landon Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler in his first stint with the Giants (2015-18), returned to New York in October after three mostly dismal seasons with Washington. He was signed as a free agent and has worked his way up from the practice squad.

Three of the four divisional-round games last season ended with field goals at the final gun (wins by San Francisco, L.A. Rams, Cincinnati) and the fourth was decided in overtime when Kansas City beat Buffalo after driving 44 yards in 10 seconds to set up a game-tying field goal at the buzzer. It was a memorable weekend as the road teams went 3-1 — and very nearly 4-0. The Eagles, as of late Monday, were laying 7.5 points.

New York’s run defense was ranked 27th during the regular season, lowest among the eight teams still alive. The Giants gave up a season-high 253 rushing yards to the Eagles in Week 14. Miles Sanders had 144 yards, Jalen Hurts 77, Boston Scott 33, and Gardner Minshew minus-1 on a kneel-down at the end of the game.

Defensive tackle Leonard Williams did not play in that Week 14 game because of a neck injury. He will be on the field on Saturday.

New York’s Don Martindale is one of the most highly regarded defensive coordinators in the league. He picked up the nickname “Wink” when he was playing at Division III Defiance College as a tribute to a 1970s TV game show host of the same name back when such things were popular.

Unlike the Eagles, there are no stars among the Giants’ wide receivers group. Darius Slayton, a fifth-round pick in 2019, led the club with a modest receiving 724 yards while Richie James, a former 49ers seventh-rounder, led the wide receivers with 57 catches. James majored in concrete industry management at Middle Tennessee State.

» READ MORE: Eagles get lucky: No Tom Brady, no Dak Prescott, just the Giants

The return of top cornerback Adoree’ Jackson was a big factor in New York’s surprising win at Minnesota. Jackson helped hold Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson to 47 receiving yards for the game and just one catch for 4 yards in the second half. Jackson missed the last half of the season with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, including both games against the Eagles.

“Adoree’ showed who he is,” defensive back Darnay Holmes said. “The man who constantly seeks and desires heavyweight battles. He doesn’t back down from [any] opponent. I feel like he showcased that today and will be showcasing it next week as well.”