Eli Manning was sacked just once in the Giants 36-31 win over the Eagles. Photo by Peter Wodarczyk – Contrastphotography.com

Many people may not think so, but for the Giants, size matters.

At least it did Sunday night when Big Blue left town with a 36-31 win over the Eagles, an 8-1 record and a stranglehold on the NFC East with seven games to play.

The Eagles poor play in the middle of both the offensive and defense line proved to be the difference as the Birds are left to deal with the reality of a 5-4 record in a division where there is no mercy.

New York had burned the Birds in recent games by using their super-sized Pro Bowl receiver Plaxico Burress who had recorded four 100-yard games in their last six meetings.

The Eagles, in a move to stop the 6-foot-5, 232-pounder, went out and signed Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel away from the New England Patriots.

Sunday, the Eagles were able to stop the bleeding from that part of the Super Bowl champions attack – Burress was held to one catch for 17 yards, a TD – but could not stop the pounding put on them by the Jints other super-sized weapon, 6-4, 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs.

The fourth-year player rushed for 126 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. His 5.7 yards per carry serves as confirmation of the poor interior line play of the Eagles.

On the other side of the ball the middle of the Eagles offensive line could not open enough holes for Brian Westbrook to be effective as the running back was held to just 26 yards on 13 carries.

He did not get into the end zone.

Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins said Westbrook, as he is against most team, was the focus of their scheme.

“He’s a great player,” Robbins said. “You’ve got to know where he is at all times. He can beat you running the ball, receiving…just his presence on the field grabs the attention of one, two, maybe three guys at a time. We just needed to know where he was at all times, he is such a threat.”

Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown conceded the Giants’ offense did well starting with the play in the trenches.

“With the success they had running the ball, I imagine they probably dominated the line of scrimmage,” Brown said. “That’s the first thing you would think about. And maybe we didn’t have people in the right gap.”

Brown said losing at home made the loss sting even worse.

“When you play at home you’ve got to be dominant,” Brown said. “For them to come in and get a victory in our place is discouraging.”

Obviously the Eagles miss All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews. The 6-4, 335 pounder is still out after undergoing back surgery.

On the Eagles final drive that could have pulled out the win, the Birds were faced with a fourth-and-one from their own 45-yard line, Donovan McNabb (17 of 36, 194 yards, 3 TDs, INT) handed off to Westbrook who broke to the right and followed the block of Andrews’ replacement Max Jean-Gilles. Westbrook was stopped for no gain and that was the game and any real chance to win the division.

“He’s a Pro Bowl guy; of course you are going to miss him,” Robbins said of Andrews. “He’s a great player. But you can’t worry about all that…They’re a great team, it was a good victory. But we’ve got to move on and get ready for next week.”

And so do the Eagles.

Al Thompson can be reached at al.thompson@footballstories.com