Philadelphia, PA (Betting Express) - Fans of the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers probably didn't come away too frightened from what they saw this past weekend.

Neither of their respective NFC divisional round opponents - the Philadelphia Eagles nor the Arizona Cardinals - looked especially strong in Wild Card wins on the initial weekend of the New Year.

If either set of Birds puts forth a similar type of showing against the conference's top two seeds next weekend, then the Eagles and Cardinals can look forward to watching the NFC Championship from the comfort of their own barcaloungers.

But beware to all of those who foresee routs in the Meadowlands and in Charlotte during the divisional round. In a league where the seas have recently been choppy for those clubs on the top two lines of the playoff bracket, the fact that the Eagles and Cardinals will enter their road tilts with minimal expectations is every reason to expect that they'll give the Giants and Panthers everything they can handle.

Philadelphia's 26-14 win at Minnesota on Sunday featured little of the beauty of the previous week's annihilation of the Cowboys, but moved Andy Reid's squad to 5-1 in their past six games, a head of steam they'll need as they try to win at Giants Stadium for the second time in six weeks.

Donovan McNabb, making his first playoff start since his lone, ill-fated Super Bowl appearance following the 2004 season, completed 23-of-34 passes for 300 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the triumph. The touchdown and 71 of the yards came courtesy of running back Brian Westbrook, who made up for a frustrating day on the ground (20 carries, 38 yards) with the dazzling fourth- quarter catch-and-run.

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles did what the entire world knew they would, stacking the box against Adrian Peterson (20 carries, 83 yards, 2 TD) and daring the ever-inept Tarvaris Jackson (15-of-35, 164 yards, 1 terrible INT that went for an Asante Samuel pick-six) to throw. Philly still isn't dominant against the run, as evidenced by Peterson's 40-yard TD blast in the second quarter (Chester Taylor also had a decent day with 84 yards on 17 total touches), and they'll need to look better next Sunday given the fact that the Giants have the means to move via both the ground and air.

But does the Eagles/Giants matchup remind you just a little of another NFC East showdown, also in its third installment of the season, that pitted the top-seeded, 13-3 Cowboys against the six-loss Giants last January?

Someone refresh my memory...the heavily-favored, well-rested top seed won that game, right?

Meanwhile, those who were wrong about the Arizona Cardinals being one-and-done following their 30-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday evening have amended their original prognostications...now they're saying the Cardinals will be two-and-done.

The Cardinals' win was mostly about three gigantic plays - a 42-yard touchdown pass, off a flea-flicker, from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald in the first quarter, a 71-yard strike from Warner to Anquan Boldin in the second that saw the Falcons display a woeful bout of bad tackling, and a 27-yard Antrel Rolle touchdown return off a fumbled exchange between Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner early in the third frame.

The latter play was emblematic of what was one of the worst games of the season for the NFL Rookie of the Year Ryan (26-of-40, 199 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT), and the Cardinals can hardly expect veteran Carolina signal-caller Jake Delhomme to give them as many gifts in a primetime duel at Bank of America Stadium next Saturday night.

What's more, Ken Whisenhunt and his gang are going to hear plenty about their 0-5 mark on the East Coast this year, a record that includes a loss at Carolina on Oct. 26th. In trying to win a second straight playoff game for the first time in its 89-year history, Arizona could be playing without Boldin, who injured his hamstring on the touchdown play and did not return against Atlanta.

The oddsmakers already dislike the Cardinals immensely, installing them as a 10-point underdog in the early line.

But all of those factors, when added to the fact that any Arizona team that wins a playoff game has already overachieved, should give these Cardinals plenty of reason to play fast and loose on Saturday night.

When preparing for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, the much-maligned Arizona defense should carry some confidence after holding the Falcons running game to just 60 yards on 24 carries Saturday night, including 42 on 18 totes for Pro Bowler Michael Turner.

The Panthers will present a markedly more difficult challenge, but rest assured, the Cardinals aren't going to Charlotte just for the frequent flier milers and delicious room service.

Should we be preparing for a Cardinals/Eagles NFC Championship on Jan. 18th? Uh, no. This scribe, for one, still has the Panthers traveling to the Meadowlands for a rematch with the Giants on that day.

But I'll be filling out my brackets in pencil and preparing for a couple of NFC dogfights next weekend...will you?

RAVENS, CHARGERS ROLL ON

While the NFC tilts are treated like a formality by many, the two AFC Divisional Playoffs to take place next weekend should provoke significantly greater debate regarding who will move on.

San Diego's late-season roll continued with Saturday night's 23-17 overtime win over the Colts, a result that has the Chargers heading to Pittsburgh next Sunday for a rematch of the 11-10 thriller, won by the Steelers, that the duo played at Heinz Field back on Nov. 16th.

The Chargers, who have now won five straight and became the first .500 or worse team in AFC history to win a playoff game, got 328 all-purpose yards from Darren Sproles, who subbed for the injured LaDainian Tomlinson (groin) for most of the night. Tomlinson's status for next Sunday's tilt is unknown.

Meanwhile, the Ravens will head to Tennessee to try to dethrone the top-seeded Titans, after Baltimore out-muscled Miami, 27-9, on Sunday. The ever-present Baltimore defense forced five turnovers from a Dolphins team that had just 13 miscues during the entire regular season. Quarterback Chad Pennington (25- of-38, 252 yards, 1 TD) threw a season-worst four interceptions, including one that was returned for a 64-yard touchdown by Baltimore safety Ed Reed in the second quarter.

The Ravens, who were 13-10 home losers to the Titans in Week 5 (a result that was impacted heavily by a questionable roughing-the-passer call against Baltimore's Terrell Suggs), are now 10-2 in their past 12 games.

RANDOM THOUGHT

Did anyone else do a complete double-take when they saw deposed Detroit Lions GM Matt Millen on the NBC studio set on Saturday?

Once I was finished rubbing my eyes, a couple of thoughts came to mind...

1. Could NBC have found someone with LESS credibility to analyze NFL games than the architect of the first 0-16 season in league history? Was Isiah Thomas unavailable?

2. Does Millen have no shame? We respect the guy's right to work, but he should not show his face in any kind of high-profile setting related to NFL football for a minimum of two years. Not only was it impossible to take anything that the GM version of Ryan Leaf said seriously, but his appearance alone had to strike awfully close to a raw nerve for humiliated Lions fans.