Giants can't contain Eagles' Jackson ... but Reid would be wise to

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On a cold and rainy night, in one of the more defensively craptastic games this year, the NFC East might have been won by the stunning moves of a beer bottle dodging, uber-obnoxious brilliant playmaker named DeSean Jackson.

Indeed, a career-altering evening for Jackson, mostly responsible for the Eagles' 45-38 victory against the New York Giants thanks to Deion Sanders-like acceleration, was marred not only by Jackson's serial hot-dogging and relentless trash talking, but also by the ugly cheap shot at the end of the game by his teammate, Trent Cole, who gutlessly sucker-punched a Giants player.

Cole threw two right crosses at center Shaun O'Hara as time expired and was tossed by game officials with only seconds remaining in the contest. It was a disgusting display and it wouldn't be a shock if the NFL instituted further penalties against Cole.

With this victory, the Eagles have a good chance to not only win the division, but upset the balance of the entire conference as the Cowboys might not win another game all season. Philadelphia's offense is that good thanks to Jackson but coach Andy Reid has to get a handle on his star wide receiver and his team overall. He can't stand for his players tossing cheap shots. They're the Eagles, not the Mean Machine.

Jackson might be hard to take at times but his punt return in the second quarter, one of several big plays he made in the contest, demonstrates his naked ability.

The play began with a swift little juke close to the 20-yard line. On a slick field, and near his own end zone, Jackson stutter-stepped backward. Yes, backward, as a wash of Giants players, looking somewhat befuddled at a player moving in reverse on a punt, skipped right by him.

Jackson then broke free and just about everyone in Giants Stadium hushed. All Jackson had to do next was evade 195-year-old punter Jeff Feagles. In trying to tackle Jackson, Feagles looked like a toddler attempting to catch the family cat while holding his binky.

Jackson bolted up the left sideline and engaged a gear that only a half-dozen players in the NFL are capable of finding. No one was even close to Jackson as he approached the end zone. But because he's Jackson, a bit of a tomfooli-fied jerk on the field, he of course had to start high-stepping at the Giants 20. Earlier in the game, Jackson mocked a Giants receiver for dropping a pass, and for much of the contest talked smack to Giants defenders.

He wasn't done yet. In what was a wild game that demonstrated how awful the NFC East remains, Jackson broke free in the third quarter, was wide open, caught the football about the Giants 10 and then jogged -- backward -- into the end zone from about the 5. He did another little dance after the 60-yard touchdown.

DeSean Jackson exposes the Giants defense, but also exposes some troubling character flaws. (AP)

DeSean Jerkson.

Following that score, thugs threw beer bottles at Jackson from the stands, missing by a few feet. That might be the closest anything came to hitting him all evening.

"Very, very disturbing," said Tom Coughlin, speaking of Jackson's 60-yard touchdown.

Spilling hot coffee on your crotch is disturbing. What the Giants are doing on defense is cataclysmic. When Coughlin was asked if he has confidence in his team's pass defense, Coughlin replied, "That's not a great question."

It's actually the question for the Giants.

"Nobody cares about what happened tonight anymore," Giants offensive lineman Rich Seubert said. "If we win the next three games, we will be in the playoffs. We gave them seven on a punt return; we gave them seven on a fumble recovery. I guess that means we just have to score more. We can't win games playing like that. We just have to play better."

As for Jackson, despite his repugnant showboating, there's no denying his nuclear electricity; he is the most stunning Eagles player since Randall Cunningham. Quite simply, he put on one of the most ambitious and dazzling single-game performances of the past few seasons.

"He's pretty stinkin' exciting," Reid said of Jackson. "We're playing in New York, this is a pretty big venue. It's like we're playing in the backyard with him. When the game is on the line, he wants the ball. I don't mind giving it to him."

Jackson's punt return was his third for a touchdown in his career. It's the most in Eagles history -- and Jackson just recently turned 23 years old. He finished the game with six catches for 178 yards. If the Eagles kept feeding him the football, he could've had 478 yards.

Jackson's eight touchdowns in a season of at least 50 yards tie him in NFL history with Devin Hester and Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. It's doubtful Hirsch's legs were as crazy as Jackson's, though.

Jackson is the difference maker for the Eagles and he gives them an edge over the Giants and Cowboys in the race for the division during the final weeks of the season.

The problem for New York remains its defense. When former Giants Pro Bowl lineman Mike Strahan told CBSSports.com earlier this week the Giants needed a defensive leader to step forward, it was prescient considering this horrific stinker. I've been around the Giants since 1993 and this was one of the worst defensive performances they've ever had. The Eagles weren't much better. Both defenses combined to give up 886 total yards.

In one drive, Philadelphia went 91 yards without facing a third down. That seems almost impossible.

Reid and Jackson celebrated one score by doing a little post-big-play chest bump in which Reid vaulted about .5 inches off the ground.

Even with his negative vertical, Reid covered Jackson better than any Giants defender ever did.