Eagles hang on to playoff hopes by beating NFC leading Giants

Eagles 20 - 14 Giants

Just when you thought the Eagles' playoff chances were dead and buried, they pull off one of the results of the season, beating the Giants on their own turf, and in doing so they throw themselves back into the mix in the NFC.

It was a must-win game for the Eagles if they were to have any chance of making the postseason, but ironically Philly got it done by beating New York at their own game.

The Eagles ditched the usual pass first, run later tactic, establishing the run game and controlling the clock, with Brian Westbrook coming up big once again.

The running back is truly the key to the Eagles offense, running and passing the football, and if teams can shut him down then, more often than not, the Eagles will struggle.

But tonight the Eagles got the ball in his hands and he burned the Giants for 203 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

131 of Westbrook's yards came on the ground, against a Giants defense that had allowed an average of just 85 yards rushing per game and ranked 5th in the league against the run, prior to welcoming Philly.

Westbrook carried the ball a career-high 33 times and wore down the Giants D, as Head Coach Andy Reid persevered with the running game for a change, which paid dividends.

The big game allowed Westbrook to become the new franchise leader in total career yards from scrimmage with 9,085, beating the previous record set by former wide receiver Harold Carmichael, back in 1983.

Setting up the run took some of the pressure off quarterback Donovan McNabb, who started slowly but came up big when the Eagles needed him, both with his arm and with his feet.

The offensive line provided him with great protection, only allowing one sack, which was all the more pleasing as Philly was without both of its right guards.

With Max Jean-Gilles done for the season with a broken ankle and Shawn Andrews a long-term absentee through back trouble, third choice guard and backup center Nick Cole stepped in and filled the void well, against one of the league's toughest defensive lines.

Through the air, McNabb was 19 of 30 for 191 yards and a solitary touchdown, however seven of them moved the chains on third down.

McNabb also came up big on the ground, getting 20 yards and three first downs from five attempts.

Philly were very good on third downs throughout the game, converting 12 of 18, whilst the Giants were a poor 4 of 12 and struggled to get anything going.

Eli Manning and the Giants offense were held in check by a brilliant Eagles defensive performance, that allowed New York to gain just 211 total yards, and limited the league's best rushing team to only 88 yards on the ground.

The Giants missed wide receiver Plaxico Burress enormously, after the star shot himself in the leg last weekend with an unlicensed firearm.

Some say the whole incident distracted the Giants, which the team's management denied, but distraction or no, it was clear that the Giants were not the same offensively.

Burress has been suspended by the Giants for the rest of the season, including the playoffs and could face up to 15 years in prison for the incident, which is bad news for New York who failed to move the ball consistently without him.

His absence was most visible when Manning threw a 50 yard pass right into the hands of Domenik Hixon, only for the receiver to drop the ball and with it lose the chance of an almost certain touchdown.

That drop came early in the second quarter with the Eagles up 3-0, after David Akers converted a 51 yard field goal right at the end of the first.

A great piece of coaching by Reid allowed Akers the chance to open the scoring, as he called timeout to allow the field goal to be taken with the strong wind, rather than wait for the change of ends at the end of the quarter, which would have made the kick almost impossible.

The score came as a relief for Akers, who was just 8/20 beyond 40 yards going into the game.

The Giants responded by also getting into field goal range, despite the drop by Hixon, but John Carney's kick was blocked by Trent Cole, who spectacularly leapfrogged the New York line to get a piece of the ball.

Both defenses were on top for most of the first half before the Eagles offense got going with five minutes left in the half.

McNabb marched his team down the field, but Philly needed two great plays from tight end L.J. Smith to keep the drive alive.

Smith showed his agility, evading tackles everywhere to give the Eagles a first down on third and nine, before doing the same the very next play to take Philly into field goal range as the clock ticked down to the two minute warning.

Then Brian Westbrook showed what he can do given half a yard of space, as he broke out of the pack to go in from 30 yards and give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.

It looked like the Giants were not going to be on the board at half-time for the first time since 2004, as Philly's defense took it up a notch, stopping New York on fourth down and allowing their offense to try and get some more points before the break.

However, just as it did against San Fransisco, special teams let the Eagles down again when the Eagles got within scoring distance.

Akers had a chance from 32 yards to stretch the lead with the last play of the half, but his field goal was blocked by the big hand of Justin Tuck, and Kevin Dockery scooped up the ball, taking it 71 yards for the touchdown and a 10 point swing.

The miss was Akers' first from inside 40 yards all season, as the Eagles advantage was cut to 10-7 as the teams headed to the locker room.

After a similar thing happened in the game against the 49ers, Philly's energy dropped at the start of second half, but there was no such drop off here.

The offense started to move the ball straight away, driving 54 yards down field and chewing up seven minutes, before once more stalling in the red-zone.

However Akers' misfortune continued, as once again the Giants got a piece of his short field goal attempt, this time though it was only a tiny tip that did just enough to bring the ball up short of the posts with the wind in Akers' face.

This kind of adversity has been the bane of the Eagles all season, but with their backs against the wall, knowing only a win could keep alive their postseason hopes, the Eagles kept pounding away at their hosts and eventually hit the jackpot.

The Eagles started their next possession inside their own 20, but Westbrook kept gaining chunks of yardage to take Philly inside the Giants half, and then finished the six minute drive in style.

The back made a good block to help with pass protection, before getting away from Antonio Pierce on a crossing route.

McNabb duly found his man and Westbrook scampered in from 40 yards for his second TD of the day, giving his team a 17-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

It was then the turn of the Eagles defense to step up again, as they once again turned the Giants over on downs in Eagles territory, with New York finishing 0/4 on fourth down conversions.

The Giants were not helped by losing leading rusher Brandon Jacobs to a knee injury midway through the third, although coach Tom Coughlin will be hoping that he doesn't miss the next game, as his team's offensive struggles were easily visible.

The Eagles offense continued to control the clock, stringing together a 14 play drive that took seven minutes off the clock, with Akers finally converting a field goal inside the red-zone to make it a two touchdown game.

The Giants offense finally showed up in their final drive of the game, as they got the ball back with just over two minutes on the clock.

Eli Manning seemed to play better in the hurry up offense, as he lead his team 70 yards down the field before finding Darcy Johnson on a one yard TD pass with 20 seconds remaining.

However any nerves the Eagles had were quickly snuffed out, as they recovered the onside kick to seal the win.

Here are the highlights:

The Eagles inflicted upon the Giants only their second defeat of the year, and the first at the Meadowlands for the defending Superbowl Champions, but they still clinched the NFC East thanks to losses from Dallas and Washington.

Philly dominated the time of possession, hogging the ball for nearly 35 minutes, which didn't allow the Giants to do what they do best and grind teams down.

Both of the Giants' (11-2) losses have now come when they have lost the possession battle, and with no Burress making plays, teams can now stack up even more on a run game that could be badly affected should Jacobs miss much time.

The Eagles defense was outstanding, despite getting no turnovers or sacks, but they stopped the run, which turned out to be more than enough.

On the other hand there are still a few worries hanging over the Eagles offense, the biggest one being the team's inability to deliver in the red-zone.

Philly had to rely on two big plays from Westbrook to get it done, as they came away with just a field goal from three trips inside the Giants 20.

They will also have to hope that Correll Buckhalter can make his way back from injury, as with all the health problems Westbrook has had this season, it is unlikely he can continue to run 30+ times a game.

The Eagles also lost Kevin Curtis to concussion during the game, leaving them short at wide receiver.

Westbrook picked up the slack against the Giants, leading the team in receiving with six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, but with the Eagles likely to be without Reggie Brown and Curtis next week, someone else will have to step up.

The win moves the Eagles to 7-5-1, just half a game behind the two teams tied for the final playoff place: Dallas and Atlanta who both lost on Sunday.

All three are now focused on trying to secure a wild card spot, with the Eagles having the schedule advantage over the Cowboys.

Realistically Philly must win all three of their remaining games against Cleveland (H), Washington (A) and Dallas (H) if they are to stand a chance, with the visit of the Cowboys on the final day a possible winner-takes-all match up.

They will still have to rely on some help from other teams to bring down Atlanta, but they have two tough games against Tampa Bay and at Minnesota, before rounding out their season against a poor Rams outfit.

Two years ago the Eagles made a late run to make the playoffs, and this result may just have given them the springboard to go on and do it again.

However they can't afford to slip up against Cleveland like they did against Cincinnati...the week after they last played the Giants.