Giants top Eagles, inch closer to playoff berth

It was anything but pretty, but the New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 16-13 on Sunday, completing their second season sweep of the Eagles in three years and essentially knocking them out of playoff contention.

Eli Manning picked up from where he left off in the fourth quarter against Chicago last week, completing 17-of-31 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown and playing turnover-free football for the first time in three weeks.

Philadelphia got off to a quick start in this one, scoring on their opening drive. They drove 68 yards on six plays, the touchdown coming off a dump pass from Donovan McNabb to Brian Westbrook to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

After being forced to punt on their first two drives, the Giants sustained a long 13-play drive that ate up 6:25, but could only muster a field goal after a 35-yard run by Reuben Droughns set them up at the one-yard line.

New York would add another field goal right before halftime to make the score 7-6. Brandon Jacobs, who missed the past two games with a pulled hamstring, then fumbled the ball on the Giants' first drive of the second half. Mike Patterson picked up the loose football and ran 12 yards to New York's eight-yard line. However, the Giants held their ground and forced Philadelphia to kick a field goal, which David Akers converted on to extend the Eagles' lead to 10-6.

Jacobs was not the only one with slippery hands in this game. Westbrook fumbled after being hit by Justin Tuck with 7:24 to play in the third quarter, and Sam Madison recovered, setting New York up at the Philadelphia 37. It took three plays for the Giants to get in the end zone, all passes from Manning. He started off the drive with a short three-yarder to tight end Michael Matthews, and after a false start by Jeremy Shockey brought New York back to the 39-yard line, completed a 19-yarder to Amani Toomer and then a 20-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress to give the Giants their first lead of the game at 13-10. The Eagles would never recover.

After forcing Philadelphia to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive, New York took the ball 61 yards down the field on seven plays resulting in another field goal for Lawrence Tynes, this one from 23 yards out. That gave the Giants a 16-10 advantage.

The Eagles then went on a long 12-play drive to start out the fourth quarter that took up 7:22, but only came up with three points off a 39-yard boot by Akers. New York would get the ball back with 8:21 remaining. The drive featured a 31-yard pass from Manning to Burress that got the Giants to the Philadelphia 31. However, on the next play, Jacobs took the ball 21 yards up the middle to the 10-yard line but lost the football for the second time. Juqua Thomas recovered the fumble for the Eagles, putting them on their own five with 5:51 to play.

Philadelphia started out the drive well, their first four plays going for nine, 13, 13, and 12 yards. That was when New York's defense stiffened up. After a five-yard scamper by Correll Buckhalter, Westbrook was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Antonio Pierce and then behind the line of scrimmage by Madison. The Eagles went for it on fourth-and-six but could not convert, as McNabb attempted to squeeze a pass into Jason Avant but had it broken up by Pierce.

The Giants took over at their own 44-yard line with 1:57 to go. Fortunately for Philadelphia, they had all three of their timeouts, allowing them a chance to potentially get the ball back. They did. Jacobs rushed for gains of two, three, and four yards, one yard shy of picking up the first down and probably putting the game away. Jeff Feagles punted to Westbrook, who returned it five yards to his own eight-yard line.

The Eagles took possession with 53 seconds remaining and trailing by three. McNabb began the drive with a 19-yard completion to Reggie Brown and followed it up with an 18-yarder to Greg Lewis. After spiking the ball to stop the clock at the Philadelphia 48, McNabb completed a 13-yard pass to Brown, putting the ball at the New York 39 with six seconds to go.

Akers then took the field to attempt a 57-yard field goal to try and send the game into overtime. The last time he lined up to kick a field goal of this magnitude against the Giants was back in the January when he drilled a 38-yarder, pushing the Eagles past New York 23-20 and into the Divisional Round of the playoffs. However, despite being on the same turf he was 11 months ago, the 19-yard difference between the two kicks proved to be too much. Akers' kick bounced off the right upright, and the Giants improved to 9-4, all but sealing the fifth seed in the NFC, while Philadelphia dropped to 5-8 and nearly completely out of playoff contention.