PHILADELPHIA – Let there be no doubt now.
In a hostile environment against their longtime rival who desperately needed the game, the Giants, underdogs coming into the game, made their most definitive statement of the season. They escaped Lincoln Financial Field with a 36-31 victory and served official notice (if they had yet to already) that the road to Super Bowl XLIII will have to go through the world champions.
The Giants had dominated for most of the game, except the scoreboard showed them only leading by five with the Eagles in possession of the ball with 3:14 remaining trailing by five points.
Needing to rise up one more time, the best defense in football converged to stop running back Brian Westbrook cold on a fourth-and-one play to send the NFL’s best team (no disrespect to the 9-0 Tennessee Titans) to an 8-1 record and three and one-half game lead over Philadelphia in the NFC East.
All week, many observers pointed to this game as the one where the world champions would meet their toughest challenge. Odds-makers labeled the Eagles as three point favorites against a team that had won 12 of its last 14 road games.
Early on, it appeared as if they would be proven correct when Eli Manning’s (17 for 31, 191 yards, 2 TD’s) pass was intercepted by Mike Patterson and returned to the Giants 9-yard line. Two players later, the Eagles lined wide receiver DeSean Jackson in the now famous “Wildcat” formation and sped around the right corner for a touchdown and an early lead.
Facing adversity in the league’s most hostile environment, the Giants (who had won the last three years in Philadelphia) responded like champions, marching 80 yards in 10 plays to tie game on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress. On the ensuing kickoff, Ahmad Bradshaw forced a fumble from returner Quinton Demps and Chase Blackburn recovered. They were able to convert the good fortune into three points.
Another Eagles three-and-out gave the Giants possession and they again march 80 yards in 10 plays with remarkable ease as Manning found tight end Kevin Boss for a one-yard touchdown strike to make it 17-7. To that point, they had out gained the Eagles 173 to 13.
Everything was lining up for them to run away and blow them out. With 6:51 left, Jacobs, for whatever attempted to hurdle a defender as if he were prepping for the 2012 Olympics. Linebacker Chris Gocong delivered a hard hit to dislodge the ball and the Eagles were given a chance to get back into the game. Quarterback Donovan McNabb drove their offense down and hit receiver Jason Avant for a 10-yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to three points.
Both teams traded field goals before halftime and despite nearly doubling the Eagles in yardage, the Giants were only leading by three at halftime and eventually trailed when McNabb hit receiver Hank Baskett on a fade to the left corner of the end zone to give them a 24-20 lead.
It was hard to figure. A game that was setting up to be a blowout in every fashion, had found Philadelphia miraculously with the lead.
The offense set out to respond. They moved the ball to the Eagles 20-yard line and on third down, Manning was penalized when he appeared to have stepped across the line of scrimmage when he found Boss for a 17-yard play down to the Eagles 3. Coach Tom Coughlin, with advice from Manning chose to challenge the play. The video showed that his foot was just inches behind the line of scrimmage before he threw the ball. The referees reversed the call and the Giants were given a first-and-goal. Two plays later, Brandon Jacobs pounded it into the end zone to give the Giants the lead again.
Philadelphia was wearing down physically and emotionally on defense to that point. For the second straight game, the Giants ran for over 200 yards (219 in this game on 45 carries) and dominated the time of possession (39:10).
Another field goal by John Carney extended the lead to seven. After another Eagles three-and-out, Domenik Hixon’s punt return set the offense up with a short field at the Eagles 40 yard line. The Giants proceeded to score again as Jacobs (22 carries for 126 yards) broke the plane of the goal line from three yards. The ball appeared to come lose as he made his way into the end zone, but the video replay upheld the call to make it 36-24 (two point conversion failed).
Jeff Feagles pinned them at 14-yard line with 3:14 to go and the Giants leading 36-31. With less than two minutes remaining, needing three yards for a first down, Eagles running back Brian Westbrook (13 carries for 26 yards) ran wide to the right side and was short of the first down by a yard and a half. On fourth down, the Giants defense shifted to the right side in anticipation of the play. Westbrook got the handoff, and with the play going to the right, he was swallowed up by Chase Blackburn, Aaron Ross and Justin Tuck to seal the game.
It was as inspiring as it was clutch.
For the Giants, it was another victory to add to their distinction as “Road Warriors”. They have gone on the road into Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in the last three weeks and have come away with victories.
One has to wonder where the next Giants loss is going to come from. If the Eagles could not do it with everything on the line for them at home, who else can it be?
Next week, the world champions face the young and resurgent Baltimore Ravens at Giants Stadium.
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