The Philadelphia Eagles traveled up the Jersey Turnpike on the second leg of their 3-game road trip against all their NFC foes. This time, the Eagles defeated the Giants 36-22. The Eagles also won going away on a fourth quarter blitz by Sheldon Brown as hit QB Eli Manning, forcing his pass off target. The pass slowly fell into the arms of the Eagles DE Trent Cole, who fought off the smaller Tiki Barber for the interception and he then proceeded to high-step the ball the short distance for a 15-yard touchdown. The play gave the Birds an almost 36-22 insurmountable lead. The play happened on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, which preceded a very impressive TD drive by QB Jeff Garcia giving the Eagles a 29-22 lead. The game didn’t start out looking great at the start. Philadelphia won the opening toss and took the ball. But they went 3-and-out and were forced to punt right off the bat. The Giants punt-returner Chad Morton returned the ball 38-yards all the way to the Birds 21-yd line. Three plays later, Tiki Barber ran up the middle for an easy 11-yd TD run. That play gave the Giants an early 7-0 lead and it all seemed like the Giants would feed off the early lead as everyone had predicted.

The Eagles took the ensuing kickoff and drove the field to tie the game at 7-7. The prolonged drive ate up 80 yards on 12 plays and also lasted 6:16. A mix of passes and runs made this drive even that more impressive. Garcia hit Stallworth for a quick 5-yards on the first play followed by a 9-yd run by Brian Westbrook. Then Garcia completed a pass for 11 yards to Westbrook followed by another 6-yard run by the running back. On play eight, it was Correll Buckhalter for a 2-yard run and the touchdown. After that, you felt that the Eagles had a pretty good chance to win this vital game. Later in the second quarter, it was Brian Dawkins turn to intercept an Eli Manning pass after it was deflected. Dawk had to still make a great acrobatic catch. The Eagles took over on the Giants 41-yard line and quickly moved the ball down the Giants 8-yd line. Westbrook then ran for 6 yards setting up a first-and-goal situation at the 2-yard line. On fourth down, Andy Reid went for it and called for Westbrook to dive over the pile and he did. The Eagles took a 14-7 lead with just 1:01 left in the half. New York however added a FG in the closing seconds to make the score 14-10, but you still felt good about the Eagles chances to pulling the game out.

The Giants came out of the second half and added two field goals (23, 24) to take a 16-14 lead. Both drives could of netted more points, but the Eagles red-zone defense stood tall and stopped the Giants three times in a row. The FG that gave the Giants the lead back was setup by a Jeff Garcia fumble as he was sacked and the Giants recovered the ball at the Eagles 7-yard line. The Eagles defense really took over the game after the fumble. They were particularly tough against the run, holding Tiki Barber to only 75 yards rushing on 19 carries. The other Giants back in Brandon Jacobs ran just 3 times for 13 yards, but Brian Dawkins forced a fumble on the running back on a promising Giants drive and Jacobs never the ball the rest of the game. Dawkins had a monster game with 12 tackles, 1 INT, 2 forced fumbles and 2 passes defended. He should make the Pro Bowl again and the announcements will be made on Tuesday. The Eagles did respond after the Giants retook the lead at 16-14. Reno Mahe took the kickoff for 64 yards to the Giants 36-yd line. Three plays later, Brian Westbrook made it look easy as he found a seam for 28 yards for a 21-16 eagles lead. Westbrook had another huge game, rushing 19 times for 97 yards and 2 TD’s. He also had 5 receptions for another 40 yards. Westbrook should also be voted to play in the Pro Bowl, as this will be his first 1,000-yd season rushing in the NFL.

The 4th quarter had a few bumps for QB Jeff Garcia as he was set to extend the Eagles lead. First, Brian Dawkins forced his second fumble of the game as he stripped the ball away from Plaxico Burress after he caught a short pass from Manning. Garcia seemed poised to drive the Eagles for another TD, but lost his poise one play after being hit late in the pocket by a Giants defender. On the next play, Garcia was forced from the pocket and slid out of bound before he was hit again. He got up and spiked the ball at the feet of Gibril Wilson. Garcia was flagged for 15 yards and then on the next play was picked off by Sean Demps and lateraled the ball off to R.W. McQuarters, who returned the ball to the Eagles 35-yard line. A phantom pass-interference followed on the next play on Plaxico Burress by Sheldon Brown gave the Giants a first-and-goal on the 1-yd line. The Giants scored the touchdown, but failed on the 2-point conversion. Garcia responded with an 8-play, 80-yard drive highlighted by a great diving catch to TE LJ Smith, giving the Eagles a huge first down at the Giants 36-yard line. Three plays later, Garcia capped the drive with a 15-yard pass completion to Reggie Brown for the TD. The Eagles converted on the 2-point conversion to make the score 29-22 lead with just 2:57 left.

The Eagles DE Trent Cole then made his appearance with a game-saving TD INT return. The Eagles now held the key to the division and their fate in their own hands. All they need to do now is to win out and they will win the division and have at least one home playoff game. They still have a shot at a first-round bye if they win out and the Saints lose a game. The Eagles played a smart game and kudos to Andy Reid for going for it on that faithful fourth down play. I think telling the team to go for it and then to succeed by scoring the touchdown, says a lot for the confidence of the Eagles. And the Eagles now have won three in a row and face the Cowboys on Christmas Day in Dallas. The Eagles beat the New York Giants and earned themselves another road victory. The defense played great and Jeff Garcia was better than good, except for the 2-straight bonehead plays. Garcia made up for his gaffs in a huge win at Giants Stadium with playoffs on the line. “I was very disappointed in myself,” Garcia said. “I need to not make those bad decisions. I think I let my emotions get the best of me. I was a little bit heated. I’m just glad I’m not standing up here apologizing for losing this game.” The Eagles won and the Giants are now the team in trouble. There probably will be something to talk about next week as the Philadelphia Eagles have a huge showdown with the Cowboys. Win two and the Eagles will be champions of the NFC East again.