Philadelphia Eagles 27 – New York Giants 17

Mistake-Prone Giants Fall to Eagles Again: For a fleeting moment in the 4th quarter, it looked like the Giants might pull off the upset as the Giants overcame a 16-3 second-half deficit to take a 17-16 advantage. But the Eagles scored the game’s last 11 points as the mistake-prone Giants lost their second division game in a row, falling to the Eagles 27-17. The Giants are now 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the NFC East.

The Eagles out-gained the Giants in first downs (17 to 13), total net yards (392 to 208), net yards rushing (148 to 61), and net yards passing (244 to 147). The Giants only ran 52 offensive plays and held the ball 26 minutes to the Eagles’ 67 plays and 34 minutes of possession time. Most damning, the Giants turned the football over five times.

The Giants trailed 13-3 at halftime as New York only managed five first downs and 95 yards of offense. The Giants gained four first downs and 74 yards on their one field goal drive, but their only other first down came on an Eagles’ penalty shortly before intermission. Meanwhile, six of the Eagles’ first half points were set up by two Giants’ turnovers on “drives” where the Eagles didn’t even pick up a first down. One turnover was a fumble by HB Ahmad Bradshaw and the other an interception by QB Eli Manning.

The Giants did prevent the Eagles from expanding their lead right before halftime when CB Terrell Thomas blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

In the second half, the Eagles drove the football 82 yards in 14 plays to set up a 28-yard field goal and take a 16-3 lead.

But the Giants’ offensive finally came to life with two touchdown drives. The Giants first drove 68 yards in 9 plays to cut the Philadelphia lead to 16-10. Manning found H-Back Travis Beckum for a 2-yard score. The Giants quickly got the ball back when DE Justin Tuck sacked Eagles’ QB Michael Vick and forced a fumbled that was recovered by DT Barry Cofield at the Eagles’ 27-yard line. Two plays later, Manning hit WR Derek Hagan for a 5-yard touchdown. The Giants were now up 17-16.

On the Eagles’ ensuing possession, the Eagles did manage to reach the Giants’ 35-yard line before an illegal chop block and good Giants’ defense forced the Eagles into a 4th-and-36. However, the Giants could only pick up one first down before being forced to punt. The Eagles then regained the lead for good by drive 90 yards in 7 plays, with a 50-yard touchdown run by HB LeSean McCoy on 4th-and-1 being the back-breaker. The Eagles also converted on the 2-point conversion to take a 24-17 lead with four and a half minutes to go.

On the first play of the Giants’ ensuing drive, Manning’s deep pass intended for Hagan was intercepted. But Bradshaw forced the defensive back to fumble and New York recovered. Facing a 4th-and-6 from the Giants’ 44-yard line, Manning scrambled for 16 yards but inexplicably fumbled the football away during his slide when he was not touched. A 40-yard run by McCoy then set up the Eagles’ last points, a 30-yard field goal with less than 30 seconds to play.

Lowlights of the game are available at NFL.com.

Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were WR Steve Smith (pectoral), WR/RS Darius Reynaud (hamstring), FB Madison Hedgecock (hamstring), OC Shaun O’Hara (foot), LT David Diehl (hip/hamstring), DE Alex Hall, DT Linval Joseph, and LB Gerris Wilkinson (hand).