Eagles Survive Giants Rally to Snap 5-Game Skid

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

This season, the Thursday night games have typically been unwatchable routs. Not this one.

The Eagles and Giants went back and forth for much of the 60 minutes on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field, but ultimately, mistakes by the Giants allowed the Eagles to finally get back into the win column.

A 24-19 victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Eagles.

Scoring Summary

  1 2 3 4 T
Giants 3 10 3 3 19
Eagles 14 7 0 3 24

The Eagles started on defense and got a quick three and out to take over on offense. Carson Wentz led an effective drive of 78 yards in seven plays. The drive came complete on a 25-yard touchdown run by Darren Sproles to put the Eagles on the board.

Three plays later, the Eagles extended their lead as Malcolm Jenkins intercepted Eli Manning and returned it 34 yards for the touchdown.

The Giants began to chip away late in the first quarter, capping a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 35-yard field goal by Robbie Gould

Midway through the second, Gould connected on his second field goal of the game from 35 yards again to cut the lead to eight.

The Eagles then went 75 yards in five plays on their next drive. Wentz scrambled for a gain of eight and was hit late, drawing a 15-yard penalty. On the next play, Wentz connected with Nelson Agholor for a 40-yard touchdown.

The Giants had an answer before the half, charging 84 yards on 12 plays in 4:26. The drive ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Sterling Shepard, cutting the lead to eight again.

The Giants cut the lead to five on their first drive of the second half, with Gould hitting from 29 yards for his third field goal of the game.

The Eagles came all the way down the field on their next drive, running 13 plays and gaining 73 yards. There were two significant plays on the drive. On 3rd and 14, Wentz threw an incomplete pass, but was thrown to the ground after the pass by Olivier Vernon. A roughing the passer penalty gave the Eagles a first down, but also forced Wentz out of the game briefly as he entered concussion protocol.

With Chase Daniel in, the Eagles moved from the Giants 23 to the one-yard line, but a handoff to Ryan Mathews on 4th and goal came up short, giving the Giants a chance.

The Giants were starting to move, gaining 35 yards on eight plays. But on the ninth play of the drive, Manning was intercepted by Jenkins again. The Eagles turned that into three points as Caleb Sturgis connected on a 41-yard field goal to extend the lead back to eight.

Just 3:30 later, the Giants countered with another field goal, this one from 41 yards, to cut the lead back down to five. The Eagles went three and out on their next drive, giving the Giants the ball back with 4:24 to play.

The Giants moved down the field again, getting to 4th and 1 at the Eagles 32 with Odell Beckham Jr. coming a yard short of a first down. A crucial false start penalty backed the Giants up five more yards and Manning's pass to Shepard on 4th and 6 was incomplete, with Nolan Carroll making obvious contact with Shepard.

The Eagles went three and out on the ensuing drive, including a baffling pass play on 3rd and 5 that was incomplete to stop the clock. The Giants got the ball back again with 1:31 to play.

Manning led the Giants to the Eagles 34 and nearly had Beckham on a pass for the endzone, but overthrew the receiver. Manning's next pass on 3rd and 10 was intercepted by Terrence Brooks to seal the win for the Eagles. 

Team Leaders

Passing

New York Giants (10-5) Philadelphia Eagles (6-9)
Eli Manning 38/63, 356 YD, 1 TD, 3 INT, 61.3 RTG Carson Wentz 13/24, 152 YD, 1 TD, 1 INT, 70.1 RTG
    Chase Daniel 1/1, 16 YD, 0 TD, 0 INT, 118.8 RTG

Rushing

New York Giants (10-5) Philadelphia Eagles (6-9)
Paul Perkins 15 Att, 68 YD Ryan Mathews 18 Att, 46 YD
Rashad Jennings 9 Att, 44 YD Darren Sproles 7 Att, 40 YD, TD
 Sterling Shepard 1 Att, 2 YD Carson Wentz 4 Att, 27 YD

Receiving

New York Giants (10-5) Philadelphia Eagles (6-9)
Odell Beckham Jr. 11 Rec, 150 YD Nelson Agholor 2 Rec, 47 YD, TD
Victor Cruz 8 Rec, 84 YD Zach Ertz 2 Rec, 33 YD
Sterling Shepard 7 Rec, 61 YD, TD Brent Celek 3 Rec, 27 YD

Team Stats

  Giants Eagles
1st Downs 24 15
Total Plays 88 55
Total Yards 470 286
Passing Yards 356 168
Rushing Yards 114 118
Red Zone (Made-Att) 1-5 0-1
Penalties 5-50 1-5
Turnovers 3 1
Time of Possession 34:04 25:56

What's Next

The Eagles are off until next Sunday, Jan. 1, as they close out the season against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

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