New York! New York!
Not even Frank Sinatra could have sung it sweeter.
On a frigid day in East Rutherford, with their backs up against the wind, the Philadelphia Eagles decided to get hot -- keeping their playoff hopes alive by dismantling the New York Giants 20-14 Sunday afternoon.
This second time around, the Eagles looked more like the schoolyard bully putting the smack down on the Giants.
The Eagles (7-5-1) finally learned to dominate the clock controlling the ball for 35 minutes while converting on 12-of-18 third downs, including a third and 11 for a 40-yard Brian Westbrook touchdown.
The mean green shut down Eli Manning and company, with or without Plaxico Burress, allowing only 211 total yards on offense to the defending Super Bowl Champions.
Hurry up, the bandwagon’s refilling.
Westbrook led the Eagles offense running for 131 yards while hauling in six catches for 72 more. He also thumped the Giants (11-2) with dual touchdowns of 30 and 40-yards.
On a day where safety Brian Dawkins tied former Eagle Harold Carmichael for the most franchise games played with 180, it was Brian Westbrook who made some history of his own.
Westbrook racked up a record-setting afternoon with 203-yards total yards, and even out-gained the Giants entire offense through the first three quarters, passing Carmichael as Philadelphia's all-time leader in yards from scrimmage.
Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Thankfully for Birds fans, the Eagles are still flying high and still very alive in the Wild Card hunt.
It seemed as if all odds were against the Eagles heading into the game. The Giants hadn't lost an NFC game this season and were 6-0 at home. The Eagles on the other hand were looking for their first NFC East division win.
The Giants looked to their three-headed monster in the backfield to keep the streak alive and secure the NFC East title. What they found was a relentless Eagles defense while the Birds revived a threesome of their own.
Along with Westbrook's finesse, L.J. Smith added 44-yards of his own on a season-high six catches and Donovan McNabb rocked the NFC's number one defense going 19-for-30 for 191 yards and a touchdown.
It was like old times again.
McNabb needed no excuses while rocking two W.W.J.D. bracelets for his newborn twins, by using his arm and legs to propel the Eagles to victory.
No. 5 seemed to be the fearless leader of old using his feet to pick up first downs and extend plays.
In fact, it was Donovan's feet that won the game. Facing 3-and-11 with 13:43 left in the fourth, McNabb made perhaps his best play of the season. With the line holding the pocket, McNabb sidestepped an incoming defender just as Westbrook broke away from the ensuing linebacker. McNabb's pass met Westbrook in stride and he hammered home a 40-yard touchdown sprint into the end zone.
Eagles 17. Giants 7.
From there, it was all Eagles and despite the wind, David Akers connected for three more to put the Birds up 20-7.
It was an all-out gut wrenching performance again by the Eagles defense, which held the Giants to just 3-and11 on third down conversions including 0-for-3 on fourth downs. After giving up over 211-yards last month, they held the running game to just 88-yards.
But there was a critical point in the game where the Eagles showed their true colors.
After going up 3-0 on a 51-yard Akers field goal, Westbrook bounced off two linemen, bursting through a stacked defense box for a 30-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 10-0 shortly before the half.
The Giants would go three and out before the Eagles would recover the ball with just over a minute to play. McNabb led the Eagles inside the Giants 15-yard-line, setting Akers up for his second field goal attempt.
Then deja vu happened…
Akers’ kick was blocked by a leaping Justin Tuck and Kevin Dockery returned it 71-yards for a touchdown rekindling the same scenario against the 49er's before the half earlier this year.
Instead of going into the half up 13-0 and receiving the ball first in the second half, the game was now 10-7 and seemingly in the Giants favor.
But, the Eagles were unfazed.
That would be all the action the Giants would see until Manning hit Darcy Johnson for a one-yard score with 15 seconds to play.
Too little too late.
