The game was on the line.
 
Odell Beckham was running around like crazy making plays and up to 150 yards in the game.
 
Safety Terrance Brooks hadn't played a defensive snap all year.
 
As the Eagles' offense was preparing to punt, Malcolm Jenkins and Jim Schwartz were busy making up a defense on the sideline.
 
It all added up to the clinching play in the Eagles' first win since November.

Somehow.
 
With the Eagles leading by five points at the Linc Thursday night and the Giants about to get the ball for one final fourth-quarter drive, the Eagles knew they needed to do something different to slow down Odell Beckham.
 
"We got tired of Odell catching the ball and sprinting through the defense," Jenkins said with a laugh.
 
Jenkins said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz gathered the defensive backs together before that final Giants drive and told them he was going to basically play zone with cornerback Jalen Mills playing man on Beckham and an extra defensive back playing deep.
 
"We had Jaylen Watkins go out with a concussion so that moved Jalen Mills in there at nickel and I moved back at safety and the way the game was going that last drive we knew we were going to get back on the field and we needed to stop Odell Beckham," Jenkins said.
 
"So we took Jalen Mills and we wanted to make sure he was man-on-man on (Beckham) wherever he went and we just played cover two behind it with a three-man rush.
 
"That requires bringing in another safety, so we just said, ‘Terrence, you're up, stay deep, don't give up anything big.'"
 
Brooks, who spent the last two years with the Ravens, has been a very good special teamer this year but hadn't played a snap on defense all year.
 
But when Schwartz asked Jenkins who to use to play deep, Jenkins didn't hesitate.
 
"I said, ‘Put Terrence in,'" Jenkins said. "And he was up for the call. Didn't flinch.
 
"We knew that last drive we were going to need something to keep the ball out of his hands. It was a quick decision between that second-to-last drive and the last drive that we kind of put it out there and the guys went out there and executed."
 
The game came down to a Giants' 3rd-and-10 from the Eagles' 34-yard-line with 14 seconds left, and Eli Manning trying to connect with tight end Will Tye at the 5-yard-line along the right sideline.
 
Which is when Brooks swooped in and picked him off for his first career interception, clinching the Eagles' first win in six weeks. It was Manning's third INT of the game and 29th against the Eagles, breaking a record with Joe Theismann for most ever against the Eagles. 
 
"We trust him," Jenkins said of Brooks. "At the time, in hindsight, looking at the situation, it's probably pretty stressful. But the game on the line, we make up a defense on the sideline and say, ‘Terrence you're in.'
 
"But I don't think anybody doubted it in the moment at all. We know how hard he works, we know he's prepared, we know he's got talent, so to see him go out there and make a play I thought it was fitting. We were definitely proud of him.
 
An hour after the game, Brooks was walking around the concourse outside the locker room still smiling and still clutching the football that Manning threw to him, securing a 24-19 win.
 
"First time on defense with the Eagles and I get an interception," Brooks said. "It was awesome.
 
"I knew my assignment. He said stay back and that's exactly what I did. I wasn't going to change anything from what he told me. Keep Odell in front of me and don't give up any touchdowns.
 
"I did what they asked me to do and I was blessed to get an interception."
 
The Eagles essentially played zone with Mills manning up on Beckham.
 
Sounds like the football equivalent of a box-and-one.
 
"That's exactly what (Schwartz) called it," Jenkins said. "As soon as the ball left Eli's hand, we saw Terrence back there and knew he was going to make a big play."
 
It's been a tough stretch for this team and for this secondary, but the Eagles hounded Manning into three interceptions Thursday night, two by Jenkins – including one for a touchdown – and another by Brooks
 
Brooks' interception with five seconds left was the first in the final 30 seconds of a game the Eagles led by one possession or less since Lito Sheppard picked off Jake Delhomme in the end zone with 24 seconds left and the Eagles leading the Panthers 27-24 at the Linc in December of 2006.
 
Not a bad Eagles debut for Brooks, a third-round pick of the Ravens out of Florida State in 2014.
 
"I hadn't played, but I knew if my name was called I had to go in there and do what I had to do," he said.
 
"They told me my role, ‘OK, no problem at all,' and we went in there and got the job done. I can't be happier. I owe it to my coaches. Just got the opportunity and I had to go take it."