Eagles atop NFC East with wild win over Giants

THIS WAS A NIGHT when the Eagles couldn't buy a break, until suddenly, at the most crucial time, they could.

Eli Manning ran for a first down on fourth-and-6 from the Giants' 44, but instead of sliding, Manning decided to dive forward, a la Michael Vick. Manning hit the ground hard and the ball came loose, where Eagles defensive end Darryl Tapp recovered, with Asante Samuel following, very much relieved. Samuel had intercepted Manning four plays earlier, but fumbled the ball away. "First time I ever did that," he said afterward, smiling from the interview podium.

"Pick it up, secure it," Tapp said, when asked his thoughts as the ball bounced free. "You've got to be ready when the play is there for you."

The recovery withstood video review, unlike an Ahmad Bradshaw fumble earlier in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles had the ball at their 40 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left, and a seven-point lead.

The ensuing 27-17 victory, capped by David Akers' fourth field goal of the night, at the end of a long evening of missed chances and a blown 13-point lead, established the Eagles as the top team in the NFC East, at 7-3.

Vick led a late comeback just as the win seemed to be sliding through the Birds' hands, the way Vick's sure touchdown pass flummoxed Jason Avant in the second quarter.

"This was an important game for him, to battle through when a team's coming after you," Eagles coach Andy Reid said after his team's third victory in a row and its fifth in its last six games. "He battled his tail off."

On fourth-and-1 from midfield, with 4:34 left, Vick bobbled a Mike McGlynn snap, but as he was being grabbed by several Giants, Vick spun and pitched left to LeSean McCoy, who had nothing but daylight against the drawn-in defense. Todd Herremans pulled to take out a safety and McCoy went all the way for what might be the biggest touchdown of the Eagles' season.

Reid said the Giants were in "zero blitz" much of the night, with eight defenders in the box. He knew if they could get outside, they could go a long way.

"You put so much on the line when you bring that type of blitz," Vick said.

Vick attributed the bobble to the glove he wears on his right (nonpassing) hand.

"It is surprising" the play worked despite the bobble, he agreed. "It happened, it worked, and I really don't know what else to say about it, other than don't let it happen again at a critical moment."

Vick talked about the emotions of the fourth quarter, which saw the Birds fall behind, 17-16, for the first time all night.

"When you lose the lead, it's frustrating, but at the same time, it has to bring something out of you," he said. "Something has to click. You realize that your back is against the wall. It's all about how you respond."

Vick's view of McCoy's TD run was imperfect.

"I was on the ground," he said. "I saw him running. It's just gratifying when you see a guy trotting into the end zone. After a long, tough day - he wasn't really involved in our offense . . . to still be fresh and loose and still be into the game says a lot about the young kid."

Much earlier, the Eagles took a 7-0 lead when Vick broke a quarterback draw outside for a 4-yard TD. The run capped a 68-yard, 13-play drive. Those were the only points of the first quarter, quite a contrast from the previous game; the Birds were three TDs off their previous pace after 15 minutes.

After the Giants drove for a field goal that made it 7-3, the Eagles had many opportunities to run away and hide, but unlike in the 59-28 win at Washington, the offense just wasn't sharp.

Brandon Graham ripped a fumble out of Bradshaw's belly, recovered by Samuel at the Giants' 23. But DeSean Jackson couldn't handle a low-ish throw, Jackson alone in the end zone, and Akers made it 10-3 with a 38-yard field goal.

Next New York series, Samuel jumped a Hakeem Nicks route and picked off Manning, running the pick back to the Giants' 14. This time, Vick found Avant uncovered at the back of the end zone, but Avant, renowned for his excellent hands, just flat-out dropped the touchdown pass. Akers hit from 24 and it was 13-3.

That was how it stood at the half despite a nice Vick-led 2-minute-drill drive that took the Birds from their 20 to the Giants' 15 in 48 seconds, from 1:43 to 55 seconds left. But a tripping penalty on Herremans pushed the Eagles back, and Terrell Thomas ripped what might have been a touchdown catch away from Jeremy Maclin. Then Thomas blocked Akers' 42-yard field-goal attempt, and Corey Webster might have been running it back for a game-turning touchdown when holder Sav Rocca chased him out of bounds.

At halftime, Vick was 10-for-18 for 130 yards, with a couple of drops. Manning was 8-for-14 for just 63 yards and a pick.

The second-half kickoff ended in a scene that is far too common in the NFL in 2010. Eagles returner Ellis Hobbs was hit by the Giants' Dave Tollefson, Tollefson leading with the crown of his helmet. Hobbs, whose 2009 season ended with a neck injury and surgery after eight games, stayed down on the field, kicking his legs intermittently. Eventually, with both teams kneeling nearby, he was strapped onto a gurney and rolled away - making for one of these spectacles in each of the Eagles' last three home games.

The Eagles said Hobbs had a neck injury but was moving and talking in the locker room. They said neck X-rays were negative, and that he would undergo an MRI today.

In the imperfect rules net the league has tried to weave to stop this kind of thing from happening, hitting a receiver with your helmet as he tries to catch the ball is a 15-yard penalty - as Samuel discovered in the first half, even though he seemed to first make contact with his shoulder to Derek Hagan's chest. But you can slam a ballcarrier in the head all you want (which is why there was no fine or penalty on Ernie Sims last month at Tennessee for his hit on Chris Johnson).

Reid said afterward that head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder asked him to calm Hobbs, who was struggling to get up as medical personnel tried to stabilize his neck.

"He was upset. He wanted to get up and go," Reid said.

Somehow, after a somber 11-minute delay, Vick pulled the Eagles together for an 82-yard drive, but it ended in another Akers field goal and a 16-3 lead that should have been much more.

Karma came calling on a Manning heave toward the end zone on third-and-14 from the Eagles' 33. Quintin Mikell seemed to have bumped Mario Manningham as Manningham and Mikell went up for the underthrown jump ball. Pass interference gave the Giants a first down at the Eagles' 2, and changed the game.

Manning's TD pass to Travis Beckum made it 16-10.

Then, Vick turned the ball over for the first time all season, fumbling while being sacked by Justin Tuck, and the Giants recovered at the Birds' 27. Sims bit on a play fake and Brandon Jacobs was all alone for a pass to the Eagles' 5 that set up a touchdown throw to Hagan. With the extra point, the Giants had their first lead.

The Eagles had plenty of time left, but the New York defensive line the Eagles called the best in the league all week really started to show it, funneling Vick to the inside, pressuring every throw.

But if the Giants have the best defense in the league, the Eagles might have the one that is improving most rapidly. The "D" set the stage for the victory, picking off Manning three times and holding him to 147 yards passing on 20 completions (in 33 attempts), and a 53.5 passer rating. The Giants rushed for just 61 yards, on 19 tries.

"If you stop the run in the beginning, you make a team one-dimensional," said Samuel, who has four interceptions of the Manning brothers this month, and probably won't be invited to their family Thanksgiving dinner.

Vick didn't throw a touchdown pass, but he did hit Maclin nine times for 120 yards. He was sacked three times and hit many more; he gained just 34 yards on 11 attempted rambles, taking a whack at the end of almost every one.

"He showed poise," Maclin said of Vick, who still hasn't thrown an interception as an Eagle.

Vick was asked about all the time he spent getting slammed to the ground.

"This game is really going to give me a heart attack one day," he said.

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.

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