Eagles come up big in must-win over Giants, 17-10

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Just about everything was different this week.

The quarterback was new and sharp late. The defense was stifling. And when the game got tight, the Eagles made the biggest plays, winning by 17-10 on the road against the Giants. For the first time in weeks, there was joy in the Eagles locker room.

Vince Young threw a third-down strike for the winning touchdown, and as the Giants drove on the ensuing drive, Jason Babin stripped Eli Manning and Derek Landri recovered. LeSean McCoy sealed the game with a 60-yard run. The Eagles came up big in situations where they had previously shrunk.

"You get tired of working so hard the whole game to put yourself in a position to win and letting it go, it's a horrible feeling, and we were tired of it," said defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins. "I think everybody played like that today."

The Eagles improved to 4-6 and pulled within two games of the Giants and Cowboys in the NFC East, though they still have a long way to climb to get into serious playoff contention. Only five 4-6 teams have reached the postseason since the NFL went to its current playoff format in 1990.

There are questions, too. With Michael Vick still recovering from broken ribs, Eagles coaches did not commit to who will play quarterback next week against the Patriots. DeSean Jackson, after having a big bounce-back effort, was limping and had a walking boot on his right foot after the game. He said someone had stepped on his foot and he had a sprain but that he would be "alright." Coach Andy Reid did not give an injury update on Jackson.

Juan Castillo's defense had its best day of the year, limiting the Giants to 278 yards, including just 29 rushing, sacking Manning three times and creating two turnovers. When the defense stumbled, giving up a tying score, Young rallied.

"It was definitely a big win for us, just to see the excitement, the smiles, the coaches; that's what we need," Young said.

After the Giants tied the game at 10 and brought on the ghosts of the Eagles' five fourth-quarter collapses this season, Young led an 18-play, 80-yard drive that included five third-down conversions and a touchdown on third and goal. Young found Riley Cooper in the back of the end zone for his second scoring pass of the game, giving the Eagles a 17-10 lead with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game. The drive was nearly stopped several times, but the Eagles kept it alive with clutch plays on third down: a Ronnie Brown run, a third-and-10 strike to Cooper, a third-and-3 swing to Clay Harbor, a Young sneak on third and 1, and a DeSean Jackson juke to give the Eagles a first down at New York's 10. They took the lead and chewed up 8:51 of game clock.

The drive was also aided by a sensational Jason Avant catch on second and 16, plucking a pass from inches off the ground to gain 13 yards.

"We just dug deep and got after it," said Cooper. "Everyone contributed. . . . It wasn't just one big play. We pieced that drive together."

The Giants threatened to answer, moving to the Eagles 21 with a chance to tie the game, until Babin made the hit and gave the Eagles, and Reid, a win they badly needed.

"Everyone had the confidence that we were going to get it done," said safety Kurt Coleman. "In past weeks it was, 'Who's going to make the play?' But everyone felt like, 'We're going to make the play.' "

Instead it was the Giants who couldn't respond.

"This is as big a disappointment as we have had around here in a long time," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

Young finished 23 for 36 for 258 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions and was at his best when it mattered most. Jackson, back from a one-game benching, had six catches for 88 yards and a 51-yard punt return that set up an Eagles score, having perhaps his most impactful game of the year.

The Eagles defense came out with fight and aggressiveness, scuffling often with the Giants. Defensive tackle Trevor Laws hammered Manning after an interception. Linebacker Akeem Jordan stonewalled running back Brandon Jacobs on a third and short. Jenkins crushed running back D.J. Ware as the first half wound down. Ware left the game with a concussion.

"We got it done when we needed to," Coleman said. "[Our] backs are still against this wall, though."