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Eagles talking points

1. From Wentz it came: Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz shook off a vicious hit in the third quarter that knocked him out of the game and into the concussion protocol to lead the Birds to a 24-19 win, which moved them to 6-9. He returned and led a game-sea

1. From Wentz it came: Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz shook off a vicious hit in the third quarter that knocked him out of the game and into the concussion protocol to lead the Birds to a 24-19 win, which moved them to 6-9. He returned and led a game-sealing field-goal drive and finished 13-for-24 for 152 yards a touchdown and an interception, as well as four runs for 27 yards. The trajectory and velocity of Wentz's deep passes still are not at an NFL level; at least, not yet. He delivered a lovely, 40-yard bomb to Nelson Agholor, but even that pass hung.

2. Blame it on the Lane: When right tackle Lane Johnson began serving his 10-game two-time-loser PED suspension, after Game 4, he was the best offensive player and the Eagles were 3-1. When he returned Thursday night he was, again and still, the best offensive player. The first touchdown drive succeeded solely because of Johnson's utter dominance; Ryan Mathews' 17-yard run, Wentz's 9-yard scramble, Darren Sproles' 25-yard touchdown run. He was just as good the rest of the game, which seems to justify the narrative that the Eagles' 2-8 mark in his absence was mostly his fault.

3. Nellyville: It seemed like deja vu when embattled second-year receiver Nelson Agholor, benched for a game because of confidence issues, dropped the first pass thrown to him. It seemed like the dawning of a new day when Agholor caught the second one, the 40-yard TD, from Wentz, the longest TD reception by a wide receiver this season.

4. Stiffened: After weeks of struggle, the defensive backfield showed up. Malcolm Jenkins intercepted Eli Manning and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown. Later, Leodis McKelvin recovered and inadvertently defended a touchdown with his helmet (the pass hit him in the head). Jenkins later was manhandled by Sterling Shephard on a 13-yard TD catch just before halftime, but ballhawked another Manning pass in the fourth quarter for his second pick. Terrence Brooks sealed the win with an interception with 5 seconds to play.

5. Doug E Fresh: With 1:42 to play, the Eagles had the ball, third-and-5 at their 42. The Giants had one timeout remaining, but Eagles coach Doug Pederson elected to throw deep to Jordan Matthews instead of running and forcing the Giants to call their final timeout. That allowed the Giants to save the timeout until they got to the Eagles' 34-yard line. Pederson was bailed out by Terrence Brooks' interception of Eli Manning's deep pass with 14 seconds to play.

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