 rallied from an early 14-point deficit to defeat the surprising New York Giants 34-29 on Sunday. ''I thought he played well,'' Eagles coach Doug Pederson said of Foles. ''There are some things he would like to do over. Every game is going be that way. I thought he handled himself extremely well, a lot of poise. He did a nice job. '' There was speculation the Eagles would rely on their running game this week against the Giants (2-12) to give Foles time to adjust to the offense. Pederson ruled that out. ''With him coming out and saying he's not changing anything, it says a lot about his confidence in me and his confidence in the players in the offense,'' said Foles, who completed 24 of 38 passes for 237 yards and no interceptions. Foles clearly is no Wentz. He is more a pocket passer, and there were times in the game when Wentz clearly would have been scrambling for a first down. Foles carried twice for zero yards. The Eagles made a late stand on first-and-goal in the final minute in edging the Giants for the second time this season, spoiling a three-touchdown, season-high 434-yard passing game by Eli Manning. ''We know what he's capable of and that showed today,'' Giants interim coach Steve Spagnuolo said after Manning's ninth 400-yard game. Manning, who threw for 366 yards earlier this year against the Eagles, said the Giants had a good game plan. ''We got the ball out quickly, playing fast with some tempo stuff,'' said the 36-year-old who finished 37 of 57. ''I think that confused them a little bit. '' Foles hit Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz, Trey Burton and Nelson Agholor on scoring passes ranging from 3 to 13 yards in filling in for Wentz, who tore an ACL last week and was lost for the season after a brilliant year. The Eagles also got two field goals from Jake Elliott and three blocked kicks from their special teams, foiling an extra point, a punt and field goal. The block on the punt set up a touchdown. Philadelphia will play its final two regular-season game at home and then wait for the conference semifinal. ''It's obviously something great,'' Foles said of the bye. ''I was fortunate to be a part of it last year in Kansas City. We still have a lot of work to do this season. The big thing is you let your body recover. '' Manning hit Tavarres King on two touchdowns and Sterling Shepard on one. Orleans Darkwa scored on a short run and Aldrick Rosas kicked a 28-yard field goal. Manning drove the Giants from their 25 with 3:56 to play to the Eagles 9 with about a minute to go. A 2-yard loss on a pass to Shepard, an incompletion in the end zone and 5-yard run by Shane Vereen got New York to the Philadelphia 6 with 48 seconds to play. Right tackle Bobby Hart had a procedure penalty on fourth down, putting the ball at the 11. Manning then threw a pass to Evan Engram at the back of the end zone that was high and incomplete. The Giants complained bitterly after the play that Eagles safety Corey Graham held the rookie tight end's left arm and should have been called for pass interference. ''I definitely thought it was defensive pass interference,'' Engram said. ''Fourth down. It was really obvious, but no call. '' The Giants led 23-21 at the half and the Eagles took the lead for good in the third quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Elliott and a 10-yard TD catch by Agholor . Leading 20-6, mistakes by Manning and special teams got the Eagles back in the game in a less than three-minute span in the second quarter. A 37-yard interception return by Ronald Darby to the Giants 18 set up Foles' second touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Ertz, cutting New York's lead to 20-14. Kamu Grugier-Hill blocked Brad Wing's punt on the Giants' next series. Foles found a wide-open Burton on a 13-yard pass to give the Eagles a 21-20 lead. Rosas had a go-ahead 28-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half for a 23-21 lead. BLOCKSThe last time a team had a hat trick of blocked kicks was the Buffalo Bills against New England on Nov. 24, 1991. UP NEXTEagles: host Oakland on Dec. 25. Giants: at Arizona on Sunday. ---For more NFL coverage: http://www. pro32. ap. org and - http://www. twitter. com/-NFL)
Dec 13, 2017It was the kick heard 'round the NFL, a 61-yard field goal made by Jake Elliott as time expired that gave the Philadelphia Eagles a 27-24 win over the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. It was also a kick that improved the NFC's top-seeded Eagles' record to 2-1 at the time and launched a nine-game winning streak while also helping to send their long-time division rivals into the pit of despair with their third of five straight losses to open the 2017 campaign. Two teams, two very different fates. The Eagles, who visit the Giants on Sunday to wrap up the season series currently hold an 11-2 record, tops in the NFC and tied for the best in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Giants, meanwhile, have the opposite record, 2-11 in a season that has been filled with more disarray than points and which led to the rare in-season firings of head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese. New York currently owns the second-worst record in the NFL, topped by only the winless Cleveland Browns. "Well, yeah," said Giants running back Orleans Darkwa when asked if that game-winning 61-yard kick made by Elliott set the tone for each team's season. "Obviously, it hasn't been the season that we hoped for, but you don't want to look back. At the end of the season, we'll reflect on all that, but right now we're focused on Philly this week and getting a win. " "Yeah, it's definitely two different paths since then," Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said. "I think obviously now with (New York interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo) leading the team, I think guys are going to respond, they're going to rally, which they should. " Philadelphia will have to rally the rest of the way without starting quarterback Carson Wentz, whom they lost to a season-ending torn ACL last week. "It's crazy," Giants safety Landon Collins said when asked how much the Eagles offense is likely to change without Wentz running it. Instead of Wentz, the Eagles will start Nick Foles under center. With that change, however, Spagnuolo isn't expecting the Eagles offensive attack to change that much. "I don't think it's going to change all that much for us because you've got to stop that run game," he said. "It really didn't matter who was handing it off. Now, I think Foles throws a really good football -- that throw he made against the Rams to kind of clinch it, that was perfect. "He obviously does a really good job getting ready to play a football game because they didn't skip a beat when he went in there. Didn't look like they limited with any checks or anything, so they've done a good job down there coaching them and he's obviously a pro at what he does. " If Foles has any kind of advantage in getting ready for this week, it's Pederson, who back in the day was a backup quarterback for numerous teams including the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers. "I can remember my days in Green Bay and you're in the meeting rooms with the starter," Pederson said. "You're watching the same film as the starter. You're preparing the same way. You're getting yourself ready just like the starter would and you're in your quarterback meetings with your position coach and diving into the game plan and then the film study. "The film study on your own. Time with the other guys and just preparing and you never know when your opportunity is going to come, and you've just got to be prepared. " Pederson's biggest challenge is to keep the players' focus on the grand prize at the end of the road, even if they must get there without Wentz. "Part of my messaging to the team is just that is that one man, one man can definitely make a difference on your football team, but the fact is we're still a team and as a group of men, we're playing well as a team and that's what we can't lose sight of," he said.
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