Philadelphia – Some of his teammates couldn’t watch David Akers when he lined up for the winning kick, preferring to let the crowd’s reaction tell them the outcome.
Given recent events across the NFL, nobody could blame them.
The fans’ roar gave them the news – the snap, hold and kick were perfect this time.
Akers hit a 38-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 23-20 victory over the New York Giants in a wild-card playoff game Sunday.
A day after the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Seattle Seahawks when quarterback Tony Romo fumbled the hold on what could have been a go-ahead field goal, snapper Jon Dorenbos and holder Koy Detmer executed the seemingly routine play that has cost teams important games in recent weeks.
“Koy said, ‘Those posts look big, don’t they?”‘ Akers said. “I said: ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to be celebrating in a minute.”‘
Brian Westbrook, playing through stomach cramps that often sent him to the sideline, had 141 yards rushing – including a spectacular, slashing 49-yard TD run in the second quarter. His 65-yard punt return for an apparent score in the third quarter was nullified by a penalty on rookie Torrance Daniels.
Jeff Garcia threw for 153 yards and one touchdown and played efficiently enough to win for the sixth time in seven starts since replacing an injured Donovan McNabb.
The Giants’ Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress, including an 11-yard strike that tied it at 20 with 5:04 left.
In his final game, Tiki Barber ran for 137 yards for the Giants.
A three-time Pro Bowl running back, Barber plans to retire after 10 seasons in the NFL.
The Eagles are far from finished, though.
Counted out after a knee injury ended McNabb’s season in Week 11, the Eagles (11-6) have won six straight games. They advanced to play at New Orleans (10-6) on Saturday night.
The Giants (8-9) overcame a second-and-30 situation on their tying scoring drive as Manning completed consecutive passes of 18, 14 and 11 yards to Burress.
But the Eagles drove right down the field, mixing in short passes and Westbrook runs.
That set up Akers’ winning kick, a moment with a little extra drama in the wake of the botched hold in the Dallas-Seattle game and a bad snap on a critical extra point in a late-season game between the Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals in Denver.
