EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the desperate Philadelphia Eagles proved to be a headache for the New York Giants.
Westbrook ran 30 yards for a touchdown, caught another 40-yarder from McNabb, and the Eagles’ defense limited the Giants to 211 total yards in a 20-14 victory Sunday that ended the Super Bowl champions’ seven-game winning streak and prevented them from clinching the NFC East — at least for a few hours.
The Giants (11-2) still won the division title when Pittsburgh beat Dallas 20-13 later Sunday.
“I just think we kind of beat them,” said Eagles tight end L.J. Smith, who had six catches for 44 yards.
McNabb finished 19-of-30 for 191 yards on a windy day. Westbrook gained 131 yards on a season-high 33 carries and caught six passes for 72 yards. The Eagles defense limited New York’s league-leading rushing game to 88 yards and Philadelphia controlled the ball for almost 35 minutes.
“This was a big win,” Westbrook said after the Eagles won their second straight game. “But we’re in a position now where we have to win them all.”
It didn’t help that Eli Manning didn’t have Plaxico Burress as a target.
New York scored late in each half. Kevin Dockery returned a blocked field goal 71 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, and Manning (13-of-27 for 123) found Darcy Johnson for a 1-yard TD pass with 15 seconds to go.
The loss opened up the NFC race again. Until Sunday, the Giants were the dominant team. The Eagles gave everyone hope, beating the Giants at their own game: defense and ball control.
“It was one of those days where their defense didn’t play as well as they had in the past and we played very well,” Westbrook said.
The Giants did almost nothing right in the first half.
The one play they got right was the blocked field goal at the end of the first half with Philadelphia looking to extend a 10-0 lead.
With David Akers kicking into a swirling wind, defensive end Justin Tuck got a hand on the ball, knocking it toward midfield. Dockery picked the ball up, stumbled forward in breaking a tackle attempt by Eagles guard Todd Herremans, regained his balance and scooted into the end zone for a score that prevented the Giants from being shut out in the first half for the first time since 2004 against Washington.
“We didn’t play well,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “We didn’t play the way we had been playing. We’re a better football team than that.”
