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Westbrook, Eagles upset Giants

Dec 8, 2008 - 12:43 AM By Joe Rizzo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Brian Westbrook is the all-everything player for the Philadelphia Eagles: all-time yardage leader, offensive threat and Giant killer.

Westbrook ran 30 yards for a score and caught a 40-yard touchdown pass Sunday as the Eagles kept their dim playoff hopes alive by doing what had looked less and less possible each week, beating the New York Giants, 20-14.

The banged-up Westbrook overtook Harold Carmichael for the franchise's all-time lead in total yardage in the third quarter with a 40-yard TD reception from Donovan McNabb.

Westbrook ran for 131 yards on a career-high 33 carries and hauled in six receptions for 72 yards for the Eagles (7-5-1), who likely will need to win their remaining three games to secure a wild-card berth in the NFC.

McNabb completed 19-of-30 attempts for 191 yards with no turnovers and added 21 yards on four carries.

"When your offensive line is doing what they did today - they dominated the line of scrimmage - anything can happen," Westbrook said. "Coach (Andy Reid) was very committed to (the run). I give a lot of credit to him, because usually we're not that committed to it. But he saw that we were getting it done."

"That offensive line takes a lot of pride in getting (Westbrook) yardage," Reid said. "He's running like a wild man now."

Winning this game makes running the table appear significantly more possible, since the Eagles host Cleveland on December 15 in a Monday night game, then visit Washington and host Dallas in the season finale.

"We came here to play, we didn't come here to have a game like we did last time we met up with them," Philadelphia defensive end Trent Cole said, referring to the Giants' 36-31 road victory November 9.

Distractions, injuries and a brutal schedule might finally have caught up to the Super Bowl champion Giants (11-2), who lost at home for the first time in seven games this season and had their seven-game winning streak halted.

The Giants, attempting to tie an NFL record by beating a team with a winning record for a seventh straight week, still clinched the NFC East title by virtue of Dallas' loss at Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys (8-5) coughed up a late 10-point lead in a 20-13 defeat to the Steelers.

The faces of the distractions and injuries, wide receiver Plaxico Burress and linebacker Antonio Pierce, had roles in New York's loss.

Without Burress in the wind, Eli Manning could not drive the Giants to any points until the waning seconds of the game.

"You're going to miss a player of that magnitude any time," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said of Burress, who no longer is available this season after shooting himself in the leg in a nightclub and being placed on the non-football injury list.

Additionally, Giants running back Brandon Jacobs banged up what had been his healthy knee and cornerback Aaron Ross hurt his ankle in the second quarter and did not return.

Burress' replacement, Domenik Hixon, dropped what would have been an 85-yard scoring pass in the first half, and his teammates were no help as New York failed three times on short fourth-down plays on the Eagles' side of the field.

"I just didn't finish with it and get the ball," Hixon said.

"He just didn't make the play," Manning said. "As soon as we got turned around with the wind (behind us), we tried it. But it was not just Hixon. Offensively we just couldn't do anything."

Pierce was trailing Westbrook as the star running back grabbed a short pass from McNabb on 3rd-and-11 and raced into the end zone to make it 17-7 with 13:38 remaining in the game.

"I had man coverage," Pierce said. "I jumped outside and he jumped inside."

"I was actually supposed to go right up the middle," Westbrook said. "I just kind of ad-libbed it a little bit."

Pierce also had a pair of penalties that extended a potential scoring drive for Philadelphia near the end of the first half.

But Justin Tuck blocked a 32-yard field-goal attempt by David Akers, and Kevin Dockery returned it 71 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half to narrow New York's deficit to 10-7 and apparently shift the momentum.

Utilizing a pair of timeouts on a six-play drive, the Eagles got on the board first as Akers booted a 51-yarder on the final play of the first quarter. The second timeout came with four seconds left in the quarter, enabling Akers to kick with the wind behind him rather than face the stiff breeze on the opposite end of the field.

"I thought I could have called it sooner," Reid said. "Had I gotten the timeout sooner, we could have had the field goal and the wind on the kickoff."

The Giants began to build an advantage in possession time by driving into Philadelphia territory on their opening drive, only to get stopped on an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4 from the 31-yard line.

In the second quarter, the Giants drove to the 29, but John Carney's 47-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Cole.

"We saw something in their field-goal protection and we thought we could make a move, doing what I did by hopping over the line," Cole said.

Philadelphia later put together a 10-play, 77-yard drive that culminated with Westbrook's 30-yard scoring burst through the right side of the line.

"All it takes is one guy to get out of the gap," Westbrook said. "And they did that continually."

The defense held once again on fourth down, as Manning's pass on 4th-and-3 was dropped by Steve Smith, giving the Eagles back the ball on their own 42 with 62 seconds left in the half.

Following the second-half kickoff, the Eagles marched 54 yards, but Akers had his 34-yard field-goal try tipped by rookie defensive back Terrell Thomas, and the ball fell short.

Bridging the halves, the Giants' defense was on the field for 25 straight plays and 8:05.

Westbrook was fed the ball and Philadelphia melted the clock after New York's miss on 4th-and-1 at the Eagles 35 with 9:26 left. He carried 11 times for 24 yards on the 14-play drive, which Akers finished with a 34-yard field goal with 2:09 left to make it 20-7.

"When we had the run going, it opened up some things for us outside to pass the ball," McNabb said. "The wind was brutal. Time of possession was key. We were able to sustain drives and keep their offense off the field."

Manning found third-string tight end Darcy Johnson for a 1-yard TD pass with 15 seconds remaining to provide the final margin. New York failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, sealing the defeat.

"I'm kind of glad this happened," Jacobs said. "If there was anyone who wasn't before, everyone in here should be humble now. This is a humbling experience. You never want to lose.

"The events of the week had nothing to do with it. If Plaxico had played, it would have been the same result."