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Brown kicks Giants past Eagles

Oct 27, 2013 - 10:58 PM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Brown kicked a career-high five goals and the New York Giants shut down a punchless Philadelphia Eagles offense en route to a 15-7 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.

With rookie Matt Barkley pressed into quarterback duty for much of the game, the Eagles (3-5) mustered just 201 total yards and failed to produce a touchdown on offense for a second consecutive week against an NFC East foe. Philadelphia was coming off a 17-3 setback to Dallas last Sunday.

The Eagles' lone score came on a 2-yard fumble return by reserve linebacker Najee Goode in the fourth quarter, the result of a bad snap that soared over the head of New York punter Steve Weatherford.

Michael Vick briefly returned to action for the Eagles after missing two games with a hamstring pull, but aggravated the injury late in the first half after completing 6-of-9 attempts for only 31 yards with an interception. Barkley, elevated to the backup role with Nick Foles sidelined by a concussion, went 17-of-26 for 158 yards and was also picked off once in relief.

"I felt good going in," said Vick. "I felt like I did everything that I was supposed to do to reassure myself that I could go out and play. But there's just nothing like actually being in the moment and having to move and having to react. When I did that, that's when I pulled it again. I felt the pop."

Eli Manning threw for 246 yards on 25-of-39 passing to help the Giants (2-6) halt an eight-game road losing streak and post a second win in a row following a dreadful 0-6 beginning to the season. Victor Cruz contributed 86 yards on seven catches, while New York's defense generated four sacks after amassing an NFL-low six over the team's first seven outings.

It's not always pretty, but nevertheless our defense played superbly," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin remarked. "There is a lot to be said for the way we are playing right now on defense."

Philadelphia, on the other hand, was dealt a 10th straight defeat at home since a 19-17 decision over the Giants in Week 4 of last season.

"Offensively we haven't done what we need to do to win two football games and we need to get that fixed," said Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.

Vick operated Philadelphia's first four drives prior to his departure, but the Eagles managed a meager 27 total yards and two first downs during his brief time under center. By the time Barkley was called upon, the Giants had built a 12-0 lead.

In contrast to its division rival, New York moved the ball effectively in the middle of the field but struggled within the red zone, with four consecutive first-half possessions ending in field goals by Brown.

The Giants marched 57 yards in nine plays on their second series of the day, highlighted by Manning's 22-yard strike to Hakeem Nicks on third down and an 18-yard catch by Cruz that set up Brown's 40-yard kick that began the scoring midway through the first quarter.

A 27-yard connection from Manning to tight end Brandon Myers on New York's next trek led to a 44-yarder from Brown later in the period, and the Giants churned out 48 yards on 12 plays on their following sequence to get into scoring range once more early in the second quarter.

New York had a 1st-and-goal from the five on that drive, but three straight Manning incompletions caused the Giants to settle for Brown's 33-yard field goal and a 9-0 advantage with 10:22 left in the half.

Brown knocked home a 46-yarder just prior to the two-minute warning to extend the margin. Four Manning completions and a 19-yard pass interference penalty on the Eagles' Bradley Fletcher helped position the kick.

Barkley did provide a temporary spark to Philadelphia's sputtering offense upon his entry, as the rookie hit on six of his first seven throws and got the Eagles down to the Giants' 2-yard line near the end of the half. However, he was stripped on a sack by Terrell Thomas deep in enemy territory and Jacquian Williams recovered the fumble for New York.

With LeSean McCoy doing much of the work on the ground, the Eagles were able to make some headway on their initial drive of the second half as well, getting as far as the Giants' 26. However, a third-down sack by Mathias Kiwanuka and Barkley's errant pass on the next play gave New York the ball on downs.

The Eagles were stagnant from that point on, though, going three-and-out on their next two possessions and gaining just 81 yards the rest of the way.

"Guys are playing fast, guys are playing confident, and we've kind of gotten on a hot streak here," Giants end Justin Tuck said of the defense. "When you start making plays, you start becoming very confident in yourself and I think that this is a very confident defense right now."

Brown tacked on his fifth field goal of the day with 12:23 remaining. A 29- yard punt by Donnie Jones gave New York excellent field position at the opposing 41, and the Giants picked up a couple of first downs before stalling once again in the red zone.

A miscue on special teams by New York enabled Philadelphia to make it a one- score game with 4:11 left, as Zack DeOssie's long snap sailed well past Weatherford and rolled near the goal line. With Brandon Boykin knocking Weatherford off the ball, Goode scooped up the fumble and rolled into the end zone.

The Eagles got the ball back with under 30 seconds to go, but Barkley's wobbly deep pass was intercepted by Will Hill to seal the win for the Giants.

Game Notes

Brown had kicked four field goals in a game eight times previously, most recently while with Cincinnati against Dallas during Week 13 of last season ... Peyton Hillis rushed for 70 yards on 20 carries for the Giants, who played without running backs David Wilson (neck) and Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) ... The Eagles converted only 3-of-12 third-down attempts and went 0-for-2 on fourth down ... DeSean Jackson finished with eight catches totaling 63 yards for Philadelphia ... Including a win in the 2008 NFC Playoffs and a 36-21 triumph at MetLife Stadium back in Week 5, the Eagles had prevailed in nine of the previous 11 matchups in the series.