Eagles Shrug Off Disastrous First Half To Beat Giants, Enter Tie For First Place In NFC East
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Well, it was definitely ugly but the Eagles got the job done. Carson Wentz led the Birds to a 23-17 overtime win over the New York Giants on Monday night with a little help from running back Boston Scott and tight end Zach Ertz feeding them life.
After being booed off the field in the first half, the Birds scored 20 unanswered points to pull out the win.
Somehow, the Eagles (6-7) are now tied for first place in the NFC East with the Dallas Cowboys.
Wentz connected with Ertz on a two-yard touchdown to give the Eagles the much-needed win. It was Ertz's second touchdown of the night.
Wentz threw a dart to Ertz with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 17.
"Guys stepped up and made plays," Wentz said. "We had guys moving around and I had no choice but to trust these guys."
Scott recorded the Eagles' first touchdown of the night on a two-yard run with a minute-and-a-half left in the third quarter, cutting the Giants lead to seven.
"Just do my job. You never know when your opportunity might come," Scott said.
Wentz continued to make some questionable throws, missing his receivers. On the second drive of the game, he threw a deep ball to Alshon Jeffery but the ball ended up out of bounds.
He also recorded his 10th fumble of the year on a fourth-down quarterback sneak which was recovered by the Giants.
The Birds came into the game with three wide receivers suited up and lost Jeffery due to a foot injury in the first quarter. That left just Ward and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
Offensive tackle Lane Johnson suffered a foot injury late in the second quarter and did not return.
Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby missed a tackle on Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton, leading to a 35-yard Giants touchdown, which gave the Giants a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Eli Manning again connected with Slayton for a 55-yard touchdown after he burned Darby down the field, putting the Giants up 17-3.
The Birds cut the Giants lead to seven after a two-yard touchdown run by Scott late in the third quarter.
Scott, one of the former practice squad players, provided a big spark. He had 59 yards rushing and 69 yards receiving.
Wentz drove Philadelphia to the Giants 29 with just under 10 minutes left but Ward dropped what should've been a 29-yard touchdown pass on third-and-11. Jake Elliott then missed a 47-yard field goal wide left.
"We all believe in each other, we went out there and showed heart. We stuck together. I think it's a special win for all of us," said Ward. "We control our own destiny.
The defense held the Giants and Wentz drove the Eagles 85 yards and connected with Ertz in the endzone to tie the game.
The Eagles won the toss in overtime and went 75 yards.
Ertz had nine catches for 91 yards.
Head coach Doug Pederson says the locker room is all smiles after tonight's win.
"The guys are so excited. The guys are thrilled," Pederson said. "They know how hard they worked, how hard they have battled, how hard they practiced this week and to really trust the process, stay the course. It didn't look pretty, obviously early in this game, and to hang together is something we talked about this week is hanging together and they did that."
The Eagles had lost 19 straight games when trailing by 14 or more points in the second half before rallying against the Giants. They previously overcame a 20-6 deficit in a 30-27 win over Indianapolis in Week 2 of the 2014 season.
CBS3's Alyssa Adams and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
