Eagles stop red-hot Giants from clinching playoff spot

Carson Wentz passed for 152 yards and a touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles held on to beat New York 24-19, a win that prevented the Giants from earning their first playoff spot since 2011. 

The result allowed the Dallas Cowboys to clinch the NFC East title and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Giants (10-5) had two chances to pull it out in the fourth quarter. First, they drove to the Eagles 37-yard line, but a fourth-down pass from quarterback Eli Manning was batted down by defender Nolan Carroll. Then, with five seconds to play, Terrence Brooks picked off Manning on the Eagles' 11-yard line.

The Giants (10-5) have to hope that the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons lose on Sunday. Any loss by one of those teams would do it.

The Eagles, who dropped to 6-9 on the NFL season, lost Wentz briefly in the third quarter when he was hit hard by Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon after throwing a pass.

Vernon was penalized for the hit and Wentz was forced to leave the game with an apparent head injury. He was replaced by Chase Daniel for one series before returning. It marked the first time Wentz had to leave a game all season.

Manning had three interceptions to go with 38 completions on 63 passes for 356 yards and one touchdown. Two of those interceptions were by safety Malcolm Jenkins, who returned the first one 34 yards for a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead.

New York receiver Odell Beckham caught 11 passes for 150 yards.

The Eagles are 13-5 against the Giants since 2008, and they own five victories in the past seven meetings with New York.

The Giants had won eight of their last nine games and their defense hadn't given up a touchdown in the previous seven quarters.

Source: AFP