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NFC Playoffs from Sunday: Philadelphia Eagles Beat New York Giants 23-20 on David Akers Last Second Field Goal
NFL Playoffs
The Philadelphia Eagles had a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter but had to wait until David Akers kicked a 38-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining to earn the victory over the New York Giants 23-20.
New York got on the board first when Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field on the opening possession of the game. The 67-yard drive was capped by a Manning to Plaxico Burress 17-yard touchdown pass and NY was up 7-0.
It appeared as if the Giants defense would be determined to make the 7-0 lead standup as they shut the Eagles offense down the entire first quarter. Philadelphia’s first three possessions resulted in three and outs.
On their fourth possession of the game the Eagles were finally able to put together a drive and quarterback Jeff Garcia began to find his rhythm. Garcia completed three short passes before Brian Westbrook broke aright for a 49-yard touchdown run and the Eagles wee tied 7-7.
Manning tried to answer for the Giants but on third down he was picked off and the Eagles took over at the New York 37-yard line. Philadelphia was able to get down to the Giants 1-yard line but had to settle for a field goal and a 10-7 advantage.
Both defenses proved they could make goal-line stands as the Giants drove down to the Philadelphia 2-yard line and were forced to kick a 20-yard field goal to tie the score.
Garcia then completed six passes on the Eagles final possession of the first half, his last completion a 28-yard touchdown pass to Dante Stallworth sent Philadelphia into the locker rooms with a 17-10 lead.
It appeared as if the Eagles would break the game open in the third quarter after Brian Westbrook returned a New York punt 65-yards for a touchdown, but Philly was called for an illegal block and the Eagles had to start from their own 25-yrad line. The Eagles wee able to manage a 48-yard field goal from David Akers and pushed their lead to 20-10.
The Giants seemed poised to cut the deficit to three as they drove down to the Philly 6-yard line but once again the Eagles defense stood strong and held New York to a 24-yard field goal.
New York then forced the Eagles to punt and Manning drove the Giants 80-yards in 13 plays. Manning’s final pass of the drive was to Burress, a 20-yard touchdown strike to even the score at 20-20. The only problem was NY left 5:04 on the clock.
The Eagles then relied on dump passes by Garcia and the legs of Westbrook to drive down to the Giants 20-yard line where David Akers kicked his third field goal of the game. The 38-yarder with 3 seconds remaining in the fourth gave the Eagles the 23-20 playoff win.
Garcia finished with 153 yards passing and a touchdown while the Eagles running back Brian Westbrook took over the game with 141 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The Giants were led by 161 yards and 2 passing touchdowns from Eli Manning. In his final game before retiring Tiki Barber finished with 137-yards rushing.
