Eagles rally in 4th to beat Giants on TNF, take NFC East lead

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Quarterback Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles staged a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football and rise to first place in the NFC East.

Wentz threw two touchdown passes in the final five minutes of the 22-21 victory at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"There wasn't a lot of time, but we said there was enough time," Wentz told reporters. "There's enough time, we just have to keep believing and just take it one play at a time.

"Obviously we were in turbo, on-the-ball, two-minute mode the rest of the game. [But it was] the same thing that I echo every game when we're down, 'Just keep believing, just one play at a time and big play is going to hit. It's going to happen.'"

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones expanded New York's lead to 21-10, when he connected with Sterling Shepard on a two-yard touchdown pass with 6:21 remaining, before the Eagles rallied. Wentz responded with a four-play, 68-yard scoring drive, capped off with a three-yard touchdown toss to Greg Ward.

The Eagles defense forced the Giants to punt on the next possession before the Eagles used a six-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead.

Wentz threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Boston Scott to end the drive and give the Eagles a 22-21 lead with 46 seconds remaining.

On the Giants' final possession, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham sacked Jones and forced a fumble that was recovered by Philly defender Vinny Curry with 29 seconds remaining. The Eagles ran out the the clock to secure the victory.

With the win, the 2-4-1 Eagles move ahead of the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys atop the NFC East. Philadelphia has the edge because a tie in the NFL is considered a half-win, giving the Eagles a winning percentage of .357 compared to .333 for Dallas.

In addition to his two touchdown tosses and a rushing score, Wentz completed 25 of 43 passes for 359 yards and threw an interception for Philadelphia. Scott totaled 92 yards from scrimmage and a score on 15 touches.

Jones completed 20 of 30 passes for 187 yards, two scores, ran for 92 yards and threw an interception for the Giants. Golden Tate had a 39-yard touchdown catch for New York.

Jabrill Peppers, Markus Golden and Dexter Lawrence each had sacks in the loss. Graham, Nate Gerry and Derek Barnett had sacks for the Eagles.

"We came down here and knew it was going to be a sixty-minute game," Giants coach Joe Judge said. "Every time the Eagles and Giants play, it always comes down to the last drive.

"That's kind of regardless of who is here, whether it's coaches, players, whoever it is. That's just a rivalry that's going to go that way. We expected this to be a tough, physical, sixty-minute game. That's exactly what we got."

The Eagles next host the Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1 and the Giants (1-6) will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Monday Night Football clash on Nov. 2 at MetLife Stadium.