Eagles' gamble pays off vs. Giants

Timeout gives Tynes 2nd chance at game-winning FG, but his miss gives Philly 19-17 win

By ROB MAADI

updated 11:39 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - Eli Manning had the New York Giants in position to pull off another comeback win until Lawrence Tynes missed his second-chance kick.

Tynes was short on a 54-yard field goal attempt with 15 seconds left and the Philadelphia Eagles held on for a 19-17 victory over the Giants on Sunday night.

Tynes' first try was wide left, but the Eagles called timeout.

"I tried to make it straighter. And I did that. But it wasn't far enough, and it just fell short," Tynes said. "It was a tough kick, yes, but it was one that I can make, and I have made it before. I feel bad, in that spot, that I didn't come through for my team."

With LeSean McCoy leading the way on the ground, Michael Vick guided Philadelphia (3-1) to its third comeback win.

The Eagles became the first team in NFL history to have each of their first three wins by two points or less according to information provided to the Eagles by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Alex Henery kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1:49 left and the Eagles overcame two pass interference penalties on New York's final drive.

The defending Super Bowl champion Giants (2-2) have struggled against Philadelphia, losing eight of the last nine meetings.

Manning, who led the Giants to a late win over Tampa Bay two weeks ago, nearly did it again. But New York fell to 0-2 in the division.

"We feel good in those situations, and we feel we can put ourselves in a position to win," Manning said. "We got down there, but we didn't finish the job. There's always something that can go wrong in the NFL, and that's one of the things about always being in those positions, you just never know if you're going to get a bad bounce. That happened for us tonight, and we didn't get a chance to fix it."

McCoy had 121 of his 123 yards rushing in the second half. The All-Pro had six carries for 2 yards at halftime.

"It's just the Giants and Eagles, this is what it comes down to," McCoy said. "Eventually our running game would crack it and that's what we did."

Vick threw TD passes in the final two minutes in consecutive 1-point wins over Cleveland and Baltimore the first two weeks before a 26-7 loss at Arizona.

After Manning tossed a go-ahead 6-yard TD pass Bear Pascoe, Vick drove the Eagles to the Giants 2 before Osi Umenyiora sacked him for a 6-yard loss on third down. Henery then hit his fourth field goal to put Philadelphia ahead to stay.

Henery also connected from 48, 35 and 20 yards.

A pass interference penalty on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie kept the Giants' last drive alive and put the ball at the Eagles 35 after Manning threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1. Another pass interference call on Nnamdi Asomugha on third-and-10 moved it to the Eagles 27.

Then Ramses Barden got called for offensive pass interference to move it back to the 36.

"I thought it was on him," Barden said of Asomugha. "But I know he's a competitor, and he came to play tonight. We were both fighting for position and it's just one of those things."

Giants coach Tom Coughlin wasn't sure of the call.

"The only thing I can say is the pass interference is the worst thing that could have happened," he said. "If it's incomplete, we're still OK because of where the ball was."

After an incomplete pass, the Giants sent out Tynes to try for the winning kick on third-and-18 because they didn't have any timeouts remaining.

"I don't believe in icing the kicker," Vick said. "You let him kick it and if it's in, it's in. You can't play games. I don't know where that started. We got to end that tradition."

Vick was 19 of 30 for 241 yards and the turnover-prone Eagles protected the ball. The Eagles led the NFL with 12 turnovers through three games, but didn't commit any.

Manning completed 24 of 42 passes for 309 yards, two TDs and one crucial interception.

He threw a pick in the end zone after a 30-yard pass to Victor Cruz on fourth-and-1 got the Giants to Philadelphia's 10 on the final play of the third quarter.

Rodgers-Cromartie intercepted Manning's underthrown pass into triple-coverage and returned it 14 yards to the Eagles 9. The Eagles slowly moved the ball on the ground to set up Henery's 35-yarder that made it 16-10.

Manning redeemed himself on New York's next possession. He completed passes of 31 yards to Barden and 41 yards to Domenik Hixon. He then found Pascoe wide open over the middle for a 17-16 lead with 6:45 left.

McCoy finally broke loose by running for 56 yards on consecutive carries in the third. He was stopped at the 1 on a 22-yard gain, and then couldn't get in on three straight carries. The Eagles settled for a 20-yard field goal by Henery that made it 10-3.

"The O-line found themselves as the game wore on," Reid said. "They were able to block well enough to where McCoy had big yards."

The Giants answered after David Wilson ran the kickoff back 45 yards to the 43.

Mixing run and pass effectively, the Giants moved to the 14. On third-and-3, Manning threw a TD pass to Cruz, who celebrated with his trademark salsa dance in the stadium where it all started. Cruz burst on the scene with a breakout performance in a 29-16 win at Philadelphia last September.

Vick threw a 27-yard pass to Brent Celek and then scrambled 18 yards to set up Henery's 48-yard field goal late in the third that made it 13-10.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Eagles' gamble pays off vs. Giants ? |? ??Highlights

Given a second chance, Lawrence Tynes couldn't make the Philadelphia Eagles pay for a tactical gamble that nearly backfired. Tynes missed two field-goal tries from 54 yards with 15 seconds left and Philadelphia held on for a 19-17 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday night.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49235315/ns/sports-nfl/