NFL Old School Game of the Week: Eagles Clinch NFC East in Dramatic Fashion

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran for 48 yards in leading the Eagles to a dramatic win over the Giants.

As the Philadelphia Eagles entered their week 16 game with the New York Giants, they had a chance to do something they hadn't done since 1988: win the NFC East.
The 9-5 Eagles entered the game needing one win to clinch the NFC East title and return to the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The Eagles were led by head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb, who were in their third year together in Philadelphia and returned the Eagles to contending for the playoffs after three straight losing seasons from 1997-99 as the Eagles made it to the playoffs after a 11-5 season in 2000.
The Eagles would knock off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-3 in the Wild Card round, but would be knocked out by the Giants 20-10 in their NFC Divisional Playoff.
The Giants seemingly had the Eagles' number as they entered the 2001 season as they had defeated their hated NFC East rival had won nine straight against Philadelphia and had swept the season series every year since Jim Fassel became the Giants' head coach in 1997.
But in week 6 of the 2001 season on Monday Night Football, the Eagles would knock off the Giants 10-9 to end their nine-game losing streak to New York.
The 2001 season had been an up-and-down one following their run to the Super Bowl, the year before as the team stood with a 7-7 record needing to win its last two games of the regular season to have any chance of making the playoffs.
Plus, defensive end Michael Strahan had recorded 18 quarterback sacks though the team's first 14 games, four sacks shy of tying former New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau's record of most quarterback sacks in a season with 22.
So to see they was a lot on the line entering the week 16 game in Philadelphia would be an understatement.
After the Giants went three-and-out to start the game, the Eagles got the ball at their 28-yard-line when on the first play of the drive, McNabb found tight end Chad Lewis for 31 yards to give Philadelphia a 1st down at the New York 41-yard-line.
McNabb would connect with Lewis four more times for 22 yards on the drive which ended when McNabb found Lewis in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to put the Eagles on the board first as they took a 7-0 lead.
Following another New York three-and-out, the Eagles drove from their 44-yard-line to the Giants' 30-yard-line until Strahan made his presence felt on back-to-back plays.
First, he sacked McNabb for an eight-yard-loss on 1st down, then teamed with linebacker Michael Barrow for another sack which resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Barrow at the Eagles' 48-yard-line.
However, the Giants would give the ball right back to the Eagles when on 2nd & 5 from the Philly 43-yard-line, running back Tiki Barber fumbled at the end of a seven-yard-run which was recovered by Eagles strong safety Damon Moore giving the Eagles the ball back at their 31-yard-line with 3:51 left in the first quarter.
From there, the Eagles would drive to the Giants' 18-yard-line on five plays, thanks in large part to two runs by Cornell Buckhalter which totaled 35 yards as the Eagles had a 1st & 10 at the New York 18-yard-line.
But the Eagles would go backwards as they would lose yardage on the next three plays, forcing to settle for a 43-yard field goal attempt by David Akers, which came up short to keep it a 7-0 game.
Following Akers' miss, the game would turn into a defensive stalemate as neither team could mount a serious scoring threat for the rest of the first half as the Eagles went into the halftime break still holding on to a 7-0 lead.

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan finished with 3.5 sacks, drawing him to within 0.5 sack of setting the NFL record for most quarterback sacks in a season.

The Eagles would get the ball to start the second half but would be forced to punt the ball away as the Giants took over at their 40-yard-line.
That is when New York decided to go into its bag of tricks as quarterback Kerry Collins handed the ball off to Barber, who ran right, then threw a lateral to Collins, who then threw deep for Amani Toomer who made the catch for a 60-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7 just 2:15 into the third quarter.
The game was still 7-7 when the Giants got the ball back at the 50-yard-line with 6:34 left in the third quarter when Dayne busted loose for a 30-yard run to put New York at the Eagles' 20-yard-line.
The Eagles defense would hold the Giants out of the end zone but New York would take their first lead of the game as Morten Andersen kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Giants a 10-7 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
The Giants took their 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter when the Eagles had the ball at their 43-yard-line when McNabb threw a bomb down the right sideline and hit James Thrash in stride for a 57-yard touchdown to put Philadelphia back on top 14-10 with 14:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Giants got the ball back at their 29-yard-line and rode the right arm of Collins down the field as he completed four of his first five passes 42 yards on the New York drive, only to have his next three pass fall incomplete, forcing the Giants to settle for another field goal by Andersen, this one from 32 yards out to cut the Eagles' lead to 14-13 with 8:48 to go in the game.
The Giants' defense would force the Eagles to go three-and-out on their next possession to get the ball back at their 19-yard-line when disaster nearly struck for New York.
On the first play of the drive, Collins attempt to hand the ball off to Toomer on a reverse, only for Toomor to drop the handoff.
Toomer would pick the ball back up but not before he was tackled for a 10-yard-loss to set up 2nd & 20 from the Giants' nine-yard-line.
However, the Giants would get the 20 yards needed for the 1st down as Collins connected with tight end Dan Campbell for the 20-yard completion, which was followed by a 11-yard pass to Campbell to give the Giants another 1st down at their 40-yard-line.
After Barber lost a yard on a 1st down run, Tiki came back with a 10-yard reception, followed by a 23-yard run to put the Giants at the Eagles' 28-yard-line.
Then after two straight running plays picked up 12 yards, Dayne barreled his way to a 16-yard touchdown to give New York a 19-14 lead.
The Giants would go for two and get it when Barber went around the right end and into the end zone to increase the New York lead to 21-14 with 2:48 left in regulation.
Needing a touchdown to tie the game, McNabb and the Eagles took over at their 33-yard-line following a 21-yard return by Brian Mitchell on the kickoff.
McNabb's first two passes fell incomplete, but on the second incompletion, Lewis was interfered by Giants linebacker Brandon Short, giving Eagles a 1st down at their 41-yard-line as it was a spot foul.
Then after another incomplete pass, McNabb hit his first pass of the drive as he found Freddie Mitchell for 15 yards to give the Eagles a 1st down at the Giants' 44-yard-line.
Following a five-yard run by McNabb, the third-year quarterback would connect with Thrash again, this time for 32 yards to give the Eagles a 1st & goal at the seven-yard-line.
That is when McNabb found Lewis in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown that along with Akers' extra point tied the game at 21 with 1:53 left in regulation.

Eagles tight end Chad Lewis finished with seven catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants would get the ball at their 26-yard-line with a chance to drive into field goal range and give Andersen a chance to win the game, but they would go three-and-out, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Eagles, who took over at their 29-yard-line with 58 second remaining and two timeouts in their pocket.
Following an incomplete pass to start the drive, McNabb would hit Thrash for a 25-yard gain to put the Eagles into Giants territory at the New York 46-yard-line as Reid called timeout with 45 seconds to go.
On the next play, McNabb would hit Todd Pinkston for nine yards, but thinking he had the 1st down, McNabb spiked the football to make it 3rd & 1.
No worries though as McNabb sneaked for four yards and a 1st down at the Giants' 33-yard-line.
But McNabb couldn't get up as Strahan, who made the tackle, wouldn't let go of McNabb in an effort to run as much time off the clock as possible.
That drew a five-yard delay-of-game penalty on the Giants making it 1st & 5 from the 28-yard-line with 21 seconds left.
McNabb would run the ball for 11 yards and another 1st down before spending the Eagles' last timeout with 11 seconds left.
With no timeouts left, Reid decided to call on Akers to attempt a 35-yard field goal to give the Eagles the lead.
Fassell called timeout in hopes of icing Akers but to no avail as Akers' kick sailed through the uprights to give the Eagles a 24-21 lead with just seven seconds to go.
On the ensuing kickoff, Akers' kick would sail into the end zone for a touchback, giving the Giants the ball at their 20-yard-line with seven seconds left to pull off a miracle.
That is when Fassell called for "The Lambuth Special" a play that called for Collins to hit Ike Hilliard, who then lateral it to Barber, who would then it lateral to Ron Dixon, who would then proceed to run down the field.
As Collins took the snap, he could find Hilliard and instead threw to Barber, who made the catch at the Giants 14 yards down the field.
Barber then lateraled it off to Dixon, who cut to the left side and find some open space to run down the field.
As Dixon ran down the left sideline, he was outracing the Eagles defense and was getting closer to the end zone for a potential game-winning touchdown.
But Dixon would tackled by Damon Moore just six yards shy of the end zone, preserving the Eagles' 24-21 win to secure Philadelphia's 1st NFC East division title since 1988.

The loss ended any chance of the Giants returning the playoffs as they would finish the season with a 7-9 record but would return to the playoffs the following season only to blow a 24-point lead to the San Francisco 49ers in their NFC Wild Card game to lose 39-38.
Strahan would set the record for most quarterback sacks in a season in the regular season finale when Packers quarterback Brett Favre conveniently took rolled out and fell down allowing for Strahan to record his 22 and 1/2 sack of the season.
As for the Eagles, they would host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round, who they easily dispatched of by the score of 31-9, then go on the road to upset the Chicago Bears 33-19 to advance to their first NFC Championship Game since 1980, only to lose to the St. Louis Rams 29-24.
Over the course of the next nine seasons, the Eagles would win the NFC East five more times and play in the NFC Championship Game four more times, only to win the NFC Title Game once as they defeated the Atlanta Falcons 27-10 in the '04 Title Game to advance to Super Bowl XXXIX, where they would fall to the New England Patriots 24-21.