PHILADELPHIA _ The NFC East being what it is this season � the division where hope is eliminated, but teams rarely are � you still can't stick a fork in the Eagles.
Well, maybe a salad fork, but not the big one. After all that it took for them to beat the dreadful New York Giants in overtime on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles are still avoiding death by cutlery, and they could even wiggle free like a limp piece of escarole to make the playoffs.
The Giants had lost eight straight before taking a 14-point lead against the Eagles in a game during which Eli Manning looked less rusty than Carson Wentz in the first half. That disparity lasted nearly into the fourth quarter, when the Eagles mounted two touchdown drives to tie the game and force the overtime.
Manning last played Sept. 15, and the Giants last won on Sept. 29. The New York Mets have won a game more recently than the Giants. At least the Eagles are ahead of the Phillies.
After losing to the bottom-feeding Dolphins the week before, coming back against the Giants prevented a total organizational meltdown but doesn't change their eventual fate this season.
They are still alive in the division race because the Dallas Cowboys have been as bad or worse in the second half of the season. No matter how often the two of them lose, or to whom, they remain on a collision course for their Dec. 22 showdown, which will end in a tie if there is any justice in the world.
The Eagles are still alive, and that means they can't be embarrassed, even after following up a loss to a 2-9 team with the need for overtime against a 2-10 team.
It was a strange team that began the night for the Eagles, and a stranger one that ended it, after injuries removed receiver Alshon Jeffery and offensive tackle Lane Johnson in the first half, and cornerback Jalen Mills in the second half.
Any time an NFL team dresses the same number of quarterbacks as wide receivers, it is an odd night. That was the case, however, for the Eagles. That must mean Mack Hollins was released last week so Nate Sudfeld could be the third quarterback
In any case, only Jeffery, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and Greg Ward were active receivers, with hybrid tight ends Zach Ertz and Joshua Perkins available as targets, along with running backs Miles Sanders and Boston Scott. It was a thin group � not that Hollins would have improved it that much � and made the Eagles look a quart low on preparation.
By the fourth quarter, Sanders had also left the field briefly for evaluation, and cornerback Jalen Mills went in to keep him company. The Eagles had to attempt their late comeback as a patched-up team playing in front of a disgruntled, drenched stadium of fans.
Down by 14 at the half, the Eagles got things going with a touchdown run by Scott near the end of the third quarter, then took their next possession and sprinted down the field, with Scott providing the excitement, and Perkins coming through with a first-down catch.
When Doug Pederson challenged a no-call on possible pass interference near the end zone, the Eagles were one referee's decision away from being goal-to-goal to tie the game. It wasn't going to be an easy kind of night, however. Pederson didn't get the interference call, Ward dropped a pass in the end zone on the next play, and Jake Elliott followed up by missing a 47-yard field goal.
Just like that, what could have been a 17-17 game with momentum for the Eagles was still a seven-point deficit and decent field position for New York with less than 10 minutes to go.
Maybe Jeffery catches the ball. Maybe Nelson Agholor catches the ball. Maybe Mack Hollins catches the ball. We don't know. But Ward didn't catch it. We know that.
The Eagles got the ball back and didn't get traction right away, with the protection spotty and the talent spottier. They needed a 4th-and-1 conversion at their own 29-yard line, and they needed a couple of holding penalties against the Giants, but they got across midfield, and then Wentz found Dallas Goedert for a big gain, and Ward for a reception near the end zone. They finally tied it with a pass to Ertz, and the game lurched into overtime.
New York was gassed by that point, and Wentz used the unlikely combination of Perkins and Scott to rumble down the field on the opening possession. They won it on another pass into the back of the end zone to Ertz, and the fireworks roared, and the fans who remained through the deluge shook their fists at the sky as if beating the Giants meant something.
It does, of course. It means the Eagles, as always in the NFC East, are still alive. No forking around.
