PHILADELPHIA _ Jake Elliott etched his name into Eagles lore and gave them a critical 27-24 win over the New York Giants when the rookie kicker hit a franchise-record 61-yard field goal in the final seconds of their home opener on Sunday.
Elliott's field goal came in his second game with the Eagles after they signed him off the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad two weeks earlier.
It was the last play of a whirlwind fourth quarter in which the Eagles entered with a 14-0 lead, fell into a 21-14 deficit, and came back to win on the final play. He was carried off the field by Kamu Grugier-Hill and Mychal Kendricks.
The Eagles forced the Giants to punt with 13 seconds remaining and reclaimed possession at their own 38-yard line. A 19-yard pass from Carson Wentz to Alshon Jeffery gave the Eagles one shot at the desperation field goal. If he missed, the game would have gone into overtime. Instead, the kick broke Tony Franklin's 1979 franchise record of 59 yards.
The Eagles advanced to 2-1. The Giants are 0-3.
The Eagles looked like they were in place to win the game earlier, but Odell Beckham Jr. helped lead a comeback. First came a 10-yard touchdown to Beckham, after which Beckham was flagged for acting like a dog urinating. But the favorable field position on the ensuing kickoff didn't pay off because Zach Ertz fumbled on the first play, giving the Giants back possession at their 33-yard line.
It only took four plays for the Giants to tie the game. Eli Manning found Beckham in the back corner of the end zone for an acrobatic, one-handed catch that few others in the NFL could make. This time, Beckham's celebration was not flagged. The Giants could celebrate a comeback.
They soon had more to celebrate because the Eagles were off the field after six plays. The Giants needed only two plays to take the lead. Manning connected with Sterling Shepard across the middle, and Shepard raced past the Eagles defense for a 77-yard touchdown.
The Eagles responded by benefiting from a pass interference. Wentz tried hitting Torrey Smith for a 36-yard catch, but contact by Giants cornerback Eli Apple gave the Eagles the ball in the red zone. Corey Clement took a handoff on the next play and ran for a 15-yard touchdown, the first score of the his career with 5 minutes, 46 seconds remaining.
After three touchdowns, the Giants needed to settle for only a field goal on their next drive. The big play came on a third down when Manning tried finding Beckham downfield. Safety Malcolm Jenkins saw Beckham streaking and clotheslined him to the ground, preferring the pass interference to the potential touchdown. The Eagles defense was able to limit the Giants, and they settled for three points instead of seven.
That meant the Eagles only needed to get into field-goal range in the final three minutes. Wendell Smallwood brought the Eagles into Giants territory with a short pass and two rushes, and Wentz connected twice with Ertz to set up a 46-yard field goal by Elliott.
That's when the Eagles held the Giants offense to force the punt, eventually setting up the game-winning field goal.
Wentz went 21 of 31 for 176 yards and one touchdown. Smallwood led rushers with 12 carries for 71 yards, with LeGarrette Blount adding 67 yards and a score.
After opening the game with first-down sacks on their first two drives, the Eagles finally decided to commit to the run on the third drive of the game. It proved to be a good decision. The Eagles went on an 18-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that included 12 designed rushes. One of those rushes was a quarterback sneak to convert a fourth down; another was a rush by Darren Sproles in which Sproles exited the game with a wrist injury. Blount, who sparked the drive with a 17-yard rush on the third play, rumbled in for a one-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles were in position to take a two-touchdown lead after Rasul Douglas intercepted Manning to regain possession. Wentz had a chance to connect with Jeffery on a 45-yard touchdown when Jeffery streaked wide open downfield, but Wentz sailed the pass too far. Two plays later, Pederson kept his offense on the field for a fourth-and-8 at the 43-yard line. Wentz was sacked on the play, giving the Giants a short field for the final two minutes of the half.
This time, it was Giants coach Ben McAdoo who took the criticism. The Giants drove to the goal line and had two points from the 1-yard line in the final 30 seconds. On a third down, Manning's pass to Sterling Shepard went too deep and brought Shepard out of bounds. Then a fourth-down rush was stuffed at the goal line, leaving the Giants with no points at halftime.
In the third quarter, a Patrick Robinson interception gave the Eagles favorable field position. They turned it into a touchdown after seven plays, including a one-yard quarterback sneak by Wentz to convert a fourth down and a 41-yard pass interference call when Wentz tried to hit Jeffery deep. Wentz found Ertz for a three-yard score to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
The Giants drove all the way to the Eagles' 13-yard line on the ensuing drive, but McAdoo again kept his offense on the field on a 4th-and-2. Tim Jernigan forced Manning to throw quickly, and his pass attempt to Shepard was incomplete. That brought the 14-0 game into the fourth quarter, when the Eagles lost the lead.
