Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles did it once more, thundering back late Thursday night to overturn the New York Giants 22-21 and put themselves in the driver’s seat in the lowly NFC East.
Simultaneously, the Eagles expanded their series of wins over the Giants to eight games.
Subsequent to battling for a great part of the evening, Wentz led a couple of touchdown drives in the final quarter and put the Eagles ahead with a marvel of a pass to running back Boston Scott down the correct sideline for a 18-yard score with 40 seconds left.
“I was pretty surprised we pulled it off. When I threw it, I thought it was a little high, but he plays bigger than he is,” Wentz said of Scott, who is 5-foot-6. “Obviously, there are a lot of emotions there. It was kind of a big, exciting moment but a big kind of a sigh of relief because we know we left a lot of plays out there. But the way we battled and found a way at the end of the game was huge for us.”
Wentz completed 25-of-43 for 359 yards with three scores (two passing, one surging) and an interception.
Wentz has had an occasionally rough beginning to the season – his 10 block attempts through seven games are the most by an Eagles quarterback since Sam Bradford in 2015 – yet he has hurried up in the course of the last three games and keeps on indicating an inclination for late-game achievement.
“It just shows that he is taking that step in the right direction to be one of the top quarterbacks in this league,” Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson said.
“This is what it takes, especially with the situation that we are in healthwise as a team. We know these games are probably going to be closer than we would like, but it is good to see your quarterback stand in there, go toe-to-toe, take some shots and still lead your team down the field for the win.”
The challenge was suggestive of the Eagles’ Week 14 victory over the Giants last season, when they conquered a 17-3 deficiency to win 23-17 in extra time. That launched a four-game series of wins that put the Eagles in the playoffs.
The Eagles could be on a comparable direction this season regardless of their 2-4-1 record. As indicated by the ESPN Football Power Index, their odds of winning the division shot up to 61% with Thursday’s triumph.
The Eagles’ defense produced three turnovers, including a Brandon Graham strip sack of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones late to seal the success.
