by by Bob Grotz, @BobGrotz on Twitter
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. >> The Eagles defeated the New York Giants, 35-30, Sunday to end the season on a positive note and avoid the dreaded trip to London, the fate of the vanquished.
Sam Bradford (Cherokee Nation) threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jordan Matthews, and Zach Ertz hauled in nine passes for a career-high 152 yards to lead the Eagles in front of plenty of empty seats at MetLife Stadium.
The Eagles (7-9) put the game away on Jordan Matthews’ three-yard scoring catch with 9:19 remaining. The march consumed 13 plays, 91 yards and more importantly, 6-minutes, 12-seconds of rest for the defense.
The touchdown, Matthews’ eighth on the year, gave the Eagles a 35-27 lead. He finished three yards short of 1,000 receiving yards on the year.
There was a scary moment on the series as Nelson Agholor, on a 16-yard reception, and Giants defender Trumaine McBride collided helmet-to-helmet 4:30 at the three-yard line. Both exited and were evaluated for concussions. Eagles tight end Brent Celek also exited with a suspected concussion.
Josh Brown’s 48-yard field goal, his third of the game, pulled the Giants within 35-30 with left.
Bradford aired an almost perfect throw in the direction of the single-covered Riley Cooper on third-and-eight at the 43-yard line of the Giants. Cooper turned late and got only one hand on the ball that fell incomplete.
The Eagles punted and Eli Manning, inside of two minutes, got a couple of first downs before linebacker Mychal Kendricks broke up a pass on fourth down, giving Eagles interim head coach Pat Shurmur time to share hugs with players after his 10th career win.
DeMarco Murray ran 54 yards for a touchdown on the fifth play for the Eagles. He finished with 69 rushing yards.
The Eagles, at their own three-yard line, stopped the Giants, who kicked a field goal cutting the deficit to 7-3 in the first quarter.
Bradford found Ertz running free over the middle, the 60-yard connection setting up a six-yard TD run by Darren Sproles giving the Eagles a 14-3 bulge.
And then, with the Giants threatening again, Marcus Smith leaped over the protection to sack Manning at the 12-yard line.
The Giants kicked another field goal to pull within 14-6.
The Giants cut the deficit to 14-13 on Willie Tye’s nine-yard catch-and-run. Tye faked Kendricks out of the play at the 4 and walked in. Jonathan Casillas’ interception of a ball tipped by Jason Pierre-Paul gave the Giants the ball at the Eagles’ 35.
Ertz set up the next Eagles score with a 19-yard catch. Two plays later Bradford lobbed to Matthews from four yards out for a 21-13 Eagles lead with 4:38 left in the half. It was Matthews’ seventh TD. The spike off the wall in the end zone hit a photographer.
Rashad Jennings rushed for 116 of his 170 yards in the first half, including a two-yard scoring run with 13 ticks left to draw the Giants within 21-20 at the intermission.
Bradford completed 16 of 22 attempts for 180 yards, one TD and one interception.
Ertz caught four passes for 101 yards.
The Giants got their first lead when Rueben Randle beat Walt Thurmond for a 45-yard scoring reception with 9:11 left in the third quarter.
Murray’s fumble at the 45-yard line of Philly set it up.
It looked like the Giants would add to their 27-21 lead and the record book, Manning having passes Fran Tarkenton to move into 10th all-time in pass attempts and Odell Beckham Jr. passing Randy Moss for moss receiving yardage in the first two NFL seasons.
But Connor Barwin got a piece of Manning’s arm and Thurmond, who played for the Giants last year, outfought Shane Vereen for the jump ball. Thurmond rolled 83 yards with the interception to give the Eagles a 28-27 lead with 3:34 left third quarter.
The Eagles avoided the trip to London.
The Giants (6-10), by losing, make the trip across the waters to play the St. Louis Rams
