Wentz rallies Philly to second win, first place in East
PHILADELPHIA — Hurried, harassed and hit repeatedly, Carson Wentz completed the comeback this time.
Wentz threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Boston Scott with 40 seconds remaining as the Philadelphia Eagles overcame an 11-point deficit in the final seven minutes to beat the New York Giants 22-21 on Thursday night.
Wentz led a depleted offense to 22 fourth-quarter points only to miss a 2-point conversion at the end in a 30-28 loss to Baltimore on Sunday.
He wouldn’t be against the Giants.
“He battled, faced adversity and hung in there,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. “He’s taking a step in the right direction to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league.”
Daniel Jones shook off a denied stumble that prevented him from an 88-yard TD run and had the Giants leading 21-10 after a 2-yard pass to Sterling Shepard with 6:17 left.
But Wentz rallied an offense missing eight starters. His 3-yard pass to Greg Ward cut it to 21-16. After the 2-point conversion failed, the Eagles got the ball at their 29 with 2:02 to go.
Wentz completed passes of 11 and 30 yards to Richard Rodgers. On third down fromthe 5, a defensive holding penalty gave the Eagles a first down at the 3. But three-time All-pro center Jasonkelce was called for a facemask penalty that pushed it back to the 18. No big deal.
Wentz threw a perfect strike to Scott to give Philadelphia the lead. The 2point conversion failed, but Jones was sacked by Brandon Graham and fumbled on the ensuing possession.
“We never faltered. We never panicked. We knew we were gonna win,” Scott
said. “Carson led us, and it was a great team effort.”
The Eagles (2-4-1) now lead the NFC East by percentage points over the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys. And even at 1-6, the Giants are still right in the mix.
“This was huge for us,” Wentz said. “The NFC East is wide open.”
Wentz threw for 359 yards and two TDS and ran
for a score. He was sacked three times and absorbed several hits.
Jones had only the end zone ahead of him when he took off running from the Giants 12 in the third quarter. Hewaswell ahead of everyone until he stumbled and got tackled before he could get up at the 8.
After a pass interference penalty against Nickell Robey-coleman on third down, Wayne Gallman ran it in from the 1 to give the Giants a 14-10 lead.
The Giants ended up losing a game they led by 11plus points in the fourth quarter for the first time since they blew a 31-10 lead and lost 38-31 to the Eagles on Desean Jackson’s punt return TD on Dec. 19, 2010.
“The focus is not frustration. The focus is on correcting mistakes and moving forward, and that’s where we have to steer it as a team,” Giants coach Joe Judge said.
Jones threw a 39-yard TD pass to Golden Tate in the first quarter. He also had a pick and a fumble.
Evan Engram dropped a third-downpass in Philadelphia territory that led to the Giants punting the ball to the Eagles for their goahead drive.
“One hundred percent I have to make that,“Engram said. “We definitely let one get away. It’s just not a good feeling. We played a great fourth quarter and at the end we didn’t finish.”