THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA -- If there was any doubt the New York Giants rule the NFC East, the Super Bowl champions erased it Sunday night.
Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs had two TD runs and the Giants held on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 36-31 and further distance themselves from the pack in the NFL's toughest division.
The Eagles had the ball at their own 45 with 1:55 left, but Brian Westbrook was stopped by Chase Blackburn on fourth-and-1.
"It was exhilarating," Blackburn said of the clinching tackle.
The Giants (8-1) are two games ahead of the Washington Redskins and three in front of the Eagles (5-4) and Dallas Cowboys. New York is 3-0 against its division rivals, but has only one other win against an opponent with a winning record.
"It's great to win here," coach Tom Coughlin said. "It reinforces everything we believe about team, supporting each other and finding a way to win the game."
Perhaps the Giants' easy first-half schedule -- their first eight opponents are a combined 27-44 -- was a reason oddsmakers made the Eagles a three-point favourite.
Miffed by the prognosticators' pick, the Giants proved them all wrong. They did get help from the referees on two close calls in the second half.
Jacobs lost the ball at the goal line on his two-yard TD run that made it 36-24. The Eagles challenged, but officials upheld the play.
The Giants went ahead 27-24 two plays after a reversed call gave them a first down at the Eagles three-yard line. Manning's 17-yard pass to Kevin Boss on third-and-10 was initially ruled illegal because he appeared to release the ball from beyond the line of scrimmage. Replays showed Manning's back foot was behind the line, and Jacobs ran in from the three-yard line for the go-ahead score.
"I think the way the rule is written, it was worth taking a shot at it," said Manning, who urged Coughlin to challenge the call. "If you have one toe on the line of scrimmage, then it's a legal pass. I thought it was worth the risk."
The Eagles were surprised the play was overturned.
"I don't know what they were looking at," defensive tackle Mike Patterson said.
Donovan McNabb had three TD passes for the Eagles, but the Giants shut down Westbrook.
McNabb's two-yard TD toss to Kevin Curtis on fourth down cut it to 36-31 with 5:30 left.
The defence stopped the Giants on the ensuing possession and the Eagles took over at their 14 with 3:14 and one timeout remaining. But they couldn't put together a winning drive.
Westbrook was stuffed on two straight plays after McNabb's seven-yard scramble set up a third-and-3 near midfield. McNabb didn't seem to agree with the playcalling on Philadelphia's final two plays.
"I want the ball, but the coaches felt we can run it for the yards," he said.
Westbrook was held to 59 total yards. The versatile halfback had at least 123 combined yards in six straight games against the Giants.
The Eagles took a 24-20 lead on McNabb's seven-yard TD pass to Hank Baskett on the opening drive of the third quarter. Baskett's reception on a fade pass was his second biggest catch this week. The third-year wideout became engaged to Kendra Wilkinson, who co-stars on "The Girls Next Door" as one of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends in the E! reality series.
Manning led the Giants to three straight scoring drives after throwing an interception on the third play from scrimmage and New York built a 17-7 lead.
But a fumble by Jacobs helped the Eagles get back in it. Jacobs lost the ball while hurdling Asante Samuel as Chris Gocong delivered a hard hit. Patterson recovered it at the Giants 44.
