Eagles buoyed by instant classic win vs. Giants

Eagles Giants : a former NFL linebacker whose extensive work in the media in Philadelphia includes hosting a sports-talk show on WIP-AM, has played in or witnessed a few hundred football games but never anything like the Eagles' dramatic rally against the Giants.

The game is an instant NFL classic now, capped by DeSean Jackson's 65-yard punt return TD as the clock struck zero but designed by Michael Vick, who led the Eagles from a 21-point deficit against the Giants in eight minutes.

POWER RANKINGS: Eagles perched in the top 5

"What Michael Vick did to bring them back was that he decided to go to the Atlanta version of Michael Vick for a few minutes," said Cobb, alluding to Vick's 94 rushing yards — including jaunts of 35, 33 and 22 yards — in the fourth quarter.

Michael Vick went back to street ball."

"The way the game is played in the 21st Century, these things can happen. "The thing that really defines the game is that it was a comeback led by the Comeback Kid," Horrigan says. Now there's this game. Favre left with a concussion and hasn't rule out playing in the final two road games. Given his track record for comebacks, who knows?
Eagles Giants

• Teams can never sleep on the possibility of an onside kick. Every great comeback seems to have an onside kick recovery, and the Eagles-Giants game was not to be denied. The timeout forced a strategy change, as Scobee's ensuing onside kick was to the right — and so weak that Tyjuan Hagler recovered it and returned it 41-yards for the clinching TD. This season, NFL teams have recovered 8 of 48 of their onside kicks (16.7%).

• It's a good time to establish the running game. NFL teams who out-rushed their opponents in Week 15 were 13-3, which is often a good indicator when considering the chances of winning playoff games in January.

• Stud of the week: Michael Vick. The first (known) player in NFL history to win a game on a punt return as time expired with his 65-yard classic, the Eagles' big-play artist keeps finding ways to demonstrate creative methods to cross the goal line.

Perhaps inspired by Steve Smith's "He's not at Notre Dame, anymore" criticism from the previous week, Clausen won the Battle of the Rookie Quarterbacks and helped the Panthers defeat the John Skelton-led Cardinals for his first NFL victory. Clausen passed for 141 yards (1 TD, 0 INT) and got a huge assist from Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for 137 yards. It all added up to snap a seven-game losing skid.

• Comeback player of the week: Matt Cassel. Never mind the numbers. The Colts' 28th-ranked run D allowed an average of 141 rushing yards per game in its previous 13 games, but gave up just 67 ground yards against the Jaguars and snapped Maurice Jones-Drew's NFL-long streak of 100-yard rushing games at six.

• This week's surprise: The Lions snapped an NFL-record 26-game road losing streak with an overtime victory against the Bucs. One of the most poignant images of Week 15 was Titans coach Jeff Fisher presenting his offensive coordinator with a game ball in the aftermath of a victory against

Eagles Giants