Tom Coughlin did not mince words.
"This is as big a disappointment as we have had around here in a long time," Coughlin said after his New York Giants' poor showing in a 17-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that dropped his team into a tie with Dallas atop the NFC East. "I didn't like the way we played."
New York (6-4) were outplayed on both lines, allowed the Eagles (4-6) to drive 80 yards on 18 plays, taking up 8 minutes 51 seconds, to get the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, and rushed for all of 29 yards last night.
"We have no first downs to show, no yardage to show, we have no rushing average with 29 yards, which is about as pathetic as it can get."
Their second straight loss came against an undermanned Eagles squad missing Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin. Even though the Giants had three interceptions of Vince Young, they could not slow him or the Eagles on that final drive, when Philly converted six third downs, including on the winning 8-yard pass to Riley Cooper with 2:45 remaining.
The Giants also could not protect Eli Manning, who was sacked three times and hurried on many other throws.
"We just never got a rhythm at all," said Manning, who is having an outstanding year but struggled all night against Philly. "It wasn't a good game. We didn't have our best effort out there."
Philadelphia blew five games in the fourth quarter this season, but was the better team down the stretch this time. But even after that lengthy drive, the Giants had a shot to tie it. Manning, who tied the game with a 24-yard TD pass to Victor Cruz earlier in the quarter, drove the Giants from their 10-yard line to the Eagles 21, with the final 47 yards coming on a catch-and-run by Cruz with 1:25 to play.
Manning stepped out of the pocket on the next play and was hit from behind by Jason Babin and fumbled. Derek Landi recovered at the 26, sending the Giants to their second straight excruciating loss at the Meadowlands to the Eagles.
"As I was going through that thinking process," Manning said of looking for his secondary receivers, "that is when I got hit from behind. I need to do a better job holding onto the ball in that circumstance."
Young overcame his mistakes with a decisive, memorable drive.
"It's definitely a big win," said Young, who went 23 of 36 for 258 yards, two touchdowns and those three interceptions. "You see the excitement and the smiles on the guys and that's what we need, what we have to have."
Elsewhere, Matthew Stafford's fifth touchdown pass of the game, a seven-yarder to Brandon Pettigrew with 2:32 left, completed another big rally for the Detriot Lions as they beat the Carolina Panthers 49-35.
Detroit (7-3) became the first NFL team since at least 1950 to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points, according to STATS, LLC. Carolina (2-8) led 24-7 in the second quarter.
Joe Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, and the Baltimore Ravens squeezed by the Cincinnati Bengals 31-24.
The victory moved the Ravens into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh, but Baltimore are 2-0 against the Steelers and hold the tiebreaker advantage.
Jay Cutler threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears won their fifth straight, beating the San Diego Chargers 31-20.
Chicago (7-3) continued their remarkable turnaround and handed the Chargers a fifth straight loss, their longest slide since an 0-5 start in 2003.
The San Francisco 49ers (9-1) can clinch the NFC West with a win at Baltimore on Thursday and a loss by Seattle against Washington next weekend, after their dominant 23-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals while the Green Bay Packers survived a scare to remain unbeaten this season.
With the Packers leading by two points and trying to fend off a rally by Tampa Bay Bucaneers in the fourth quarter, Aaron Rodgers found Jordy Nelson for a clinching 40-yard touchdown with 2:55 left in the game - Nelson's second TD catch of the day.
The Packers ran their record to 10-0, leaving them as the NFL's lone undefeated team going into a Thanksgiving Day matchup at Detroit.