Philadelphia Edges New York in Overtime : Eagles Use a Bizarre Play to Throw NFC East Race Into a Three-Way Tie for First Place

New York Giants fans always had The Fumble to remind them of the dark days.

Now almost 10 years to the day the Philadelphia Eagles stole one from the Giants, there is The Field Goal, or what may simply be known as the second time the Eagles performed a little black magic at the Meadowlands.

Defensive end Clyde Simmons performed this second sleight of hand on Sunday by picking up a blocked field-goal attempt by Luis Zendejas and running 15 yards for a touchdown with 8:50 left in overtime. That gave the Eagles a 23-17 victory over the Giants and threw the NFC East race into a wild scramble with 4 weeks to play.

The Eagles, Giants and Phoenix Cardinals are tied atop the division with 7-5 records, and Washington (6-5) could make it a four-way tie by beating San Francisco tonight.

Even more whacky was the ending to the Giants-Eagles game, which in many ways was similar to the 1978 ending--Joe Pisarcik and Larry Csonka blew a handoff in the closing seconds and Herman Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran for Philadelphia’s winning touchdown.

This one was just as dramatic and just as bizarre.

Zendejas lined up for what appeared to be a sure-shot 31-yard field goal on third down, only to see Lawrence Taylor break through and block it. The ball bounced once, right into the arms of Simmons, who picked it up and ran to the left corner of the end zone for the Eagles’ second fluke touchdown of the game.

“After I heard the ball was blocked, I looked around for it, and then once I spotted it, I picked it up and ran,” said Simmons, who blocked a field goal last week on the final play to preserve a victory over Pittsburgh.

There was some confusion after Simmons scored while officials determined where he picked up the ball. Since it was 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage, it could be advanced. If it had been recovered behind the line and not advanced, the Eagles would have gotten another shot at the field goal.

If Simmons had recovered past the line of scrimmage, the Giants would have gotten the ball.

Terry Hoage picked off a pass by backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler and returned it to the New York 41 to start the winning drive. Randall Cunningham hit Michael Haddix with a 12-yard pass and scrambled 11 yards just before the strange ending.

The Eagles used another fluke play to tie the score, 17-17, with 4:28 left in regulation.

With a third-and-7 at the New York 18, Cunningham hit tight end Keith Jackson over the middle for 16 yards. Jackson was hit at the 2 and fumbled into the end zone, where wide receiver Cris Carter recovered for the touchdown and a 17-17 tie.