Carson Wentz led the Eagles on a late fourth quarter drive that set up Jake Elliott’s game-winning 43-yard field goal. Photo by Andy Lewis

When Giants rookie sensation Sequon Barkley scored on a 51-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the first half, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles looked dead in the water, falling behind 19-3 at the Linc. The Birds were dead in the water not just for the game, the season.

Then the heart this team displayed all year in 2017 resurfaced. The Eagles rallied to score 19 unanswered points to take a 22-19 lead with 10:11 left in the fourth quarter.

The Giants came back to knot the score at 22-22 with 5:49 left in the fourth, but beleaguered third-year quarterback Carson Wentz engineered 10-play, 50-yard drive that knocked 5:27 off the clock and resulted in a Jake Elliott 43-yard field goal to give the Birds a 25-22 lead with just 22 ticks left on the clock and Big Blue out of timeouts.

Giants veteran quarterback Eli Manning could not muster any offense and the Eagles (5-6) walked away with the win and a realistic chance to win the NFC East and spot in the playoffs.

The Eagles are now just one game behind the Dallas Cowboys (6-5) and Washington Redskins (6-5). The Birds face those teams over the next two weeks.

“This was a big game for us, obviously, in terms of divisional standings and all that fun stuff,” Wentz said at his post game press conference. “But, really mentally, to show the resilience that we did to go down early the way we did and then battle back just built a lot of confidence for all three phases of this game. To come from behind and get it done today, I think that will speak volumes about our confidence going forward.”

Giants jumped out to a 6-0 lead when they took the opening drive and rolled 75 yards on nine plays ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Barkley.

Early in the drive the Birds had the Giants facing a third and nine at their 26-yard line but gave up a 10-yard completions to tight end Rhett Ellison.

Aldrick Rosas missed the extra point but the Eagles were called for 12 men on the field. The Giants elected to accept the penalty as a two-point conversion, thus spotting the ball at the one-point line. Manning’s pass for incomplete.

Eagles rookie running back Josh Adams 52-yard TD run in the first series was called back on a holding penalty on center Jason Kelce. The drive stalled and once again the Eagles failed to score in their first possession.

Giants next drive started at their own six-yard line. The Eagles depleted defense seemed unable to do anything to stop Manning, who had virtually no pressure on him.

Big Blue marched 87 yards before the drive stalled. Rasas hit a 25-yard field goal to make the score 9-0.

The Eagles second drive was marred by a penalty. This time on 15-yard completion to Alshon Jeffery who was called for offensive pass interference.

The Eagles are dead last in first quarter scoring and posted a big zero Sunday at the Linc.

The Giants third drive started on their own 13-yard line. The Eagles stalled drives at least gave them the lead in the field position battle, too bad the Giants paid little attention to it.

Again the Giants faced a third and long only to see Manning hit Russell Shepard with a 29-yard completion, placing the ball at their 44-yard line.

Manning moved the ball to the Eagles 33 where the drive stalled. Rasas connected on a 51-yard field goal to make the score 12-0.

Wentz finally go the offense going, driving 46 yards on seven plays before they were stopped. Jake Elliott connected on a 42-yarder and the score was 12-3.

The Giants only needed three plays on their next drive to unleash Barkley in what looked like the kill shot for the game.

But the Eagles got off the mat, Wentz led the Eagles on six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz. Corey Clement scored on the two-point conversion and suddenly it was a one possession game 19-11.

But there was a little over a minute left in the half and Eagles had stopped the Giants at all in the first half. Big Blue got a break when Corey Coleman returned the kickoff 46 yards to the Giants 46-yard line. Manning connected on consecutive passes to wide receiver Bennie Fowler III setting up a first and ten at the Eagles 27-yard line. The Giants were certain to get at least a field goal.

Manning went for touchdown pass to Odell Beckham, Jr., but safety Malcolm Jenkins saved the half with an interception with five seconds left in half.

“Just a bad decision,” Manning said. “One hundred percent bad decision on me. They were playing soft and I just have to throw that away and try for a long field goal.”

That turnover seemed to spark the Eagles, and deflate the Giants in more ways than one.

Beckham was a effective in the first half with three catches for 63 yards. He caught two passes for 22 yards in the second half. The five-year veteran was not available for the start of the second half due to dehydration issues.

Manning was asked if it threw him off that his star receiver was not available for their first drive.

“No it doesn’t throw us off,” said Manning who was 26 of 37 for 297 yards, one touchdown pas and one interception. “Obviously we’re looking at the guys that are out there. That first drive didn’t get a whole lot going, had the sack right there. I have to do a better job. They covered it up well, just throwing it away, We just didn’t execute. We had some sacks, some penalties, had some drops and a couple plays that were close. We just didn’t execute well in the second half.”

Wentz was 20 of 28 for 236 yards, one touchdown pass and no interceptions. He was sacked three times.

Barkley was also a tale of two halves. The former Penn State star in the first half rushed nine times for 94 yards including his long touchdown run. He also caught six passes for 37 yards including a 13-yard touchdown reception on the game’s first drive.

In second half Barkley caught just one pass for four yards. He rushed four times in the second half of seven yards and no trips to the end zone.

Barkley would not question his coaches for keeping him on the sideline.

“The Offensive Coordinator and the Head Coach are coaches for a reason,” Barkley said after the game. “I know everyone wants to be a coach and think what we should call, but they know what they are doing, and they’re putting us in the position to win. Like I’ve said multiple times, if I carry the ball 20 times or carry the ball three times, no matter how many times it takes to win the game I’m willing to do. But we just didn’t finish this game and that’s the difference.”

The Eagles secondary seemed to have gotten acclimated with the speed and moves of the Giants receivers.

Defensive end Chris Long talked about the players who were pressed into duty and played well despite the lack of experience.

“Hats off to them,” Long said at his locker after the game. “A lot of them came off the street, they weren’t here a long time and they’re taking scout team reps, they’re taking team reps, that’s really hard to do. They did a good job today, especially in the second half.”

Long talked about that second half. He said the experience these players got playing against Beckham, Sterling Shepard and Barkley started to show in the second half. Chandon Sullivan, Cre’Von LeBlanc, De’Vante Bausby and Tre Sullivan more than held their own when it counted the most.

“Reps make a big difference,” said Long, who had one of the Eagles two sacks. “No matter if you’re in your tenth or eleventh year in the league or a rookie, reps and rhythm make a big difference. Giving those guy their game reps….this is week two for a lot of them. It was a tough way to get thrown in the fire last week, but we had no choice. This week at home they helped us in a big way.”

The Eagles were were forced to lay without starting caliber players including linebacker Jordan Hicks, cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Jalen Mills as well as safety Avante Maddox.

The Eagles pretty much owned the second half scoring on a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter, a one-yard touchdown run by rookie Josh Adams and a 43-yard field goal Elliott field goal with just 22 seconds left in the game.,

Adams had a big day rushing 22 times for 88 yards and a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave the Eagles their first lead of the game.

Offensive tackle Lane Johnson gave his take on Adams and his effort against the Giants.

“He’s fast, man,” Johnson said. “He’s really quick, he’s getting his knee healthy. He goes about his business, really smart and doesn’t say a whole lot. [He’s] one of those guys that’s just a silent killer. As the season has gone on he keeps improving and improving and I’m really proud of what he did today.”

As a team, the Eagles rushed 29 times for 127 yards and a solid 4.4 yards per carry.

Wentz talked about how an effective running game helps him as a quarterback:

“They always say that the running game is the best friend of the quarterback, and that was 100 percent true today. We leaned on them on that big drive to put us up late in the fourth. Did I even throw the ball? I think we just had a screen and other than that it was all handoffs. That was huge to just lean on those guys, and they did a great job.”

If the Eagles want to make a run, they must continue to run. *

Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii