Miracle at the New Meadowlands The Miracle at the New Meadowlands , also called " New Miracle at the New Meadowlands and " Miracle at the Meadowlands III " is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans to refer to an improbable come - from - behind win by the Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants on December 19 , 2010 at MetLife Stadium , which in the 2010 season went by the name New Meadowlands Stadium as the naming rights had not yet been sold to MetLife . The Eagles had been manhandled by the Giants for the first three quarters and trailed by 21 points with under eight minutes to play in the 4th quarter . They went on to score four unanswered touchdowns in the final seven minutes and 28 seconds of play . The final score to win the game , 38 – 31 , came off a punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson as time expired . Jackson became the first player in NFL history to achieve a walk - off punt return touchdown . The game ranked at # 1 among the top 20 games of the 2010 NFL regular season . Game summary . First quarter . The Giants won the toss and chose to receive , but their first possession resulted in a punt after going three - and - out . The Eagles offense took the field for the first time , with the ball spotted at their own 29 yard line . After an incomplete pass , QB Michael Vick threw a pass intended for WR DeSean Jackson , but it was picked off by CB Corey Webster who returned it to the Philadelphia 42 yard line . The Giants were unable to capitalize on the turnover , as LB Moise Fokou sacked QB Eli Manning putting them out of field goal range and forcing them to punt . After the Eagles failed to get anything going on the ensuing drive , the Giants put together a 71 - yard scoring drive that ended with Manning finding WR Mario Manningham for a 35 - yard touchdown pass to put the Giants on the board , leading 7 – 0 . Near the end of the quarter S Quintin Mikell picked off Manning ' s pass to WR Derek Hagan and ran it back to the Giants 45 - yard line . The final play of the first quarter resulted in a run by Vick for 11 yards and a personal foul called on T Jonathan Goff which moved the ball to the Giants ' 19 - yard line . Second quarter . The Eagles ' drive carried over from the previous quarter . A completed pass and a run moved the Eagles to the 12 - yard line . But on third down , Vick was sacked for a 4 - yard loss by DT Rocky Bernard , forcing Philadelphia to settle for a 34 - yard field goal from K David Akers . The Giants received the ball and started at their own 21 yard line , whereupon they put together a 8 - play , 79 - yard drive . RB Ahmad Bradshaw ran three times for 24 yards . The drive ended on Manning ' s second touchdown pass to Manningham , this one for 33 yards putting the Giants in the driver ' s seat , 14 – 3 . The Giants once again stopped the Eagles on their next drive and received the ball . Two passes to Hagan for 27 yards and 11 - yard run by Bradshaw helped the Giants get to the Eagles 7 - yard line . The Giants were unable to score on third down because of an incomplete pass to TE Kevin Boss . The Giants settled for a 25 - yard field goal from K Lawrence Tynes to make the score 17 – 3 . The Eagles tried to get something going on the next drive and it appeared they did when Vick found WR Jeremy Maclin , but the ball came loose before he hit the ground . S Kenny Phillips recovered it and ran it to the Philadelphia 8 - yard line . The Eagles called a timeout to try and get the replay assistant to take a look at the play since it was now under two minutes in the half , but the play was reviewed and it was determined to be a fumble . The Giants took advantage of this and on the next play , Manning found WR Hakeem Nicks for an 8 - yard touchdown pass putting the Giants in total control at halftime 24 – 3 . Third quarter . After the first drives of the quarter by both teams failed , the Eagles received the ball and tried to drive downfield . They got to the Giants ' 42 before two costly penalties on TE Brent Celek forced them to punt . On the next drive , Manning found Manningham but the ball came loose and DT Mike Patterson recovered it for the Eagles on the Giants 25 - yard line . After a run and a pass , Vick threw a 8 - yard touchdown pass to Maclin to make the score 24 – 10 and keep the Eagles in the game . Fourth quarter . Both teams punted once in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter , giving the Eagles the ball with 12 : 48 remaining in the game . With first down at the 20 - yard line , Vick dropped back and passed to Jackson , who advanced to the Eagles ' 49 - yard line before losing the football as he hit the ground . The Giants ' Kenny Phillips picked up the loose ball and advanced it to the Eagles ' 47 - yard line . Replays showed that LB Jonathan Goff touched Jackson ' s jersey as he was falling , meaning that the call on the field of a fumble was incorrect . However , Eagles head coach Andy Reid neglected to challenge the call on the field and the Giants took possession . On third down and 4 from the Eagles ' 8 - yard line , Manning hit Boss in the back of the end zone to give the Giants a 31 - 10 lead with 8 : 17 remaining in the game . After opening up the next drive with a pass to Maclin that brought the Eagles to their own 35 - yard line , Vick dropped back and completed a pass downfield to Celek , who blew by a missed tackle from Phillips and made his way into the end zone for a 65 - yard touchdown that brought the score to 31 - 17 with 7 : 28 left in the game . On the ensuing kickoff , after both teams lined up in regular kickoff formations , Akers placed an onside kick on the left side of the field , which was caught by WR Riley Cooper and advanced to the Eagles ' 43 - yard line . Particularly noteworthy about the play was the fact that the Eagles only had 10 men on the field - four to Akers ' right and five to his left — and that the Giants ' front line of blockers on the return was lined up 15 yards away from the tee , rather than the usual 10 . It was unclear whether the Eagles intentionally had only 10 men on the field , as Giants special teams captain Chase Blackburn stated after the game that he believed it was on purpose . On the second play of the ensuing drive , Vick escaped a New York blitz and rushed all the way down to the Giants ' six - yard line . After two incomplete passes , with an offsides on Tuck in between , Vick ran the ball into the end zone on third and goal from the four - yard line , making the score 31 - 24 with 5 : 28 left in the game . A short kickoff by Akers and a good return by RB DJ Ware gave the Giants the ball on their own 35 - yard line , and a pass from Manning to Manningham and three straight runs by Bradshaw gave the Giants two first downs , forcing the Eagles to use all three of their timeouts . However , on second and six from the Eagles ' 38 - yard line , T David Diehl committed a false start penalty , backing the Giants up to second and 11 . A three - yard run by Bradshaw and an incomplete pass by Manning on third down left the Giants just outside Tynes ' range for a field goal and forced the Giants to punt . The ensuing fair catch by Maclin gave the Eagles the ball at their own 12 - yard line with 3 : 01 remaining in the game . After two incomplete passes to begin the drive , Vick escaped a blitz by scrambling to his left for 33 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Eagles ' 45 - yard line . A pass to Avant and another scramble by Vick set the Eagles up at the 20 - yard line at the two - minute warning . Facing second and three from the 13 - yard line , Vick passed to Maclin on the left side , and Maclin shook a tackle from CB Terrell Thomas and reached the end zone , tying the game at 31 - 31 with 1 : 16 remaining . Once again , Akers ' kick and Ware ' s return placed the Giants in good field position , with Manning beginning the drive at the Giants ' 36 - yard line with 1 : 10 left . However , the drive began with two incomplete passes , and after a third - down sack by DT Trevor Laws put the Giants at their own 29 - yard line , the Giants called a timeout as the play clock was about to expire on fourth down with 12 seconds left . Officials then ruled to reset the game clock to 0 : 14 as the Giants ' punt team and the Eagles ' punt return team came onto the field . The snap from long snapper Zak DeOssie to Punter Matt Dodge was high , and Dodge hastily kicked a line drive punt to Jackson rather than kicking the ball out of bounds . Jackson received the ball at the Eagles ' 35 - yard line and immediately muffed the catch before picking the ball up and backpedaling to the 30 - yard line . Jackson ran through a group of Giants and made it to midfield before receiving a huge block by WR Jason Avant on DeOssie , leaving no one in front of Jackson on the way to the end zone . Ware followed Jackson but could not catch him . After the clock hit 0 : 00 , Jackson ran parallel to the goal line across most of the width of the field — according to Jackson after the game , because he wanted to be sure the clock had expired , though some observers believed it to be due to his showboating nature — before advancing into the end zone for the game - winning touchdown . With no flags on the field , Jackson threw the ball into the New Meadowlands stands in celebration as the team gathered around him near the end zone . Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was so livid he threw his play sheet and notes onto the ground and ran onto the field before Jackson even reached the end zone , yelling at Dodge for not punting the ball out of bounds . Per NFL rules , Akers came out to kick the extra point and the Eagles won the game 38 - 31 . Calls on the last play . The following is the call of the final play of the game from Joe Buck on FOX . < br > Eagles broadcasters Merrill Reese and Mike Quick called the play on WYSP - FM in Philadelphia this way : Aftermath . The day after , newspapers in New York had pictures of Eli Manning and other players on the Giants following the epic collapse on their covers . " New York Post " put on the front page cover , " GIANTS DOG IT Epic Collapse against Vick and the Eagles . " The " Post " also printed a photo of Eagles QB Michael Vick and two dogs superimposed on Giants players ’ faces behind him . It was also discussed on morning news shows , including " American Morning " . Commentators in both New York and Philadelphia also held up the morning newspapers in their cities , both of which had the headline about the Eagles beating the Giants . The Miracle at the New Meadowlands benefited both the Eagles , and the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers , who would have been eliminated from playoff contention had the Giants won instead . In the following week , the Packers defeated the Giants , 45 - 17 , enabling Philadelphia to clinch the NFC East division title , and increasing Green Bay ' s chances of making the playoffs instead of New York . Despite the miracle win , it would be their last win of the season as the Eagles lost their next three games , including a Wild Card playoff game against the Packers . Though the Giants won their week 17 matchup against the Washington Redskins , they failed to qualify for the playoffs since the Packers , who also finished the season at 10 - 6 , won the tiebreaker . Before the 2011 season began , Matt Dodge was released by the Giants and is not currently on any team ' s active roster .