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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Defensive end Michael Strahan's 44-yard interception return for a touchdown 4:24 into overtime lifted the New York Giants to a 23-17 come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia had a 3rd-and-8 play from the New York 45-yard line when tackle Christian Peter burst threw the line of scrimmage and deflected Doug Pederson's pass straight up. Strahan grabbed the ball and the 6-5, 275-pound end rumbled untouched into the end zone. "Christian got his hands up, tipped the ball," said Strahan. "Usually the ball goes straight to the ground. That was straight up. I'm running at it, looking at it, going slow motion and somebody said I looked like a ballerina when I caught it. I'm just making sure I didn't drop it." "I think it was third and long or something, and that he was going to pass the ball," said Peter. "So I just tried to get up the field, got my hand up, fortunately, blocked it and Michael did a great job running it in from there." The Giants rallied from a 17-3 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Eagles for the sixth straight time. Giants coach Jim Fassel is perfect against his team's NFC East rival. "When the ball went up and he got it, I was glad he got it because out of all the lineman I think he had the best chance (to score)," said Fassel. "When he took off with the ball it was euphoric." Philadelphia (2-6) has dropped two straight since its two-game winning streak, while the Giants (5-3) have won three in a row and are two games over .500 heading into their bye week. "Not only is being 5-3 great but battling back the way we have at times (is great)," added Fassel. "This one here, emotionally, means a lot." "We've been able to overcome a lot this year and we still believe in ourselves," said Pederson. "And I think (believing in yourself) is the key." The Giants offense stalled for the first 2 1/2 quarters before mounting a 16-play, 83-yard drive that began late in the third quarter. Quarterback Kent Graham scrambled for 13 yards to gain some breathing room and moments later hit tight end Pete Mitchell for 16 yards on a 3rd-and-15 to the New York 41. Faced with a 4th-and-1 later in the drive, Fassel gave the ball to LeShon Johnson, who picked up the first down by a few inches. Shortly thereafter Johnson's two-yard touchdown run capped the nearly nine-minute march and brought New York with 17-10. Johnson was held to just 31 yards on 14 carries. Graham actually led the Giants on the ground with 40 yards on just four attempts. Graham completed 26-of-42 passes for 240 yards, and possibly more important, was not intercepted in the defensive battle. Mitchell hauled in six passes for 41 yards, leading a corps of six Giants receivers who caught at least three passes apiece. After the teams traded punts, the Eagles were forced to start a possession inside their own 5-yard line after a poor decision by punt returner Allen Rossum. "I'm going to go back and look at exaclty where he was positioned on that," Eagles coach Andy Reid said of Rossum's play. "The 10-yard line should have been the cut-off point. I want to see exactly how close he was to that." On 3rd-and-11, Duce Staley fumbled, rookie cornerback Andre Weathers recovered and Graham's seven-yard scoring pass to Mitchell tied it. "It gives you a lot of confidence (coming back), especially for us going into a bye week," said Strahan. "We already lost two games in the conference. We didn't want to end up 4-and-4, three losses in the conference, because we're taking ourselves out of contention." Up until the fumble, Staley, who entered the afternoon third in the NFC in rushing and fifth in total yards from scrimmage, was having another good game. He finished the day with 97 yards on 26 carries. "I was heading down and somebody had my left arm," Staley said of the fumble. "All I remember when I was heading down was that the ball was coming out." New York won the overtime toss and received, only to punt the ball to the Eagles and Pederson, who completed 18-of-28 passes for 256 yards. McNabb, who has been taking more snaps with the first team during practice, was behind center for the Eagles' second possession of the game and the team went three-and-out. "In the first half, I continued on with the growth of Donovan McNabb," said Reid. "I allowed him to play a series in there and I will continue to spot him in situations during the remainder of the games." Pederson's 22-yard pass to Charles Johnson helped the Eagles move from their own 28 to the New York 45 before Peter, who blocked Norm Johnson's 33-yard field goal attempt with 6 1/2 minutes left and the Eagles leading 17-10, made another big play. "I'll tell you want, Christian Peter just played a phenomenal game," added Strahan. "We all pulled together and kept fighting and good things happen," said Peter, who started for the injured Robert Harris. Norm Johnson was able to convert a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter but New York's Cary Blanchard tied it on the final play of the opening period by connecting from the same distance. The second quarter, however, belonged to the Eagles. Staley capped a nine-play, 75-yard march with a 21-yard scoring scamper 9 1/2 minutes into the period and almost three minutes later Pederson's floater down the left side to Torrance Small resulted in an 84-yard touchdown. It was Philadelphia's longest touchdown play since Herschel Walker's 91-yard run against Atlanta on November 27, 1994, and its longest pass play for a score since Randall Cunningham and Walker hooked up on a 93-yarder against the Giants on September 4, 1994. Small caught four passes for 119 yards, becoming the first Eagles receiver to top the 100-yard barrier since Irving Fryar accomplished the feat against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 30, 1997. "Obviously, every loss is a tough situation," Reid said. "When you lose a game in overtime the way that his happened, it's very tough. They're all tough. At this present moment, this one is very tough."
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