The Eagles defense pressured Giants quarterback Eli Manning into three interceptions.

The play that came in from the Eagles sideline that sealed the fate of the York Giants last night at Lincoln Financial Field was tagged appropriately according the man who executed the call as perfectly as a player could.

The Eagles won 27-17, but not without the drama this rivalry normally creates.

Fourth and one, the Eagles are trailing by one point with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter, the ball is at midfield, and the call comes into quarterback Michael Vick’s helmet and it’s a pitch left.

First place in the division on the line and it’s a pitch? On fourth down and the division?

“39 Crunch,” said a smiling LeSean McCoy, the running back who took the pitch from Vick and raced 50 yards for touchdown. “Am I allowed to say that? I was a little shocked (it was called) to be honest with you. I knew it was in the game plan, but…you know how it is…you’ve got a list of plays for any situation. We practiced it all week, it’s been there for two weeks and we haven’t ran it. But this time, in a crucial time like this…damn…we called it.”

Called it Reid did and it worked to perfection…well almost.

Vick bobbled the ball for a second and his pitch wasn’t from the instruction video. In fact defensive end Osi Umenyiora almost broke up the play.

“I saw that,” McCoy said. “I said ‘Oh man’ but Vick pulled it out. He’s always doing something amazing.”

Andy Reid said he called the play for a reason.

“They (New York) had been zero blitzing, meaning no safety in the middle,” Reid said. “They had been doing that throughout the game. We had that toss in and we thought we could hit it if they came with zero blitz. Our guys sure did a nice job. Michael did a nice job of handling the ball. It looked like there was a mishandle there but McCoy hit that son-of-a-gun like no other. That was a good one.”

No one expected the same start the Eagles (7-3) enjoyed against the Washington Redskins last week; still scoring early against the Giants would be a big key to their success.

The Eagles high octane offense took all the way to the second drive to get in the end zone. Vick scored on a four-yard run with 2:16 left in the first to give the Birds a 7-0 lead. The touchdown finished off a 13-play 68-yard drive that took 7:09 off the clock.

But that was it.

The game turned into one endless mugging.

The teams combined for 173 yards of penalties, with the Eagles flagged for 119 on 10 calls.

The Giants (6-4) said all week they were not going to fall victim to the Eagles “monster” offense. The Eagles said they did not want to suffer a let down after their monumental 59-28 win over the Redskins on “Monday Night Football.”

The Giants did storm back in the second quarter, driving 74 yards to the Eagles six-yard line where the drive stalled. Lawrence Tynes booted a 24-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

The Eagles got a break with 7:11 left in the half when rookie defensive end Brendan Graham stripped Ahmad Bradshaw at the Giants 23-yard line which was recovered by Asante Samuel.

The Eagles missed a chance to go up by 11 when DeSean Jackson dropped a laser from Vick in the end zone.

They settled for a 38-yard field goal by David Akers, who is quietly having another Pro Bowl season.

The Giants turned the ball ever again on their next drive when Samuel intercepted Eli Manning’s pass intended for Hakeem Nicks at the Giants 23.

The Eagles again failed to ring up seven points when wide out Jason Avant dropped a perfect pass with no one near him that Swoop could have caught with one wing. Another Akers field goal gave the Birds a 13-3 score at the half.

The Eagles let yet another opportunity slip by with four seconds left in the half when a 42-yard field goal attempt by Akers was blocked.

The Eagles had another long drive to start the third quarter that went 82 yards before stalling at the Giants 10-yard line.

Akers 28-yarder made it 16-3. But the missed opportunities kept the Giants in the game and they eventually took advantage of it.

Big Blue made it 16-10 after nine-play 68-yard drive that ended with a two-yard pass from Manning to Travis Beckum.

The Eagles offense continued to struggle; the Giants were full of confidence on both side of the ball. Manning and Co. driving early in the fourth quarter to go up 17-16 when Barry Cofield recovered a Vick fumble – his first of the season – at the Eagles 27-yard line.

Two plays later Manning hit Derek Hagan for a five-yard TD.

The rest ended up in the pitch by Vick.

Vick finished 258 yards on 24 of 38 passing, no TDs and still no interceptions but was sacked three times.

McCoy finished with 111 yards on 14 carries and a score. Jeremy Maclin led all receivers with nine receptions for 120 yards.

Manning finished with 147 yards on 20 of 33 passing. He had two TDS and three interceptions.

Umenyiora said this loss was as bad as any he has experienced as a Giant.

“This game was just ridiculous that we let it get away from us,” he said. “I am not happy with the play of our defense because we let them win the game. This is one of the toughest losses I have been around in the long time.”

In addition to the three picks the Giants fumbled four times, losing two.

The fourth and most costly turnover occurred with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter and the Giants facing a fourth and six at their own 44, decided to go for it.

Manning scrambled 16 yards for a first down only to fumble the ball when he inexplicably dove forward instead of sliding, which would have downed him the instant he went into the slide.

Instead Darryl Tapp came up with the recovery and the home team came up with a win.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin was understandably disappointed.

“This disregard for the ball, which has been going on for probably a year and a half around here, and no one seems to be able to do anything about it, again, cost us the football game. And it would have been interesting to tell, even at the end there. Eli did get a first down, if he would have slid, there would have been no discussion on the ball. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened from that point on.”

Fortunately for Eagles fans, that never happened.