The Giants looked lost on offense without Plaxico Burress. Photo by Peter Wodarczyk – Contrastphotography.com

EAST RUTHERFORD: All week the Giants pretended the Plaxico Burress mess was not going to be a distraction.

The Giants were going to go out and play the Eagles the same way they took apart the Washington Redskins last week at FedEx Field.

The Eagles had other ideas.

Using a physical defense and a potent ground attack that netted 144 yards on 41 carries, the Eagles defeated the Giants, 20-14 at Giants Stadium in a game that was not as close as the score might indicate.

Eagles win, along with losses by the Altanta Falcons, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys guarantees the Birds will be players in the Wildcard playoff race for the last three weeks of the season.

The Giants – who clinched the NFC East after Dallas lost – scored a 71-yard touchdown on a freakish blocked field goal on the last play of the first half and on their only real drive of the game when Darcy Johnson caught a one-yard TD pass from Eli Manning with 15 seconds left in the game.

All week the Giants players were hammered with questions about their oft-trouble wide receiver who has been suspended for the remainder of the season after and incident on November 28 at a Manhattan night club where Burress allegedly shot himself in the thigh with a gun he owned but was unregistered.

He faces charges that could land the Pro Bowl receiver in jail for 3 1/2 years.

Burress had already been fined by the club several times for various infractions and was even suspended for a game without pay after missing a mandatory team meeting.

Receiver Amani Toomer was asked if he thought the “crazy week” his teammates endured contributed to the poor play by the Giants.

“I don’t know but…it was probably our craziest week and our worst performance,” Toomer said. “So put two and two together.”

Giants standout linebacker Antonio Pierce, who was present at the nightclub and has agreed to speak to a Grand Jury in March about the incident, refused to blame the incident as a distraction.

“That’s the media’s job to worry about that,” Pierce said. “We’re not worrying about that. Obviously everybody is going to use that as an excuse. It’s not an excuse. The Philadelphia Eagles came ready to play and they made more plays than the New York Giants today.”

Both teams’ offenses struggled throughout most of the first half.

On their first drive, the Giants turned the ball over on downs at the Eagles 31-yard line, then went nowhere on their second drive and were forced to punt.

The Giants third possession also ended after three plays and ended with a punt.

Big Blue’s fourth drive fizzled at the Eagles 30-yard line. John Carney’s 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked by defensive Trent Cole.

The Eagles managed just one first down on their first two drives as the cold, swirling winds at Giants Stadium plus fired up defenses made life miserable for both offenses.

On the Birds third drive, Donovan McNabb and company managed to get to the 33-yard line where David Akers drilled a 51-yard field goal to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.

The 29-yard drive was highlighted by a McNabb-to-Kevin Curtis 32-yard completion.

On their next drive, the Eagles got to their own 42-yard but the drive again stalled.

The Eagles did manage to win the field position battle up to this point.

With 7:20 left in the half, the Giants started from their own 16-yard line.

The Eagles benefitted from two no calls on what appeared to be pass interference on first and third down. The passes were to tight end Kevin Boss and wide receiver Domenik Hixon.

The result was another three-and-out for the Jints.

The Eagles offense came to life on its final drive of the first half. The Eagles marched  77 yards on 10 plays in 4:21, finishing the drive with a 30-yard run by Brian Westbrook to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.

The touchdown was on a first-and-10 from the Giants 30-yard line.

Guard Nick Cole, in for the injured Max Jean-Gilles, who had been playing for Shawn Andrews, who is out with a back injury, said McNabb saw the Giants were lined up for an all-out blitz.

He then signaled for a right guard dive – it was clear sailing for Westbrook to the end zone.

“They had a full blitz,” Cole said. “Once you block the line, it’s pretty much open.”

The Giants offense again went nowhere and the Eagles ended up with the ball with 1:02 left in the half.

McNabb executed a near-perfect drive to the Giants 14-yard line only have Akers 32-yard field goal attempt blocked, Kevin Dockery grabbed the ball in stride and bolted 71 yards for a touchdown.

A near-perfect half spoiled by one play.

The Eagles took the opening drive of the third quarter and drove to the Giants 16-yard yard line only to see Akers 34-yard attempt tipped by Terell Thomas, falling short.

Even with the blocked field goal, the 16-play drive was significant as it ate up seven minutes of clock and seemed to drain the Giants of the energy created by the score just before halftime.

Giants’ fullback Madison Hedgecock said the Giants got lucky and didn’t put that good fortune to good use.

“We had a miraculous play with the blocked field goal touchdown going into halftime,” he said. “But coming out (in the third quarter) we didn’t take advantage of the momentum.”

Again the Giants were unable to move the football on their first and only drive of the third quarter.

The Eagles made the score 17-7 on the third play of the fourth quarter when McNabb hit Westbrook with a short pass over the middle that Westbrook broke loose for a 40-yard score and a lead the Birds never relinquished.

McNabb finished the game with 19 completions on 30 attempts, 191 yards, a touchdown pass, an interception and just one sack. He rushed five times for a net 20 yards.

Westbrook finished with 131 rushing yards on 33 carries and a touchdown. He also caught six passes for 72 yards and another score.

The Eagles defense continued to frustrate the Giants offense on the ground and in the air.

Manning finished 13 for 27 for 123 yards and a touchdown pass.

Boss, who had burned the Eagles earlier this season, was held to just one catch for five yards.

Linebacker Chris Gocong said Boss’ meager production was not an accident.

“The way we cover tight ends and the backs really depends on the flow of the backs and stuff like that,” said Gocong, who finished with two tackles, one for a loss and a defended pass. “Definitely, we were focusing on him…we were trying to be physical…the ref warned us a few times, but you have to be physical with him.”

The refs should have warned the Giants what was coming up from Philadelphia.

Al Thompson can be reached at al.thompson@footballstories.com.