PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick ended yesterday’s game with a broken hand; Eli Manning spent it with a hot hand — and a winning one.
Against an Eagles team that owned the Giants over the past three years, Manning threw four touchdown passes to lead his team to a 29-16 victory over their NFC East nemesis.
The Giants had dropped six straight against the Eagles, including a 38-31 collapse last December that kept them out of the playoffs. Manning had thrown four touchdowns in that game as well, with an interception. But he was better yesterday, with no picks, no fumbles, just a breakthrough win.
“It’s always great to beat the Eagles on their home field, because they have great players. We felt coming in that we could beat these guys, because we should have last year,” said Manning. “We had the same game plan, and this time we wanted to get to the fourth quarter and finish the game.”
They did just that, finishing off the Eagles and sending most of the green-clad crowd of 69,144 at Lincoln Financial Field scurrying for the exits after Manning’s last TD. With a depleted receiving corps — Mario Manningham out due to a concussion and Domenik Hixon is done for the season with a torn ACL — Manning was masterful.
Manning had thrown 16 picks in 14 meetings with the blitz-happy Eagles, but yesterday he was 16-of-23 for 254 yards and a 145.7 rating, carving up the self-proclaimed Dream Team’s vaunted secondary.
“I was proud of the way we hung in there. We didn’t make mistakes, didn’t turn the ball over,” said Manning. “We won the fourth quarter. This year, unlike last year, we won the last eight minutes. Guys stepped up. This was a big win for us.”
He executed a textbook play-fake to get rookie linebacker Casey Matthews to bite, and lofted a ball to Brandon Jacobs on a simple wheel route for a 40-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Then he followed with a 75-yard touchdown to Victor Cruz, the Paterson Catholic (N.J.) product stiff-arming Kurt Coleman, escaping as the latter collided with Nnamdi Asomugha just past midfield and racing in for a 14-0 lead.
Manning added a 28-yard touchdown to Cruz, the undrafted second-year pro posting up Asomugha and safety Jarrad Page and the Giants adding a two-point conversion for a 22-16 lead. By the time he caught the Eagles in a blitz and hit Ahmad Bradshaw with an 18-yard TD, Big Blue was up 29-16 and the game all but over.
“We have great confidence in our ability. We feel we’re a good team,” said Manning. “We’ve just got to keep playing strong and smart football and we’ll be in a situation to win games.”
brian.lewis@nypost.com