Eagles vs. Giants: 5 Things We Learned from Philadelphia's 17-10 Win

In a game that the Eagles had to have, they came up big in the fourth quarter for one. The Eagles held off a late Giants rally for a clutch 17-10 victory. Eli Manning drove the Giants down to the Eagles 21-yard line with less than a minute and a half remaining, but Jason Babin stripped the ball from Manning and Derek Landri recovered it.

LeSean McCoy then did what he does best, finish. McCoy had 67 rushing yards on his final two carries to preserve the win for the Eagles.

The Eagles are now 4-6 on the season, still two games back of the NFC East-leading Giants. However, the Eagles are now 3-1 in the division and are in position to win the tiebreaker over the Giants if they would tie for the division lead.

The Eagles came in with their playoff hopes hanging on by a very thin thread, now have fought their way back just a little bit. A win at New England would be huge in the same week the Giants travel to New Orleans to take on a very high-powered Saints offense.

1. There May Still Be Hope for Juan Castillo

Juan Castillo has taken a beating by both fans and the media in the past two weeks, and for good reason. His defensive play-calling has been almost laughable at times. Sunday night was a big game for Castillo, and his defense came up big.

Castillo's defense still looked lost on a couple plays, but they dominated the Giants for the most part. The defense got to Eli Manning for three sacks, forced two turnovers and held the Giants to just 29 rushing yards.

Castillo is still very much on the hot seat, but after a dominating performance by his defense against a very good Giants offense, there is hope that he can get his group together for a strong second-half run.

2. The Eagles Defensive Line Was Dominant

The Eagles defensive line was the story of the night. The front four the rotates between eight different players, had three sacks, 10 quarterback hits and one game-clinching forced fumble and recovery.

The defensive line was in the backfield and in Manning's grill all night long. Manning rarely had ample time to make plays. This was the type of performance from the Eagles front line that we expected when defensive line coach Jim Washburn was hired and the Eagles signed defensive end Jason Babin and defensive Tackle Cullen Jenkins.

The defensive line is the key to this defense and it showed Sunday night. The secondary has the big name players like Asante Samuel and Nnamdi Asomugha, but the line makes the defense work. More efforts like this and the defense will continue to keep defenses under 20 points.

3. The Run Defense Took a Major Step Forward

The Eagles run defense has been a major weakness this season, getting gashed by the likes of Michael Turner, Matt Forte and Frank Gore. Sunday night was a different story for the 16th best run defense in the NFL.

The Eagles held Brandon Jacobs, Darel Scott and D.J. Ware to just 29 yards on 17 carries. Juan Castillo has been straying away from the Wide 9 technique more and more and it has paid off against the run game.

Eagles linebackers Brian Rolle and Jamar Chaney were another big reason for the team's success against the run Sunday night. They combined for nine total tackles and flew around the field. The better that both of these speedy linebackers play, the better the run defense can be.

Both linebackers along with Keenan Clayton will face a big task next week against the New England Patriots in pass coverage. The linebackers will have to play physical with the Patriots talented tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

4. Riley Cooper Proved He Belongs on This Offense

Last week, in the absence of DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper failed to make a single catch. This week, starting in place of Jeremy Maclin, Cooper came up big, with five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Cooper caught the go-ahead touchdown from Vince Young to cap off a 18-play, 80-yard drive that actually lasted longer then the Eagles entire comeback last year in "The Miracle at the New Meadowlands."

Cooper ran crisp routes and came back strong after dropping a couple very catchable passes last week against Arizona. He showed he can make an impact on this offense, both as a blocker in the running game and as a receiver on the outside.

5. The Eagles Are in Good Hands with Vince Young

It wasn't always pretty for Vince Young on Sunday night against the Giants; but in the biggest game of the season, he came up big every single play the Eagles need to convert a critical third down. On the Eagles' final touchdown drive, Young went 7-for-9 for 67 yards and a touchdown to cap off a drive that was just under nine minutes long.

Young finished the night completing nearly 64 percent of his passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He did threw three interceptions on the night. One on a tipped pass, one on an under-thrown fade route to Riley Cooper that was covered well by Aaron Ross and another on a under-thrown deep ball to DeSean Jackson. Young also had five rushing yards.

Young proved that he is still the type of clutch quarterback that his fans saw when he was at the University of Texas and at times when he was with the Tennessee Titans. He can be a very up-and-down player at times, but he has outstanding composure that makes him the perfect quarterback to lead the team in the fourth quarter. If Michael Vick is just healthy enough to play, Andy Reid will have another tough decision to make at quarterback.