They are beatable at home.

They are beatable in the division.

And that's good news for the rest of the NFC.

But at 11-2, the New York Giants are no less of a Super Bowl favorite now than they were a month ago. The Giants fell for the first time this season at home, in the division and in the conference Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed, 20-14.

Even with their first loss in almost two months, the Giants clinched the NFC East thanks to a Cowboys loss at Pittsburgh. But there wasn't any celebrating in New York.

Brian Westbrook rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for a game-high 72 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles. Philadelphia converted 12 of its 18 third downs and controlled the ball for almost 35 minutes.

The Eagles played the Giants' game better than New York did.

But like the Giants' Monday night loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns in October, you can write this one off as an off-day by the Giants, and they don't have many of those - it was their second loss in the last 17 games.

"We didn't play well," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "We didn't play the way we have been playing. We are a better Football team than that."

"They made the plays against us that we usually make," added Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn.

This was a must-win game for the Eagles. Not so for the Giants, who entered Sunday with a three-game lead in the NFC East with four to play.

Philadelphia needed to upset the Giants to keep its playoff hopes alive. At 7-5-1, the Eagles remain in the mix.

"This was their Super Bowl," Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said.

A December date with the Giants could have been a Cowboys Super Bowl as well. But in blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead at Pittsburgh, the Cowboys can stop looking at what's ahead and start looking over their shoulders.

At 8-5, the Cowboys have a half-game lead on the Eagles. And Philadelphia closes the season at home against the Cowboys.

In between, the Cowboys play the playoff-bound Giants and Baltimore Ravens. The Eagles play the Cleveland Browns and the fading Washington Redskins.

But wild-card berths are for teams such as the Cowboys, Eagles and Falcons to sort out.

The Giants have the rest of the month to straighten themselves out.

"You have off-games sometimes," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. "We just didn't play our best Football, and Philadelphia played really well. Our goal and objective now is to grow and learn from this. Let's see what we can do better. But we have to get back to Giants Football."

IN THE HUDDLE

Observations from Week 14

-Take the "interim" tag off Mike Singletary's title and make him the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Either that or move the 49ers into the AFC East, where they have back-to-back wins over Buffalo and the New York Jets.

-How important to the Minnesota Vikings was the federal court ruling Friday that allowed Pro Bowl defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams to play against the Detroit Lions? With Detroit leading, 6-3, in the final minute of the first half, the Lions faced a fourth-and-1 at the Minnesota 6. Detroit ran a sneak with its 270-pound quarterback, Daunte Culpepper, but Kevin Williams stuffed him for no gain. The Vikings went on to win, 20-16, and stay a game in front of Chicago in the NFC North with an 8-5 record.

-The New York Giants could have used Plaxico Burress against the Eagles. Since joining the Giants in 2005, Burress has posted four 100-yard games and scored five TDs against the Eagles in seven games. He beat the Eagles with a 31-yard TD reception in overtime in 2006 and caught a 17-yard TD pass against them in the first meeting between the teams this season. Without him Sunday, the Giants lost to the Eagles for the first time in four games, 20-14.

-Bad day for Ohio. The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns were both 13 1/2-point underdogs on the road with backup quarterbacks against the two best teams in the AFC South. The Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts combined to whip the Ohio teams, 63-12.

-The New Orleans Saints have a high-profile halfback tandem in Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister, a pair of former No. 1 draft picks. Yet the first Saint to rush for 100 yards in a game this season was Pierre Thomas, an undrafted player who gained 102 yards on 16 carries and scored two TDs in the win over Atlanta.

-So much for the mystique of the frozen tundra. In losing to the Houston Texans, the Packers fell to 3-4 at Lambeau this season, ensuring their fourth non-winning season at home in the last five years. They were 4-4 in 2004, 3-5 in 2005 and 2006 and 7-1 in 2007.

-Playing against his former team for the first time since New England traded him to Seattle in 2006, Deion Branch caught his first two TD passes of the season.

-History alert: Former Cowboys TE Anthony Fasano became the first player to score an NFL touchdown on Canadian soil when he caught a 20-yard pass from Chad Pennington against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto's Rogers Centre.

-Justin Tuck and Terrell Thomas of the New York Giants both blocked Philadelphia field goal attempts, the first time a team has blocked two in a game since the fourth week of the 2007 season, when the Chicago Bears did it to the Detroit Lions.

RANKINGS

1. Tenn. 2

Nothing like a few punching bags to get back on track. After suffering their only loss of the season, against the New York Jets, the Titans rebounded by pummeling two teams down to their third quarterbacks, Detroit and Cleveland. Tennessee has its swagger back.

2. NY Giants 1

3. Pittsburgh 3

4. Tampa Bay 4

5. Carolina 5

6. Indianapolis 7

7. Baltimore 8

8. Miami 11

9. Denver 12

The lowly Kansas City Chiefs gave the Broncos all they could handle, but the Broncos can no longer afford to lose home games. They improved to 4-3 at Invesco Field by rallying from a 10-point deficit to topple the Chiefs, who fell to 2-11. QB Jay Cutler must cut out the turnovers.

10. Dallas 9

11. Minnesota 13

12. New England 15

13. Arizona 16

14. NY Jets 6

15. Atlanta 10

16. Philadelphia 19

17. N.O. 18

The Saints' victory over the Falcons at the Superdome allowed the NFC South to improve its overall home record to 23-2 this season. That's why all four teams are still in the playoff hunt. But the Saints are 7-6, a game behind the third-place Falcons in the South.

18. Chicago 20

19. Washington 14

20. Houston 26

21. Buff. 17

The Bills join the Chargers as the only teams to lose this season in two countries. The Chargers lost to New Orleans in London, and the Bills lost to Miami in Toronto. After a 5-1 start, the Bills have fallen to 6-7.

22. San Diego 23

23. San Francisco 24

24. Green Bay 21

25. Cleveland 22

26. Jacksonville 25

27. Kansas City 27

28. Sea. 29

The Seahawks won't be playing in January for the first time in six seasons, and the absence of Pro Bowl QB Matt Hasselbeck is a primary reason. He was a game-day scratch against New England and has missed six of the last nine games.

29. Oakland 28

30. St. Louis 30

31. Cincinnati 31

32. Detroit 32

DigitalExtra

CHECK OUT SportsDay pro Football columnist Rick Gosselin's take on the late game between the Redskins and Ravens.

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