EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Philadelphia Eagles won a fourth consecutive NFC East title by making Eli Manning look very much like a rookie.

Brian Westbrook scored two touchdowns and the Eagles’ defense made life miserable for Manning and frustrating for Giants linebacker Barrett Green in a 27-6 victory over New York on Sunday.

The Eagles (10-1) scored 20 second-half points and limited the Giants (5-6) to 47 yards in the final half in reaching the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. The Eagles are the third team since the 16-game schedule began in 1978 to win a division title by its 11th game, joining the Bears in 1985 and the 49ers in 1997. Chicago won the Super Bowl after the 1985 season.

The Eagles have reached the conference final the past three years, but they lost the title game each time .

David Akers kicked field goals of 47 and 42 yards early in the second half to give Philadelphia a 13-7 lead, then Westbrook iced the game with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 34-yard touchdown pass play on a screen pass.

Donovan McNabb, who was 18-of-27 for 244 yards, also scored on a 1-yard run for the Eagles.

Steve Christie kicked field goals of 22 and 31 yards for the Giants, who dominated the first half, but then came up empty in the second.

Manning finished 6-of-21 for 148 yards and two critical interceptions. He was also sacked five times and had trouble figuring where the Eagles were coming from.

Falcons 24, Saints 21

ATLANTA – Michael Vick looked to his left, cut to the right, darted back to the left, broke through an attempted tackle and unleashed the winning touchdown pass with just over a minute to go.

Just another Sunday for No. 7.

Vick threw a 27-yard scoring pass to Alge Crumpler with 1:22 remaining and the Atlanta Falcons, after fumbling away one chance, rallied to beat the New Orleans Saints 24-21.

James Allen appeared to save the Saints when he stripped the ball from Warrick Dunn at the New Orleans 6 with 3:11 to go. But Vick still had to time to bail out the Falcons (9-2).

The Saints (4-7) went three-and-out, and Atlanta took over at the New Orleans 47. Vick had nearly 2 minutes to work with, but he and Crumpler needed only two plays to get the Falcons into the end zone.

The Pro Bowl tight end found an opening in the Saints’ zone and hauled in a 20-yard pass. Then it was time for Vick to work his magic.

Panthers 21, Bucs 14

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Julius Peppers and Keary Colbert had their best games. Martin Gramatica had his worst, in another bizarre meeting between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – the NFC’s newest rivalry.

Colbert caught a 40-yard touchdown pass, his second of the game, with 20 seconds to play Sunday to lift Carolina to a 21-14 victory over the Bucs, the Panthers’ third straight win.

The Panthers (4-7) reacted as if they had just won the Super Bowl, wildly celebrating in the end zone. That’s because no victory is sweeter than one against the hated Bucs (4-7), and this one put Carolina on the fringe of the NFC wild-card chase.

They did it behind Colbert, a rookie receiver, who had 72 yards on three catches – two of them were touchdowns. In addition to the game-winner, Colbert caught a 24-yard TD pass from Jake Delhomme on Carolina’s opening drive.

Then there was Peppers, who ran an interception back 46 yards for a score, blocked a field goal and had a sack to continue the tear he’s been on the past four games. After starting the year with two sacks through seven games, Peppers now has seven sacks in the past four weeks.

It’s no coincidence his play has improved at the same time as the Panthers, who are slowly climbing out of a 1-7 hole after a Super Bowl appearance last year.

The Bucs also had been on a slow climb after an 0-4 start to the season. Tampa Bay has Gramatica to blame for halting the rise.

Gramatica missed all three of his field goal attempts, including a 37-yarder with 1:48 to play that would have broken a 14-14 tie. The ball sailed wide left, just like the 39-yarder he missed in the first quarter.

There was also a 26-yard miss that Peppers got a hand on.

It was all too reminiscent for Gramatica, who had three kicks blocked by Carolina last season, including a potential game-winning extra point attempt at the end of regulation in a game the Panthers went on to win in overtime.

Carolina had its own kicking woes.

Jeff Chandler, filling in for the injured John Kasay, nearly mirrored Gramatica by missing one field goal and having a second one blocked.

Brian Griese threw for a season-high 347 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs. Both scores came on shovel passes to Michael Pittman, who had eight catches for 134 yards and touchdown receptions of 6 and 8 yards.

One pass Griese wished he could have back was a floater intended for Ken Dilger that Peppers saw coming from a mile away. He stepped in front of the ball at least five yards ahead of Dilger, and sprinted into the end zone to give Carolina a 14-7 lead in the third quarter.

AP-ES-11-28-04 1637EST