Three of Eli Manning’s career-high 63 passes were intercepted, including one that Malcolm Jenkins returned for a touchdown, and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Giants 24-19 Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak and prevent New York from clinching a playoff spot.

”We didn’t play well enough,” Manning said. ”I got off to a bad start and spotted them a 14-0 lead.”

The loss gave Dallas the NFC East title – and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The Giants (10-5) still own the top wild-card position and will end their four-season playoff drought this weekend if Detroit, Green Bay, Tampa Bay or Atlanta loses.

If not, they get in with a win at Washington next week.

”We need to be confident,” Manning said. ”We can get healthy and get a little break these next couple days and come back and practice and play better football.”

After Darren Sproles gave the Eagles (6-9) a 7-0 lead on a 25-yard TD run, Jenkins picked off Manning and ran it back 34 yards for a 14-0 lead. Jenkins got another interception in the second half, the second time he’s had two picks in a game in his eight-year career.

”I want to be wherever the ball is,” Jenkins said. ”If I play deep too long a lot of times, I get bored.”

Carson Wentz threw a touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor and later shook off a late hit that forced him to miss his first snaps of the season. The rookie quarterback even threw a lead block on a double reverse after he passed concussion tests.

Then the defense delivered a stop on fourth down before Terrence Brooks clinched the win with an interception at the Eagles 5.

”My name was called and I made the most of it,” said Brooks, who had not played a defensive snap this season before getting in for two plays against the Giants.

Here’s some things we learned in Philadelphia’s win over the Giants:

LANE’S IMPACT: Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson returned from a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs and immediately showed why he’s so valuable. He wiped out the left side of New York’s defensive line twice on big gains on the offense’s first series, including a block on Landon Collins to clear a path for Sproles on his TD run. The Eagles are 4-1 with Johnson, 2-8 without him.

”It was huge to get Lane back,” Wentz said. ”That was a big spark for us.”

WAITING GAME: The Giants couldn’t do the deed themselves Thursday night and now must wait for the weekend’s action. They have plenty of opportunity to qualify for the postseason while opening holiday gifts.

If the Falcons (9-5) lose at Carolina, New York is in. If the Packers (8-6) lose to Minnesota, New York is in.

Should Tampa Bay fall at New Orleans, the Giants advance. And if Detroit (9-5) is beaten by Dallas, the Giants are playoff-bound.

”We’re disappointed right now in the way we played tonight,” said Manning, who completed 38 passes for 356 yards and one TD. ”We know we can bounce back next week and still get a win and get in the playoffs.”

They might not need that victory.

BECKHAM’S NUMBERS: Earlier this season, when the Giants beat the Eagles 28-23, Odell Beckham Jr. had only four receptions for 46 yards, though he scored twice. At the Linc, he made 11 catches for 150 yards, but didn’t find the end zone.

Beckham has 96 catches for 1,323 yards. His career highs are 97 receptions, set last season, and 1,450 yards.

”I think anytime you get the ball in his hands,” Giants coach Ben McAdoo said, ”you have a chance to go for a touchdown.”

Manning targeted Beckham 20 times; the next favored receiver was Victor Cruz, who caught eight of the 13 balls thrown his way. New York’s only touchdown was a 13-yard pass over the middle to Sterling Shepard, who had seven catches on 11 targets.

But all those throws weren’t enough.

TOUGH KID: Wentz was wobbly after banging his head following Olivier Vernon’s hit but didn’t hesitate to throw himself at Eli Apple on a block after returning to the game.

”If there was anyone out in front, I was going to pick up a block,” Wentz said. ”Once you’re cleared, you’re good to go.”

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The resumes are nearly identical. Two Super Bowl victories. Four Pro Bowls apiece. A steady ascension into the upper stratosphere of the NFL record books. Both are already in the top 10 in career touchdown passes, with Roethlisberger on the cusp of joining Manning in the top 10 in all-time yards passing.

Just don’t call it a rivalry.

When they take the same field for just the fourth time as professionals on Sunday when Manning and the streaking New York Giants (8-3) visit Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5), the focus will be on keeping pace in a frenetic playoff race, not trying to match each other’s stats.

”I don’t know if there is any extra motivation,” Roethlisberger said. ”Just trying to win a football game against one of the best teams in football should be motivation enough.”

In an alternate universe, Roethlisberger might have been the guy behind center wearing Big Blue.

For a few minutes during draft day in 2004, he thought he was heading to New York with the fourth overall pick. Instead, the Giants took Philip Rivers, then shipped Rivers to San Diego as part of a megadeal that sent Manning – the top overall pick – to New York. Roethlisberger, wearing a black pinstriped suit with a gold tie, heard his name called a little over an hour later when Pittsburgh used a first-round pick on a quarterback for just the fifth time in franchise history.

He doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about what might have been. Neither does Manning. That’s for others.

”You always want your quarterback draft class to be well thought of and respected down the road,” Manning said. ”You hear about the ’83 draft class and other certain years. You want to be thrown in that mix someday.”

Just not yet. Both in their mid-30s and signed through the rest of the decade. Maybe they’ll reunite at the Hall of Fame one day, though Roethlisberger stressed ”hopefully that’s a long way off.”

Some things to look for as the Giants seek their seventh straight win while Pittsburgh tries to begin another December run like the ones that propelled the Steelers to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

JPP IS BACK: Jason Pierre-Paul has had 5+ sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble return for a touchdown in his last two games, along with 12 tackles. The end is the current NFC defensive player of the week for his career-high three sacks, forced fumble and 43-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Cleveland. The seven-year veteran is the first NFL player with at least three sacks and a fumble-return touchdown of at least 40 yards in the same game since 1982, the first year individual sacks became an official statistic. He is the first Giants player with at least three sacks and a touchdown in the same game since George Martin on Nov. 24, 1985.

HOMECOMING: New York coach Ben McAdoo grew up in Homer City, Pennsylvania, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. This isn’t the first time he’s found himself going up against his childhood team. His family put together half-Steelers/half-Green Bay Packers jerseys for the 2011 Super Bowl when McAdoo was the tight ends coach for Green Bay. A win on Sunday would make him the first rookie head coach to win seven consecutive games since Jim Harbaugh did it with San Francisco in 2011.

KICKING IT: Giants punter Brad Wing had his best game of the season against the Browns with a net average of 44.7 yards on nine punts, landing a career-high five inside the 20-yard line. Placekicker Robbie Gould isn’t so hot. The veteran signed after the release of Josh Brown last month has missed three extra points in the past two games. He needs to start hitting them if he wants to keep his job. He has hit both of his field goal attempts in five games.

AB vs. OBJ: The game will feature two of the NFL’s most talented (and most flamboyant) wide receivers in Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. Brown’s 10 touchdown receptions are tied for the NFL lead; Beckham is tied for fourth with eight. Both are also featured in the punt return game. Asked when Beckham is at his most dangerous, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin responded ”whenever they snap the ball.”

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AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan contributed to this report.

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If these rival quarterbacks in the NFC East stay healthy, they will likely oppose each other more than 20 times in the regular season. And they’ve developed a healthy respect along the way.

Their meeting in a season opener Sunday night was to be their 16th in the regular season. And it’ll be 18 if you count Romo taking over as the starter in Dallas at halftime of a loss to the Giants in 2006 and a playoff pairing a year later that propelled Manning to the first of two Super Bowl titles and started the trend of Romo answering questions about whether he can win the big one.

”I think Tony and I have a good relationship,” said Manning, who entered Sunday 11-11 as the starter against the Cowboys. ”Like you said, been competing these last nine years and seeing him during games, after games, before games and talk. We’ve kind of talked on the phone, text messaged over the years. I haven’t been around him outside football a whole lot, but I have great respect for him.”

Romo didn’t know the number, but remembered that Manning had a long streak of consecutive games. The 34-year-old Manning went into the season as the active NFL leader with 167 consecutive starts, 23 more than San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers and New York Jets tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson

”He’s been just a fantastic pro,” said Romo, who entered the game 9-6 as a starter against the Giants despite a five-game losing streak that culminated with a 2011 season finale with a playoff spot on the line. ”I think one of the more impressive things is his toughness, just how many games he’s played.”

Manning signed a four-year, $84 million extension Friday that makes the two-time Super Bowl MVP the fourth highest-paid quarterback behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger.

Romo became Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ first $100 million player when he signed a six-year, $108 million extension in 2013. Both are likely to remain the starters through 2017 if their bodies hold up. The 20th regular-season meeting would be their first game that season.

The 35-year-old Romo was an undrafted free agent in 2003 and spent three full years on the bench before taking over for Drew Bledsoe and making his first start eight games into the 2006 season. Manning was the top pick in the draft in 2004, just like older brother and five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning six years before him.

”However either one of them went about their business,” said Giants coach Tom Coughlin, ”they’re both outstanding quarterbacks.”

And it appears they have a few years left as rivals.

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This one should be a great game, no doubt about it. The Cowboys always show up against the Giants, and a feature matchup to kick off the season should be no different.

Will two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning get his team off to a winning start? Or will Tony Romo and America’s Team shut down the G-Men at home?

Oddsmakers currently have the Giants listed as 3-point favorites versus the Cowboys, while the game’s total is sitting at 46½.

Team records:
Dallas: 8-8 SU, 5-10-1 ATS
New York: 9-7 SU, 8-7-1 ATS

Dallas most recently:
When playing in September are 5-5
When playing on turf are 5-5
After being outgained are 5-5
When playing within the division are 5-5

New York most recently:
When playing in September are 7-3
When playing on turf are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing within the division are 5-5

A few trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas’s last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas’s last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas’s last 6 games when playing NY Giants
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Dallas’s last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Giants
NY Giants are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of the NY Giants last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of the NY Giants last 6 games at home
NY Giants are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games when playing Dallas

Next up:
Dallas at Seattle, Sunday, September 16
NY Giants home to Tampa Bay, Sunday, September 16

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