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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Donovan McNabb made all the big plays that Eli Manning did not, and the Philadelphia Eagles eliminated the Super Bowl champion New York Giants 23-11 Sunday to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (5) lunges into the end zone for a touchdown

McNabb made all the big plays that Manning did not, and the Eagles eliminated the New York Giants 23-11 Sunday to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons.

"He is the best quarterback in the NFL," Eagles coach Andy Reid praised his guy. "I don't think I have to say anything more than that."

Manning, meanwhile, never resembled the poised quarterback who won last year's Super Bowl MVP award with that one perfect spiral to Plaxico Burress.

Five times New York got inside the Eagles 20. The result? A mere three field goals.

"When we needed to get something done, get a spark to make a big play, that's when we didn't do our best," Manning said.

Credit Philadelphia's hard-hitting, ball-hawking defense, and maybe blame the wind gusts a bit. Either way, these NFL playoffs are now for the Birds — the underdog Eagles, Cardinals and Ravens all won on the road this weekend.

McNabb lunged for one touchdown, threw for another and converted several key third downs to move the sixth-seeded Eagles (11-6-1) into next Sunday's title game at Arizona (11-7). Philadelphia beat the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving night.

David Akers added three field goals — extending his NFL record to 18 straight in the postseason — to fend off the top-seeded Giants (12-5).

"I am very, very disappointed," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "I am sorry to see the season come to an end. There is remorse for opportunities lost."

The swirling winds played havoc with any ball in the air, and also helped skew the score: This was the first game in NFL history to finish 23-11, the Elias Sports Bureau said.

A year after road success fueled the Giants' route, the Eagles are taking the same path. They opened the postseason by winning at Minnesota and, after their sixth victory in seven tries, look nothing like a team that needed several breaks on the final day simply to make the playoffs.

Benched by Reid in late November for half a game, McNabb never has acknowledged that the slight hurt him. He has, however, seemed to play with a huge chip on his shoulder, to the Eagles' benefit.

McNabb converted a third-and-20 set up Akers' 34-yard kick for a 13-11 lead in the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, he made a perfect play-action fake for a 1-yard TD toss to Brent Celek.

"The players executed like crazy," Reid said. "They never wavered one bit. That's tough to find in this league."

Manning was in trouble from the start. His first pass wobbled out of his hand, got caught in the wind and missed a wide-open receiver.

Manning ended up 15-for-29 with two interceptions, often overthrowing his targets. The Giants did not score a touchdown and lost for the fourth time in five games.

"It all comes down to what you do in the playoffs. That makes your season a good one or a disappointment," Manning said. "This is a disappointment.

"We felt this was a special team that could go far. The defense played outstanding today and gave us opportunities. Offensively, we didn't do our job. We didn't score enough points."

By the final two minutes, more than half the crowd had left; Big Blue hasn't won a playoff game at Giants Stadium since 2000. Philly fans headed down the New Jersey Turnpike after another big win for their city — the Phillies won the World Series in October.

"In the locker room, there was so much energy in there. We were ready to play early in the week," McNabb said. "The city of Philadelphia is buzzing; this team is buzzing."

Three road teams won on the same weekend in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1971. Also for the first time, none of the top three seeds in NFC made it to the conference championship.

With Arizona and Philadelphia advancing, it guaranteed the NFC will send a team with no more than nine wins in a full, regular season to the Super Bowl for the first time since the Los Angeles Rams in 1979. Those Rams lost to the Steelers.

The Eagles won for the second time this season at the Meadowlands, and were the only team to win on Giants' turf.

"Last year we were the road warriors. This year, I thought we would be the warriors at home. It just didn't come to pass," Coughlin said.

Overall, McNabb's stats were not overwhelming: 22-for-40 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He also got called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety.

Yet on a day where the conditions weren't ideal, McNabb kept his composure.

Once Ahmad Bradshaw returned the opening kickoff 65 yards, little went right for the Giants. John Carney missed two of five field-goal tries, New York missed open-field tackles and the team did not demonstrate last season's resolve.

Then again, Coughlin's team has changed: Michael Strahan retired, Osi Umenyiora and Super Bowl hero David Tyree were injured, and Burress was suspended after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh. New York went 1-4 since that banishment.

Moments after Manning missed his first throw, he made a much more costly pass.

Flushed from the pocket deep in his territory, Manning slung a pass that badly sailed — right into the hands of cornerback Asante Samuel. It was Samuel's seventh career postseason pick, and he brought it back to the 2.

McNabb made it count, stretching the ball over the goal line on a sneak for a 7-3 lead.

Unable to sack McNabb in two games this season, the Giants did even better early in the second quarter. The elusive QB dropped into his end zone and, facing pressure from the front and Justin Tuck's rush from the back, McNabb simply got rid of the ball into open space.

A penalty flag flew a split-second later and McNabb was called for intentional grounding, resulting in a safety that cut Philly's lead to 7-5. Tuck celebrated by walking toward the seats and flexing for the fans.

Akers' 25-yard kick on the final play of the first half gave the Eagles a 10-8 lead.

Carney made a 36-yard field goal for an 11-10 edge, but the Giants didn't score again.

MINNEAPOLIS – Above the Metrodome's deafening noise, Donovan McNabb stayed poised. Completing passes precisely when the Eagles needed him to, McNabb repeatedly sidestepped the Minnesota rush and sent Philadelphia to a 26-14 playoff win Sunday after being all but forgotten as a postseason contender just one month earlier.

AP – Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb drops back for a pass during the first quarter of an NFL

Next up: the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

Brian Westbrook caught a short pass out of the backfield and zigzagged for a devastating 71-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and the Eagles spoiled the Vikings' first home playoff game in eight years.

"I've seen this team have confidence in each other and try to have one another's back," McNabb said. "What you're seeing is a team playing with a lot of energy, playing with emotion, and just having fun."

Asante Samuel's 44-yard interception return of Tarvaris Jackson's errant pass in the second quarter set a tone for the kind of game most Vikings fans feared from the unpolished quarterback.

Coach Andy Reid improved his playoff record to 9-6, including at least one win each time the Eagles have qualified in his 10 years. He bested his buddy and former offensive coordinator Brad Childress in this one, and they spoke for several moments on the field after the game while maybe a thousand Eagles fans cheered around the tunnel entrance and began a derogatory chant toward the Giants.

"I think we're dangerous," Samuel said. "We've just got to see how it plays out."

Philadelphia will play next Sunday in New Jersey against the top-seeded defending champs, where they won 20-14 on Dec. 7, putting Arizona in the other NFC semifinal Saturday at Carolina and sending the Vikings home.

Jackson, who lost his job in September but got it back when Gus Frerotte was hurt, went 15-for-35 for 164 yards. Adrian Peterson's two touchdown runs weren't nearly enough for NFC North champion Minnesota, which will head to yet another offseason with burning questions about the quarterbacks.

"You know, this game sticks with you," Childress said. "You hate to serve up seven points. You have to take that out of your repertoire."

Westbrook couldn't find any room to run, finishing with 38 yards on 20 carries even with two starters (Ray Edwards and Pat Williams) missing on Minnesota's defensive line. But McNabb, who went 23-for-34 for 300 yards, kept the offense from derailing.

He tossed a ball toward his always-reliable running back at just the right time with the Eagles clinging to a two-point lead after a scoreless third quarter. Westbrook received a slew of well-timed blocks as he slalomed downfield for the clinching touchdown.

"Anytime that you get an opportunity to give the ball to a guy like Westbrook, give him an opportunity in space or against any other defenders, you feel confident about that matchup," McNabb said. "Time and time again, you give him an opportunity he makes plays for you."

Stability at quarterback almost certainly would have given the Vikings another win or two, and perhaps a first-round bye. And despite a drastically better December, Jackson showed he's still quite raw.

His one big mistake really hurt, an underthrown out route to Sidney Rice that Samuel read perfectly and picked off for a 44-yard return and a 16-7 lead.

"I think we rattled him kind of toward the end," defensive end Trent Cole said. "He had to get rid of the ball quick and move around. He was probably getting tight from a lot of pressure."

McNabb wasn't perfect. He threw an interception, lost a fumble in the third quarter and took an 8-yard sack to push the Eagles out of David Akers' field-goal range. But the Vikings didn't capitalize on the turnovers and left plenty of receivers open in the middle of the field — particularly Jason Avant and tight end Brent Celek — for McNabb to target.

He guided the Eagles out of dangerous territory twice in the second half, starting drives at their own 5 and their own 4 and chewing up precious time even though they ultimately punted.

"Whoever said that guy can't move still is a liar," Minnesota's Jared Allen said. "He was running around out there quite nice."

Though he was benched briefly in November, before the Eagles won four of their last five to sneak into the playoffs, McNabb set a franchise record for yards passing this year and helped Philly make the postseason for the seventh time in nine years. There were some bad games, but he's still in the league's upper crust of quarterbacks.

"Donovan did a great job today leading this team. Basically putting the team on his back," Westbrook said.

He added: "That's what you expect from a superstar quarterback like Donovan."

Jackson snapped back after his big mistake, throwing a pair of first-down passes on the next possession to put Peterson in position for a 3-yard, slicing run to pull Minnesota within 16-14.

But the Vikings couldn't get any rhythm in the second half. Peterson didn't have any more holes, and the Eagles applied plenty of pressure to keep Jackson from bouncing back.

DeSean Jackson, the slithery rookie Childress reverently referred to this week as a "human pogo stick," led the Eagles to six of their 16 first-half points. He returned a punt 62 yards — a big weakness for the Vikings — to set up the first field goal by Akers, and caught a 34-yard pass up the sideline preceding another three-point kick.

The only short field the Vikings had came after Allen, who had two of their three sacks, knocked the ball out of McNabb's hand and gave them the ball at their own 46. But they promptly went three and out, and soon after came Westbrook's big catch and run.

The Eagles brought the blitz, and Jackson just had no answer.

"You don't want to be down two scores in the fourth quarter to those guys," Vikings center Matt Birk said. "It's like blood in the water for them."

Notes:@ Jackson had 109 yards of punt return yardage, to just 1 yard by the Vikings on four Eagles punts. ... Peterson had 17 yards on eight carries after halftime. ... The Vikings lost S Darren Sharper to a sprained ankle in the second quarter. ... Akers went 4-for-4 in his field-goal attempts.