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PHILADELPHIA — Dominic Zvada started the second half of the season like he started the first half. Not like he ended the first half.
Zvada made all four of his field goals (53, 49, 49 and 38) as a huge factor Sunday in the Giants’ 19-11 victory against the Eagles.
It was quite the bounce-back for the undrafted rookie who made the first nine field goals of his career and then slipped into a 5-for-9 funk that included bottoming out with two misses against the Texans just before the bye.
“I just cleared my mind,” Zvada said. “The bye came at a great time. I came back and attacked it like I did in training camp — went back to the basics. And it worked, so we’re going to keep rolling with that.”
Giants head coach John Harbaugh never wavered in his confidence in Zvada, deciding against a kicker tryout or adding someone to the practice squad over the last two weeks. Harbaugh’s faith was rewarded as Zvada made two fourth-quarter kicks that pushed the Giants lead to the magic number eight and then to a two-score game at 11 (19-8).
“This is not an easy place to make kicks,” Zvada said, “especially with the wind and the environment. It’s a good confidence booster.”
Giants co-owner John Mara, who is battling cancer, couldn’t be on hand to see the end of the Giants’ 13-game losing streak in Philadelphia.
“Hovering is probably a good word for it,” Harbaugh said. “The first game ball went to our team owner, our leader, John Mara. Chris [Mara] accepted the ball and he said, ‘John’s been texting me the whole game — the whole game — but you don’t want to know what he’s been saying.’ So he’s into it every step of the way, and to get this win for him and for the rest of the great people in the organization, plus the fans.”
Braden Mann and Jordan Stout had a punt-off in the final minute of the first half.
Stout pinned the Eagles at the 3-yard line so that the Giants could use all three of their timeouts, force a three-and-out and get the ball back.
Then Mann, who had a 17-yard punt earlier in the half, punted the ball 86 yards and ruined the Giants’ plans. It was the second-longest punt in the NFL since 2000.
WR Malik Nabers had a bloody bandage under his eye in the postgame locker room. It happened before his first career onside kick recovery in the final two minutes.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Nabers said. “I’m surprised they kicked it to me. I would kick it somewhere else. In the moment, it wasn’t coming that fast. Just trying to get the ball secured.”
