The Eagles got a monster return on their investment yesterday when cornerback Asante Samuel, their big free-agent acquisition in March, returned an interception for a touchdown to help beat Minnesota, 23-14, in an NFC wild-card game.

It was a huge play from Samuel, and the first touchdown of the afternoon for the Eagles, who won for the fifth time in six games to set up an NFC divisional matchup against the New York Giants, whom the Eagles beat at the Meadowlands four weeks ago.

And it was why the Eagles invested so heavily in the Samuel, who will turn 28 tomorrow, with a six-year deal that included $20 million in guaranteed money. They wanted him to do what he did for New England: Help them get into the playoffs, and then help them advance once they got there.

Although Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said that he was unsure whether Samuel, who has been nursing a sore hip, would be able to play yesterday, he did and played well. In the second quarter, with the Eagles leading, 9-7, on three David Akers field goals, Samuel stepped in front of a Tarvaris Jackson pass intended for Sidney Rice and streaked 44 yards down the left sideline. At the goal line, Chris Clemons leveled Jackson as Samuel scored on an interception return for the eighth time in his career.

"Did you see that?" Samuel said afterward, marveling at Clemons' block, in which the defensive end lifted Jackson into the air and then slammed him into the Metrodome turf. "Man, that was incredible. I was waiting to see if I had to cut right or left, and he just jacked him up and slammed him. I mean, [Jackson] had to be about seven feet off the ground. That was a hell of a block."

"Any time you score on defense, it's a very big play because it's something that's unaccounted for," Clemons said. "I'm not saying you shouldn't expect it, but sometimes you don't expect it because it [doesn't] happen every single game. That's one of the things, we pride ourselves on turnovers, being aggressive and hard-nosed Football. Asante is a trouper. He went out today with a bad hip and he made plays for us, one of the main plays to help us with this game."

The touchdown gave the Eagles a 16-7 lead, a cushion the team needed; the Vikings scored a touchdown on their next possession but never got the lead after having a 7-6 advantage earlier in the second quarter.

Samuel's interception was the sixth postseason pick of his six-year career, ranking him second among active players in the NFL, and it was the fourth in the postseason that he returned for a touchdown - an NFL record. Although he acknowledged that the hip was bothering him - "Didn't you see me keep coming out of the game?" Samuel asked rhetorically - he said he wasn't going to miss yesterday's game.

The postseason, Samuel said, "is the biggest time. That's what it's all about, the postseason and trying to get that big win. I just try to step my game up to another level every time I have an opportunity in the postseason. I helped my team out, and we got a victory."

"That's what he's done his whole career," Johnson said. "He has a knack for making plays like that. He's a playmaker."

Samuel also has been to the Super Bowl three times, with New England, winning championships following the 2003 and 2004 seasons and losing to the Giants last year. He's trying for a fourth appearance, and he sounded cautiously optimistic about the Eagles' chances.

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

Picking His Spots

Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel set an NFL record with his fourth postseason interception return for a touchdown when he returned one 44 yards for a score in the second quarter, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Willie Brown. Samuel has an NFL-record 202 interception return yards in the postseason. The pick was Samuel's sixth career postseason interception, tying Ty Law for second place among active players. (Rodney Harrison has seven.)

Contact staff writer Ashley Fox at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.