The 5 Most Gut-Wrenching Losses in Giants and Patriots History

The New York Giants and New England Patriots have been two of the better teams in the NFL for the last decade.  

They have a playoff history that most NFL teams would take any day of the week, but they have both also had their share of tough losses.

Click through to see the five most gut-wrenching losses in each team's history.

5. Patriots: 2005 Divisional Round Loss to the Broncos

This game is one of very few in the Bill Belichick era where the Patriots killed themselves. 

Tom Brady threw two picks.  One of those picks was to Champ Bailey, who nearly returned it for a touchdown.  He was tackled at the one and the Broncos scored one play later.

There was also a fumbled punt by Kevin Faulk that set up another touchdown for the Broncos.  Jake Plummer drew a pass interference penalty on Asante Samuel on the first play after the fumble that set up a Mike Anderson one-yard touchdown run.

The Broncos ended up sending the Patriots home with a 27-13 loss in a year where most people were expecting to see more of that Tom Brady magic.

5. Giants: 2008 Divisional Playoffs Loss to the Eagles

The Giants entered the 2008 playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.  They looked to be a team that was ready to make another Super Bowl run.

The Eagles came into The Meadowlands and crushed those dreams in impressive fashion.  Eli Manning was horrific in that game. 

He went 15-of-29 for 169 yards and two interceptions.  He also lost a fumble late in the fourth quarter that ended any hope the Giants had at staging a comeback.

4. Patriots: 2010 Divisional Round Loss to the Jets

The rivalry between the Jets and Patriots has taken on a whole new life since Rex Ryan took over as the head coach of the Jets.  He has aimed a lot of trash in the Patriots direction and has been able to back it up on the field, at least a little bit.

One time where New York was able to cash the check that Ryan's mouth wrote was in the divisional round of the 2010 NFL playoffs.  The Patriots came into the game with a 13-3 record and rested legs after the bye week.  The game was in Foxboro, and New England was a pretty heavy favorite to win the game.

The Patriots took a 3-0 lead in the late first quarter but were unable to score again in the first half.  They trailed 14-3 at halftime.

New England would cut the lead to 14-11 after a Tom Brady touchdown late in the third quarter and a two-point conversion.  The Patriots' momentum would be cut off soon after as Mark Sanchez found Santonio Holmes for a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

The Patriots made one last push to make the game interesting when they cut the lead to seven with just 30 seconds left but were unable to recover the onside kick.

4. Giants: 1993 Divisonal Playoffs Loss to 49ers

This was one of the most embarrassing and gut-wrenching losses in the history of the Giants franchise. 

Not only did they allow the 49ers to score 44 points, but they gave up five touchdowns to one player—Ricky Waters.  He ended the day with 118 yards on 24 carries.

That 49ers team featured Jerry Rice and Steve Young.  There's no shame in getting torched by those two players, but they were non-factors in this game.  All they had to do was sit back and watch the Ricky Waters show.

New York, quarterbacked by Phil Simms, was only able to manage 194 yards of offense in the contest.

3. Patriots: 2006 AFC Championship Game Loss to the Colts

The Patriots entered the playoffs with high hopes in 2006. 

They finished the regular season 12-4 and had knocked off the Jets and Chargers en route to a showdown with the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.

Tom Brady will go down in history as a better quarterback than Peyton Manning, but Manning had the upper hand in January of 2007.  He lit the Patriots' secondary up for 349 yards that day.  Brady only managed 232 yards with one touchdown and one pick.

A win in that game for Brady would have ultimately quieted the Brady vs. Manning debate.

3. Giants: 1997 Wild Card Loss to Vikings

The New York Giants led their 1997 Wild Card playoff game against the Vikings 19-3 at halftime.  They looked like they were well on their way to the divisional round, but Randall Cunningham had different ideas.

New York was only able to manage a field goal in the second half while Minnesota put 20 on the board.  The nail in the coffin was a 24-yard field goal by Eddie Murray late in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings defense held Tiki Barber to just 29 yards on 17 carries in this contest.

2. Patriots: Super Bowl XX Loss to the Bears

The Patriots finally made it to the Super Bowl in January of 1986 against one of the best defenses in the history of football. 

The Patriots did not even show up for that game.

New England was only able to manage four plays in the first half of the game that went for positive yards.  Their total yardage for the half was minus-19.

The Patriots did manage to get a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but they did not look like they belonged on the same field as the Bears on that night.

2. Giants: 2002 Wild Card Loss to the 49ers

This was a very entertaining game to watch, but it ended in heartbreak for the Giants when a bad snap kept them from attempting a potential game-winning field goal. 

It did not help any that there was a horrific pass interference penalty on the final play that should have given the Giants another chance at the kick.

Some would say this loss did not hurt as much because it was so early in the playoffs, but anytime there's a letter of apology from the NFL the next day because of how bad a missed call was, you know it's a gut-wrenching loss.

The loss ruined a great effort from Kerry Collins.  He threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns that day.

1. Patriots: Super Bowl XLII Loss to Giants

You will be really tired of hearing about this game by the time that this year's Super Bowl comes around, but there's no doubt that it's the most gut-wrenching loss in the history of the New England Patriots.

The Patriots entered that game 18-0 and were ready to take their place right beside the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams in history to go undefeated.  The Giants and David Tyree had another idea.

It's a well-known fact that anytime the name "David Tyree" is said around a Patriot fan, he or she starts convulsing.

1. Giants: Super Bowl XXV

The Giants forgot to show up for Super Bowl XXV. 

They were facing one of the best defenses in the history of the NFL, but there was no excuse for letting a team quarterbacked by Trent Dilfer win the Super Bowl.

Kerry Collins was awful in this game throwing for just 112 yards on 39 attempts.  The Baltimore defense intercepted him four times.  One was returned for a touchdown by Duane Starks.

New York was also terrible on special teams.  They allowed Jermaine Lewis to take a kickoff 84 yards to the house en route to a 34-7 beatdown.