Giants vs. Patriots: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Preseason

Thursday's game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots came down to the kickers as the Giants prevailed 12-9 on the road in Gillette Stadium.

Regardless of the result Thursday night, the Patriots already received their biggest win of the preseason earlier in the day. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman completely wiped out Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his alleged role in the Deflategate affair, per ESPN.com. As a result, Brady will be available for Week 1 of the regular season.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was one of many New Englanders elated with the news:

Whatever decision the judge ultimately handed hand down, the chances Brady would see even a single snap against the Giants were minute. Head coach Bill Belichick wasn't going to risk injury to his No. 1 quarterback with the regular season a week away.    

The Providence Journal's Mark Daniels pointed to how little Brady did in last year's preseason finale as a point of reference:

A little surprising, however, was Jimmy Garoppolo's absence. Ryan Lindley played from start to finish, going 22-of-45 for 253 yards and an interception.

Football Outsiders' Aaron Schatz was less than complimentary about Lindley's performance:

Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald remained hopeful the veteran quarterback could still play his way onto another team:

Lindley's opposite number, Ryan Nassib, wasn't much better. Nassib was 16-of-32 passing for 193 yards in his longest appearance of the preseason.

Jordan Raanan questioned the versatility of the former Syracuse Orange star as a passer:

ESPN.com's Dan Graziano remained unconvinced as well but put Nassib's numbers into perspective:

Neither quarterback had much success early on as six of the game's first seven drives ended in punts.

Taking advantage of a short field, the Giants grabbed a 3-0 lead with a little under five minutes left in the first quarter. New York got the ball down to New England's 15-yard line before it had to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.

The two teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter as the Giants clung to a 6-3 lead. Stephen Gostkowski then drilled a 33-yarder six seconds from halftime to tie the game.

In three successive drives spanning the third and fourth quarters, the Giants and Patriots matched field goal for field goal. By the time all was said and done, New York had inched ahead 12-9 with 8:18 left in the game.

New England had two more chances to at least force a tie to close out the fourth quarter.

The Patriots had a 1st-and-10 at the Giants' 23-yard line on the drive following Boswell's fourth field goal. LeGarrette Blount ran up the middle for a yard on first down, and Lindley's pass for Asante Cleveland fell incomplete on second down. On third down, Stevie Brown intercepted a pass intended for Blount, which wiped away what would almost certainly have been three points for the Patriots.

Mike Loyko of NEPatriotsDraft.com didn't think Lindley helped out his running back with the throw:

But the Giants went three-and-out on their next drive to give renewed life to New England. Unfortunately, the reigning Super Bowl champions essentially met the same fate this time around as well.

On 2nd-and-goal at the New York 9-yard line, Damontre Moore sacked Lindley for a loss of three yards and forced a fumble. Nikita Whitlock recovered for the Giants with 1:06 left in the game.

From there, they lined up in a victory formation to secure the win.

With the result, both teams finish their preseasons with identical 2-2 records.

The Giants kick off their season Sunday night in a rivalry game on the road with the Dallas Cowboys. You never want to draw conclusions off the back of one game, but whoever earns the victory in Arlington, Texas, will have made a strong opening salvo in the NFC East race.

New England has a difficult interconference matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers a week from tonight. Considering Brady will be available, the Patriots have to be even more confident they'll begin their Super Bowl defense on the right foot this season.