Patriots vs. Giants: New England Grades, Notes and Quotes

For much of Sunday's game, the New England Patriots were reliving the same old nightmare against the New York Giants.  This time, though, the Pats were able to flip the script, earning the late-game breaks in this rivalry for once and escaping MetLife Stadium with a nail-biting 27-26 win.

The Pats ate up over eight minutes on their opening drive, converting three third downs en route to a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive, capped off by a Scott Chandler touchdown catch.  However, on a poor bracket coverage miscommunication between Devin McCourty and Malcolm Butler, an 87-yard Odell Beckham Jr. lightning strike tied the game at 7-7 just two plays thereafter.

After each offense traded punts, New England drove down inside the Giants' 10-yard line, only to stall out and settle for a chip-shot Stephen Gostkowski field goal.  The offense largely sputtered following Julian Edelman's ankle injury, and the Giants scored on each of their final two first-half possessions to take a 17-10 lead into halftime.

The Patriots ended up facing their largest deficit of the season following a Josh Brown field goal to open the second half.  But an 82-yard Danny Amendola punt return (which would have been a touchdown had Amendola not accidentally collided with Duron Harmon short of the goal line) set up a quick touchdown response, bringing New England within three points.

Things got dicey for the Patriots over the next few possessions, with a Giants field goal and Tom Brady fumble putting New England in a precarious position at the start of the fourth quarter, down 23-17.  However, after a defensive stand, Rob Gronkowski changed the game's complexion with the longest catch of his career, a 76-yard touchdown that put the Patriots up 24-23.

Unfortunately for New England, Brady picked a bad time to make one of his biggest mistakes of the season, throwing his third interception of the season from the Giants' 6-yard line.  Nursing a one-point lead with six minutes left, the defense was unable to stop New York until it reached the goal line, when Brown hit the go-ahead field goal with 1:47 left.

With no timeouts, the Patriots received a massive break when Landon Collins dropped the apparent game-clinching interception.  A 12-yard Amendola catch converted a 4th-and-10, and following three more catches from Amendola, Stephen Gostkowski nailed the 54-yard game-winner, one of the biggest kicks of his career.

Read on for full grades and analysis from the closest call thus far of New England's 9-0 season.

Position Grades for Patriots

Elsa/Getty Images

Position	Grade
QB	B
RB	C
WR	B+
TE	A-
OL	B
DL	A
LB	B
DB	B-
Special Teams	A
Coaching	B+

This is the worst report card I've handed out to the Patriots this season, which speaks both to how the Giants challenged this team and to how New England has reached a tipping point with its injuries.  The Edelman injury appeared to suck the life out of the offense, and while the Pats did enough to win, it's hard to say the execution was ever consistently stellar for any extended stretch.

Offensively, the Pats came out with an intention to run the ball but were held to 3.3 yards per carry.  Nearly half of LeGarrette Blount's 66 rushing yards came on the first drive (29 yards), as the Giants did a nice job of winning in the trenches despite season-ending injuries to starters Jon Beason and Johnathan Hankins last week.

Rob Gronkowski was largely silent, but his long touchdown was a huge jolt that saved the staggering offense in the fourth quarter.  Gronk was largely double-teamed with Craig Dahl, Jasper Brinkley, Brandon Meriweather and others throughout the game, but he caught five of his seven targets for 113 yards and that score. 

Edge-rushers Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich were also the team's most disruptive defenders.  Jones recorded a strip sack that resulted in a red-zone turnover for the Giants, while Ninkovich recorded a critical sack that knocked the Giants out of field-goal range following a Brady fumble.

Special teams was also generally a plus for the Patriots, as Amendola's long punt return helped the Pats claw back to within one possession, while Gostkowski was a plus for obvious reasons.  On a day where New England was outplayed for much of the game, the third phase might've helped put the Patriots over the top.

Edelman Lost to Broken Foot

Gary Hershorn/Associated Press

It's always a shame when an injury overshadows a victory (particularly one this exhilarating), but that's exactly the case following Julian Edelman's major injury.  As Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo reported following the game, New England's top wide receiver is expected to miss most of the rest of the season with the injury:

"

Julian Edelman's injury is to his fifth metatarsal, believed to be a true Jones fracture. Possible return for playoff

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 16, 2015"

At this point, it appears a return for the postseason is the best-case scenario, not unlike when Rob Gronkowski broke his forearm midway through the 2012 season and returned for Week 17.  This isn't the first time Edelman has had foot issues in his career; he broke his foot in the exact same stadium in 2012, an injury that ended his season back then.

The Pats' championship hopes would take a severe hit without their chain-mover, who ranked in the top 10 in targets, receptions and receiving touchdowns headed into the week.  Edelman is certainly a cog worth waiting for; the question is whether or not Brady will have his favorite target and close friend back at all this year.

Drop Aids Game-Winning Drive

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Patriots fans saw what might've been the bizarro version of the Asante Samuel Super Bowl XLII drop.  Under pressure on the first play of the final drive, Tom Brady lofted up a duck that Landon Collins could have fielded like a punt.  Collins appeared to come down with the ball but landed on his forearm (which he injured) and dropped the ball, giving the Pats a reprieve.

Unlike the 2007 Giants, the New England offense didn't follow up with its David Tyree-like equivalent, instead tossing a pair of incompletions to set up 4th-and-10.  However, with Edelman out, Amendola delivered his most timely showing of the season, catching the fourth-down conversion and notching three catches for 32 yards on the final drive.

New England's "next-man-up" philosophy is receiving a stiff test, but it was impressive to see the likes of Aaron Dobson and Bryan Stork execute so well (particularly after the fourth-down conversion) in unfamiliar roles.  Apart from Collins' near-interception, when a safety blitz caused Brady to underthrow the ball, the pass protection was largely flawless on the must-have drive.

The game-winning drive was Brady's 48th of his career, third all-time.  This particular one won't undo the past failures he's experienced against the Giants, but it certainly helped relieve some demons.

Defense Delivers Late

Al Bello/Getty Images

When the Giants took over at the 4-yard line with just over six minutes left, many Patriots fans surely had flashbacks to New York's game-winning touchdown drive in Super Bowl XLVI.  Back then, Eli Manning took control of the ball on his own 12-yard line with 3:46 left before embarking on a nine-play drive that stole the championship from the Pats.

This time, the Giants again went on a long 15-play drive that covered 86 yards, but they came up just short of paydirt.  The key play came from Malcolm Butler, who broke up a would-be Odell Beckham Jr. touchdown by reaching his hand in right as Beckham was gaining control.  The play was eerily reminiscent of Sterling Moore's pass deflection on Lee Evans in the 2011 AFC Championship, as Beckham also got two feet down and turned before having the ball knocked away.

More critically, the play ended with 2:01 on the clock, which essentially gave the Patriots a free timeout after the subsequent play.  New England had just a single timeout when the play occurred, and though it eventually used that final timeout on 3rd-and-goal, it was essentially a best-case scenario that the offense received the ball with 1:47 left needing only a field goal.

The defense overall had a fairly rough day, picking up three pass interference penalties and seeing reserve corners Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin repeatedly lose one-on-one battles.  Nonetheless, Butler was excellent against Beckham after the opening-drive touchdown and made arguably the defense's biggest play of the game.

Matthew Slater: Amendola Stepped Up

Elsa/Getty Images

Danny Amendola was once signed to become Wes Welker's replacement, but he's fallen into the backdrop since Edelman's ascent.  Yet with Edelman suffering his first major injury since Welker's departure, Amendola may now be called on to belatedly have the type of impact many thought he would before the 2013 season.

Amendola caught 10 of 11 targets (both team-highs) for 79 yards, in addition to contributing 155 yards worth of returns.  After the game, Matthew Slater praised Amendola for helping keep the offense in sync, per WEEI's Chirstopher Price:

"

Slater on Amendola and his return: We call Danny the War Daddy, and the War Daddy stepped up.

— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) November 16, 2015"

Since his resurgence during the 2014 postseason, Amendola has re-established himself as a nice secondary cog within the offense.  He doesn't possess the same agility or route-running smoothness as Edelman, but his chemistry with Brady has undeniably improved over the past two seasons.  It's folly to think the Patriots offense won't miss a beat without Edelman, but that does not mean the passing game needs to sputter completely.

Malcolm Butler: It's How You Finish

Elsa/Getty Images

Malcolm Butler had the most inauspicious start of any Patriots defender, conceding an 87-yard touchdown to Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants' second offensive play after Beckham burned him on a go route.  The touchdown wasn't entirely Butler's fault, as Devin McCourty took a poor route and allowed Beckham to slip past him.

However, Butler recovered extremely well thereafter, holding Beckham to three catches for 17 yards the rest of the evening.  His breakup at the goal line was also a massive play, saving the offense the need to drive down the field for a touchdown with two minutes remaining.  Afterward, Butler suggested his perseverance helped him shut down New York's All-Pro receiver for the final 50 minutes, per the Providence Journal's Mark Daniels:

"

Butler: If i would have gave up after that play, the game could’ve been different.... It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish

— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) November 16, 2015"

Facing Beckham was Butler's toughest test since squaring off against Antonio Brown in Week 1, and this one turned out much better.  Butler's sophomore year hasn't necessarily been a smooth ride, but Sunday's game was another piece of evidence that he might become a legitimate top corner after all.