Just Another Victim: Patriots Roll Through New York

Saturday Night Football, simulcast across the country, depicted a capacity crowd in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey sitting arm to arm in mittens, ear muffs and thick winter coats.

The Giants faithful showed up in full force amidst a sea of hot chocolate and hand warmers, despite the game's lack of meaning for the playoff standings.

They braved the crisp winter air to witness firsthand one of the greatest teams in NFL history—the 2007 New England Patriots, who capped off a remarkable 16-0 season with a 38-35 shootout in the Meadowlands.

The Giants would not go down without a fight, as they scored 35 points and got stellar play from Eli Manning. Coughlin played his starters throughout the entire game, in an effort to not just win for themselves, but to make a stand for the rest of the league and complete the Patriots rights of passage.

Patriots' defensive lineman Richard Seymour commented after the game “We always got everyone’s best shot. I think that is what makes it so special...there were a lot of games along the way that gave us problems and we had to fight through. I was proud of the way that we continued to fight all season long.”

Indeed, the Patriots would have to fight their way through to the very end. Eli Manning played his best game of the year, despite the loss. He finished with a passer rating of 118.6, 22 of 32 completions, 251 yards, four touchdowns—and one brutal interception that swung the momentum of the game back to the Patriots in the fourth quarter.

Belichick and his defense weren’t ready to play a Peyton-like Eli, as they consistently stacked the box with seven and eight defenders to take away the power-running game of Brandon Jacobs—which they did, successfully limiting the power back to just 67 yards on 15 attempts. Eli was calm in the pocket—he seemed to find the open receiver every time he dropped back, especially in big spots to keep scoring drives alive.

Everyone watching the game should have known the Patriots were in for a dogfight after the Giants first offensive series that resulted in a touchdown. On a second-and-six from their own 30 yard-line, the Giants set Plaxico Burress out wide on a high post. Eli dropped back on a play-action fake to Jacobs and was looking to Burress the entire way. 

Manning uncorked one deep, showing the flash and potential he was supposed to bring, and left the ball in the perfect place for Burress to catch—at its highest point over the defender—for a 52-yard gain to bring the Giants into the red zone.

The Giants threw a big haymaker early by cashing in on a seven-yard pass to Jacobs for a touchdown. “We wanted to try and hit a big play early on. First off, to loosen up some of their corners, because they do like to guess and we wanted to prevent them from jumping routes. We wanted to try and set the tempo for the game. We are here to play and we are coming out here and giving it our best shot,” Eli remarked in a post game interview.

The Giants went into halftime with a 21-16 lead, despite the time-of-possession advantage in favor the Patriots at 20 minutes. Belichick rallied his troops, made his adjustments and let the league MVP, Tom Brady, do his thing.

After all, it was a Super Bowl-like atmosphere and who better to save the day than Brady? He finished the day with 356 passing yards and two touchdowns, both to Randy Moss.

Brady’s first touchdown pass to Moss came in the second quarter, following an illegal contact penalty on the Giant’s Corey Webster that kept the Patriots' drive alive after a third down stop by the defense. That pass was Brady’s 49th of the season, tying Peyton Manning’s NFL record set in 2004. With his catch, Moss also tied the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season, set by Jerry Rice with 22 in 1987.

Brady and Moss’s second connection came in the fourth quarter, with the Patriots trailing 24-28. On the previous play, Brady launched a deep ball for Moss who separated himself from the safety—but the ball was a bit under thrown and Moss couldn’t come back on the ball and make a fingertip catch.

“The ball was under thrown a little bit and I tried my best to come back and get it because I saw, I don’t know if it was the cornerback or the safety, but I saw one guy fall so I knew it was my chance to try to get that catch and move the offense a little closer to the end zone.  But I missed the ball and jogged back to the huddle,” Moss commented on the play.

On the very next play, Brady went deep again to Moss for a 65-yard touchdown catch that appeared to be a dagger in the hopes of the Giants. Moss continued, “The very next play they called a play that was really designed for Wes Welker to go out and get the first down but the corner and the safety trapped Wes and tried to trap Tommy into throwing the ball there to get the ball picked off, but Tommy made a good read, all 11 guys executed the play, and I think that’s really what jumpstarted the second half.”

That play gave Brady the most passing touchdowns in a season (50) and Moss the most receiving touchdowns in a season (23). Moss suggested that the record-breaking ball be cut in half, but Brady insisted Moss take it.

With all the pomp and circumstance that went along with the victory, there isn’t enough time for the Pats to really enjoy it. Belichick will serve up some humble pie to his players and the Patriots will lock these memories away until the off season.

In true Patriot fashion, Teddy Brushci said it best, “We realize that we have bigger goals to accomplish. The tournament is starting now and there are a lot of teams in it that feel like they have a chance. They should feel that way because every team that has made the playoffs has a legitimate chance to be a world champion. So we have to forget about this and move on to who is next.”