Patriots’ unbeaten season still alive following Giants’ late miscues
If the New England Patriots go 16-0 again, we’ll look back at Sunday’s victory against the New York Giants — again — as a pivotal moment.
The Patriots beat the Giants, 27-26, on a Stephen Gostkowski 54-yard field goal with 1 second remaining after it appeared the Giants had the game all but salted away. More than once.
After the win, the Patriots celebrated their ninth win in nine tries this season, an instant classic against a team that long had their number, like it was a playoff victory. But the Giants can count several missed chances to win this one.
And did the refs also contribute to the Giants’ loss?
The first was after a rare Tom Brady interception, and even more rare that it occured in the end zone. The Patriots led 24-23 with just over six minutes, knocking at the doorstep of the Giants’ end zone, but couldn’t increase the lead as Brady’s poorly thrown ball toward Brandon LaFell was intercepted at the 1-yard line.
The Giants roared back, chipping away over the next four minutes and getting inside the New England red zone with just over two minutes left. The Patriots stopped the clock effectively, but so did the Giants. But first things first.
Eli Manning hit Odell Beckham Jr. for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown on first-and-goal, but the play was reversed after replay showed that corner Malcolm Butler — who was all over the place Sunday — knocked the ball loose and Beckham failed to complete the catch.
Here’s Fox’s rules expert, Mike Pereira on the play:
And here’s the play:
Then on second down, the Giants threw (!) an incomplete pass toward Dwayne Harris, who had been killing the Patriots all game. Throwing appeared to be a poor call as it saved the Patriots a timeout, with the clock stopping at 2:01, also giving New England the two-minute warning stoppage.
On third down, Manning rolled out but took a sack when there was no open receiver. It was a smart play because it forced New England to use its final timeout. Had the Giants run the ball on second down, it might have sapped 40 or so seconds off the clock.
A Giants field goal gave them a 26-24 lead with 1:50 left. The Patriots looked shaky to start their final drive, and the Giants should have ended it as Brady’s deep shot to Aaron Dobson was well underthrown, and safety Landon Collins could not have had an easier pick. Instead, the rookie — who has had a tough season in coverage — failed to secure the pick, and the Patriots had life.
Brady converted on a 12-yard pass to Danny Amendola on fourth-and-10 and then found him again for 11 and 9 yards to set up the Gostkowski winner with time nearly expired. The Giants’ end-of-game, keep-it-alive return failed despite a few interesting moments.
The Giants blew this one. They had a chance to milk more time off the clock and a chance to end the game with a pick. They took control from the start of the second quarter to late into the fourth. But bucking the trend of these teams’ recent matchups, the Patriots found a way to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Patriots’ toughest win in their 16-0 season in 2007 was the Giants, which was the same team they lost to in the Super Bowl. And if the Patriots can match that magic this regular season, we likely will say the Giants were their toughest game … until they gave it away.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
