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New York Giants Suffer Heartbreaking Loss To New England Patriots

By Kenneth Teape

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The New York Giants and New England Patriots continued their streak of great games Sunday evening. When these two teams take the field together, a great game always ensues and today was no different. The Giants entered with a three-game winning streak against the Patriots, including the postseason, and looked poised for a fourth but had victory snatched out of their hands at the very end by the Patriots. In a 27-26 game to remember, Stephen Gostkowski kicked the Patriots to a victory at the Meadowlands for their first victory over the Giants since 2007.

It was a back and forth game throughout, staying much closer than people thought it would be. Coming into the game, the Giants had one of the worst defenses in the NFL, especially defending the pass, and people thought Tom Brady would tear them apart. That was actually not the case for most of the game, as the Giants defense brought it tonight.

The Giants defense was able to get pressure on Brady today, something that has been a struggle throughout the season. They got three sacks against him, causing two fumbles. One of the two were recovered by Markus Kuhn, as the Giants added to their league leading takeaways. In addition to the fumble recovery, the Giants also intercepted Tom Brady, which was the first time that has happened in the second half of a game this season.

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Brady had a more difficult game than people thought he would, but still had solid stats. He may have completed only 26-of-42 passes, but he made them count. He threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, with the two fumbles (one lost) and one interception. The Giants now lead the NFL 22 takeaways, as Trumaine McBride’s interception inside the five yard line set the Giants up for a potential game winning drive, but Brady led the Patriots into field goal range to win the game.

If the Giants had 23 takeaways, they would have won the game. Landon Collins looked like he iced the game with an interception on the drive following the Giants field goal for a 26-24 lead, but the ball fell out of his hand as he rolled over on the ground.

That was the second time the ball coming out at the end of the completion of a catch hurt the Giants, as Odell Beckham Jr. had the same thing happen to him. Beckham Jr. looked like he caught the go-ahead touchdown with about two minutes left in the game, but the call was overruled in the booth as they said he did not complete the process of the catch.

The Giants were unable to get into the end zone after that, and had to settle for a Josh Brown field goal. Field goals by Brown were a bit too prevalent for the Giants in this one, as three of the four field goals that were attempted came from 38 yards or closer. It was nice to see Brown get the job done, but disappointing the Giants couldn’t finish the drives off with a touchdown.

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Eli Manning had a strong afternoon, going toe-to-toe with Brady. He completed 24-of-44 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times as well, losing one fumble. He also took a bad sack after the Giants’ fumble recovery, as it pushed them out of field goal range and resulted in a punt.

The chemistry that he normally shows with Odell Beckham Jr. was also a little off today. They started the game hot with an 87-yard catch and run touchdown, but he caught only three passes for 17 yards the rest of the game. He was targeted 12 times overall, dropping a couple of passes we have seen him catch and having his second touchdown on the final drive called back.

The running games for both teams offered very little, as the Patriots averaged 3.3 yards per carry for 77 yards in the game, while the Giants had 3.5 yards per carry and 80 in the game. This was a game that was all on the arms of Brady and Manning, and neither disappointed.

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While it was disappointing that the Giants lost yet another game they were leading in the fourth quarter of, they have a lot to be happy about. They have some things to clean up during the bye week, but they should feel good about themselves heading into the bye, as they are still first place in the NFC East.

They will now get a week to rest and hopefully come out of it with some reinforcements in the way of injured players returning. They will be traveling to take on the Washington Redskins in Week 12 off their bye, in a game that could potentially be for the NFC East lead.

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