New England Patriots Takeaways From 27-26 Win Over Giants

Shortly before that, the Giants thought they had a touchdown when quarterback Eli Manning connected with wide receiver Odell Beckham jnr in front of cornerback Malcolm Butler in the end zone. Sometimes you just got to find a way to make a play here, a play there. It is also entirely possible that Bill Belichick would have let the clock run to 2:00 since a timeout right there would have only saved a couple of seconds. Your matchups are very good in those circumstances one-on-one. Go for it. That’s what you do.

“We was out there really just having fun, ” Butler told The Boston Globe.

Manning, as sharp as ever in the first half, hit Dwayne Harris in the back left corner of the end zone for a 17-10 halftime edge.

Brady eventually converted a fourth-and-10 on the series and Gostkowski, the NFL’s leading scorer the last three seasons, sent his winning kick soaring through the uprights.

It’s been their weakness all season and it got them again on Sunday for the fourth time. Barely had enough time to get into field goal range and Steve made a great kick. They used it on the slide by Eli. Led by the unflappable Brady, the Patriots stared down the team that has given them so many problems over the last decade, and they simple said, “not this time”.

“I lost us the game”, Beckham said. He was certainly helped out by a dropped Landon Collins interception to start the drive, but Brady was calm and collected as he moved the offense down the field for the victory.

The kick soared through, leaving just a second for the Giants to ill-fatedly return a squib kick. “2:06 is a different mindset just because of that timeout”. The drive stalled, and the Giants ended up punting the ball away to the Patriots, who, three plays later, took a 24-23 lead when Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 76-yard touchdown, their first lead in the second half of the game.

“With the competitive group of guys we have here on defense, that’s always something we want to do”, Brinkley said. Of course, the Seahawks had Marshawn Lynch in their backfield.

It will be a long bye week for Coach Coughlin and the Giants. “We’ve played ten weeks in a row…the players have a much-needed rest coming”, said Coughlin. “I don’t look at it in degrees, I just look at it in terms of the frustration that goes along with it because of what could’ve been”. “I look at it as your matchups are all singled”.

Manning comes to the line of scrimmage and ends up calling timeout.

It proved to be a most welcome distraction from the subject matter at hand with the Pats winning 27-26 on a 54 yard field goal by Steve Gostkowski with one second remaning in the game. Now, had they known that would happen, that would have changed the strategy.

New England had a chance to expand the lead when Blount appeared to score a touchdown, but rookie center David Andrews was called for a holding penalty.

“Big stop down there on the goal line”, Belichick said. “I’m not playing for the field goal”.