Mon, Dec 31, 2007
For the final week of the 2007 NFL regular season, the New England Patriots arrived at Giants Stadium in New Jersey to face the New York Giants. The game earned worldwide coverage and attention to a degree never seen in a regular season game before - to where it was simulcast over multiple US television networks, a task not seen since the very first Superbowl in January 1967. The reason for the attention was the quest of the Patriots for a perfect season. The Patriots had won all fifteen of their previous games and were on the brink of becoming the first team to sweep a sixteen-game regular season and only the fourth team in NFL history to sweep the entirety of their regular season, a feat not accomplished since the 1972 Miami Dolphins won their fourteen-game schedule of 1972 en route to a perfect playoff sweep and championship - in an irony not lost on many, the Patriots had defeated the present-day Miami Dolphins 28-7 the previous week.
The Patriots also had two offensive records to shoot for - quarterback Tom Brady needed two touchdown throws to break the NFL's single-season touchdown record set at 49 by Peyton Manning in 2004, while receiver Randy Moss, given up for dead career-wise by many in the NFL before the season, was two touchdown catches short of breaking the single-season record of 22 set by Jerry Rice in 1987.
The NY Giants entered the game with a 10-5 record and a playoff spot locked in. Neither team had any gain in season standings to make from the game, but there was motivation for the Giants as well - shown before the game when defensive captain Michael Strahan loudly ordered camera crews who had not covered the team throughout the season away from his huddle - for they had played inconsistently throughout their season, particularly with quarterback Eli Manning, a highly-touted 2004 draft pick as son of popular NFL legend Archie Manning and younger brother of present-day superstar Peyton Manning. Eli thus became the third member of pro football's most famous family to face the New England Patriots - Archie had lost two career meetings with the Patriots while quarterback of the New Orleans Saints in the 1970s and a third encounter with the Patriots in the strike-marred 1982 season as member of the Houston Oilers, while Peyton's career with the Indianapolis Colts was partially defined by years of struggle (including a 24-20 loss to the Patriots during the 2007 season) and a stunning AFC Championship win against the Patriots in 2006. The younger Manning's poor play entering the game left most fans and many observors writing him off, but in the din of criticism was an overlooked angle - the poor play of one of Manning's key receivers, loudmouthed tight end Jeremy Shockey, who was injured and not available for the remainder of the Giants' season.
The Giants' offensive strength was their running game led by Brandon Jacobs but this was targeted by the Patriots, forcing Manning to throw the ball. To the surprise of most, Manning began landing clutch throws into the hands of his receivers and leading an opening scoring drive. The Giants took a 7-0 lead before surrendering ten points to the Patriots, including a short touchdown to Randy Moss that tied the single-season records being chased by Moss and Brady. But the game's intensity began picking up as the Giants returned the ensuing kick for a touchdown, helped in part by penalty yardage incurred for a taunting foul on Moss for his touchdown celebration.
The Patriots answered with two field goals before the final two minutes of the first half, but Eli Manning led a late scoring drive and scored the next touchdown, leaving the Giants leading 21-16, a lead they extended in the third quarter as Manning led yet another scoring drive, for a 28-16 Giants lead. But the Patriots, whose offense had sputtered somewhat, responded with clutch movement of the ball and stormed into the endzone on a short Laurence Maroney rush. After the defense forced a Giants punt, Tom Brady launched a deep strike to Randy Moss, but the ball fell short. Undaunted, Brady launched a virtually identical pass to Moss, who caught it and stormed into the endzone, thus setting new NFL records for touchdown passes (50) and receptions (23). Maroney rushed in a two-point conversion and the score was now 31-28 Patriots.
Eli Manning launched a deep pass on the first play of the Giants' next possession and it was picked off by cornerback Ellis Hobbs of the Patriots. From here, mixing underneath throws and Maroney runs, the Patriots methodically drove downfield and Maroney delivered the coup de grace for a 38-28 Patriots score with four minutes left in the game. But the Giants drove downfield and Manning launched a touchdown throw in the game's final minute, leading to a pivotal onside kick attempt by the Giants with a 38-35 Patriots lead - in a game that would prove to be a preview of Superbowl XLII.
The Patriots also had two offensive records to shoot for - quarterback Tom Brady needed two touchdown throws to break the NFL's single-season touchdown record set at 49 by Peyton Manning in 2004, while receiver Randy Moss, given up for dead career-wise by many in the NFL before the season, was two touchdown catches short of breaking the single-season record of 22 set by Jerry Rice in 1987.
The NY Giants entered the game with a 10-5 record and a playoff spot locked in. Neither team had any gain in season standings to make from the game, but there was motivation for the Giants as well - shown before the game when defensive captain Michael Strahan loudly ordered camera crews who had not covered the team throughout the season away from his huddle - for they had played inconsistently throughout their season, particularly with quarterback Eli Manning, a highly-touted 2004 draft pick as son of popular NFL legend Archie Manning and younger brother of present-day superstar Peyton Manning. Eli thus became the third member of pro football's most famous family to face the New England Patriots - Archie had lost two career meetings with the Patriots while quarterback of the New Orleans Saints in the 1970s and a third encounter with the Patriots in the strike-marred 1982 season as member of the Houston Oilers, while Peyton's career with the Indianapolis Colts was partially defined by years of struggle (including a 24-20 loss to the Patriots during the 2007 season) and a stunning AFC Championship win against the Patriots in 2006. The younger Manning's poor play entering the game left most fans and many observors writing him off, but in the din of criticism was an overlooked angle - the poor play of one of Manning's key receivers, loudmouthed tight end Jeremy Shockey, who was injured and not available for the remainder of the Giants' season.
The Giants' offensive strength was their running game led by Brandon Jacobs but this was targeted by the Patriots, forcing Manning to throw the ball. To the surprise of most, Manning began landing clutch throws into the hands of his receivers and leading an opening scoring drive. The Giants took a 7-0 lead before surrendering ten points to the Patriots, including a short touchdown to Randy Moss that tied the single-season records being chased by Moss and Brady. But the game's intensity began picking up as the Giants returned the ensuing kick for a touchdown, helped in part by penalty yardage incurred for a taunting foul on Moss for his touchdown celebration.
The Patriots answered with two field goals before the final two minutes of the first half, but Eli Manning led a late scoring drive and scored the next touchdown, leaving the Giants leading 21-16, a lead they extended in the third quarter as Manning led yet another scoring drive, for a 28-16 Giants lead. But the Patriots, whose offense had sputtered somewhat, responded with clutch movement of the ball and stormed into the endzone on a short Laurence Maroney rush. After the defense forced a Giants punt, Tom Brady launched a deep strike to Randy Moss, but the ball fell short. Undaunted, Brady launched a virtually identical pass to Moss, who caught it and stormed into the endzone, thus setting new NFL records for touchdown passes (50) and receptions (23). Maroney rushed in a two-point conversion and the score was now 31-28 Patriots.
Eli Manning launched a deep pass on the first play of the Giants' next possession and it was picked off by cornerback Ellis Hobbs of the Patriots. From here, mixing underneath throws and Maroney runs, the Patriots methodically drove downfield and Maroney delivered the coup de grace for a 38-28 Patriots score with four minutes left in the game. But the Giants drove downfield and Manning launched a touchdown throw in the game's final minute, leading to a pivotal onside kick attempt by the Giants with a 38-35 Patriots lead - in a game that would prove to be a preview of Superbowl XLII.
