Patriots hold on against New York Giants to remain undefeated
Kevin Burke
Content Editor
Wow… Well, that was exciting.
Last Sunday afternoon, The New England Patriots improved to 9-0 after beating the New York Giants, 27-26, at Metlife Stadium.
This was a game that felt lost multiple times in the fourth quarter, begin-ning with a horrific goal-line interception by Giants cornerback, Trumaine McBride.
A drive that looked as if the Patriots were going to put the game away with a touchdown, turned into an 86-yard drive the other way for the Giants, that had Pats fans on the edge of their seat.
The game was then thought to be lost when Eli Manning seemingly hit Odell Beckham Jr. for the presumptively game-winning TD, but after re-viewing the play, the refs overturned the call saying that Beckham did not maintain possession.
This led to a Giants field goal, only putting New York ahead by two.
The Patriots then, having one final drive to win the game, and with Brady playing his worst game of the season (26/42 passing, 1 interception, and a 55.6 quarterback rating), drove down the field with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, to set kicker Stephen Gostkowski up for the game-winning 54-yard field goal.
The field goal was set up despite a near interception that was ultimately
dropped by Giants rookie safety, Landon Collins, on the opening play of the game-winning drive.
And all is well in Patriot-land once again.
The New England Patriots are now one of only two teams still with an undefeated record (the other being the Carolina Panthers). With the Bengals loss on Monday night, they now hold the number one seed and on pace for a first round bye if the postseason started today.
One notable aspect of the game that could end up hurting the Pats down the road is the foot injury suffered by Julian Edelman at the end of the first quarter. He didn’t return to the game, and according to NFL.com, broke a bone in his foot, and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
This has the potential to be a devastating injury for the Patriots down the road, as Edelman is Brady’s favorite target, but as long as he can get healthy come January, the Pats should be in a good spot heading into the playoffs.
The Patriots will play the Buffalo Bills (5-4) next Monday night at Gillette Stadium, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN Monday Night Football, seeking to im-prove their undefeated record to 10-0.
Kevin Burke is the Content Editor for The Comment. Follow him on Twitter at @Ke7inBurke.
