NFL Football Review, The Sports Network, Sweet 16: Brady, Moss, New England Patriots Make History
East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - The champagne stayed on ice all season long for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, as the New England Patriots rallied from 12 points down in the second half to beat the New York Giants, 38-35, becoming the first NFL team to finish a regular season 16-0.
Tom Brady completed 32-of-42 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns for the Patriots (16-0), who became the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to finish a regular season without a loss. Brady's second scoring pass was his 50th of the season, putting him past Peyton Manning's record of 49, set in 2004.
"I think what I'm most proud of is playing a playoff team on the road.... and finding a way to win," said Brady. "We rallied back and showed some toughness and some character, and that'll hopefully prepare us for what's going to happen next month."Randy Moss gained 100 yards on six grabs with two scores, and his second touchdown was his 23rd TD reception of the season, breaking Jerry Rice's record of 22. Rice set that in only 12 games, though, in the strike- shortened 1987 campaign. Laurence Maroney rushed for 46 yards on 19 carries and two scores.
The Patriots now have two weeks to rest and prepare for the playoffs, where they will seek to become the first team in NFL history to finish a season 19-0. The 1972 Dolphins went on to win Super Bowl VII, and finish the season 17-0."I think all the credit goes to the players. They stepped up and made a lot of outstanding plays at critical times in the game, especially in the second half and the fourth quarter. The Giants are a good football team. They're well coached and they certainly gave us all we could handle tonight," said Pats head coach Bill Belichick.
Eli Manning completed 22-of-32 passes for 251 yards, with four touchdowns but one crucial interception for the Giants (10-6), who will visit NFC South champion-Tampa Bay next weekend in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Plaxico Burress had two TD catches among his four grabs for 84 yards, and Kevin Boss, filling in for the injured Jeremy Shockey, had four grabs for 50 yards and a score."We played a very difficult opponent, we played well, we had nothing to be ashamed of," said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. "We got another one next week."
Brandon Jacobs gained 67 yards on 15 carries on the ground, and had five catches for 44 yards and a score for the Giants.New York did potentially lose two starters in addition to the game, as center Shaun O'Hara and linebacker Kawika Mitchell both suffered knee sprains in the first half."I take my hat off to our team," said Coughlin. "I don't know any better way to be prepared for the playoffs, to go against a team that's 15-0.
It looked like the Giants were in line to break up the 16-0 march early in the second half. New York forced the Pats into a three-and-out on their first possession of the half, and then marched down for a score. Manning hit Burress falling out of the end zone, but the wideout was able to get down inbounds for the 19-yard scoring catch. The score put the Giants ahead 28-16 with 9:12 remaining.
Just like Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, though, the Giants could not hold onto a second-half lead against this Pats team.
The Pats marched 73 yards on eight plays in response and Maroney broke through from six yards out to cut the deficit to 28-23 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
For the go-ahead strike Brady went to none other than Moss. The two barely missed hooking up on a 65-yard bomb on 2-and-10 at the New England 35, as Moss couldn't come up with the catch. They dialed up the same play on third down, though, and this time Moss made the grab. The 65-yard TD catch put both Brady and Moss in the record books, but more importantly - after a two-point conversion run by Maroney - it put the Pats on top 31-28 with 11:06 remaining.
Then Manning made his one big mistake of the night, overthrowing Burress on the next drive, and Ellis Hobbs settled underneath the pass at the New England 48-yard-line for the interception. The Pats took their time on this drive, grinding off 5:17 before Maroney burst in for a five-yard scoring run, and New England took a commanding 10-point lead with 4:36 left.
The Giants mounted one last charge, and Burress made a great one-handed catch for a three-yard score with 1:04 left, but New York couldn't recover the ensuing onsides kickoff, and three Brady kneels were all that stood between New England and history.The Giants didn't wait long to attack, as Manning went deep over the middle to Burress on the second play from the scrimmage for a 52-yard connection that put New York at the New England 18. Five plays later Manning hit Jacobs over the middle, and the back rumbled in for an seven-yard touchdown, putting the Giants on top 7-0 with 10:59 remaining.
The Pats drove deep into New York territory on their first drive, but stalled at the 19, and settled for 37-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, making it a 7-3 game.
A questionable illegal contact penalty on Corey Webster negated an Antonio Pierce sack and extended the next Pats drive. Brady and Moss capitalized, as the two hooked up on a four-yard score that gave New England the scoring record, and vaulted the QB and wideout into ties with Manning and Rice, respectively. More importantly, the score gave the Pats a 10-7 lead with 14:55 remaining in the second quarter."
Individual records to me are not as important as what I've experienced in the past seven years, and what I experienced tonight," said Brady.
Moss and Maroney drew a personal foul for dancing after the score, though, pushing the ensuing kickoff back 15 yards. Domenik Hixon took advantage, bursting up the middle for 74 yards, and putting the Giants back on top, 14-10.
The Pats moved the ball well against the Giants in the second quarter, but twice stalled with the end zone in sight. Gostkowski kicked field goals of 45 and 37 yards, and the latter put New England up 16-14 with 1:59 remaining.
New York marched right down the field in its two-minute drill, though. Manning connected with Boss for a 23-yard gain early in the drive and, on 2nd-and-goal from the three with 18 seconds left, found Boss in the middle of the end zone, giving the Giants a 21-16 lead at the break.
Game Notes Welker's 11 catches gave him 112 on the season, which broke a Pats franchise record (101, set by Troy Brown in 2001) and moved him in front of T.J. Houshmandzadeh (103) for the most receptions in NFL this season. Houshmandzadeh will have a chance to take back the lead on Sunday...Brady finished with 4,806 yards passing, which topped Drew Bledsoe's 4,555 yards in 1994 for a franchise record...Gostkowski's three field goals were a season- high.
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