During the final stanza, Brady found Amendola five times, including three times on the game-winning field goal drive.
Advertisement
The team needs to get through the next couple of games and be injury free. If the Giants had run the ball thrice, gotten stopped on each, and settled for a field goal, the Patriots would have gotten the ball back with about a minute remaining. That set up a 54-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski, who made it without a problem.
As corners and receivers typically do, Beckham and Butler went at it on almost every play, even getting chippy at certain points.
Coughlin said as they came off the field on Sunday, Beckham told him what he later told reporters in the locker room, that he felt he cost the Giants the win. Amendola is the “got to have it” player for the Pats.
INJURIES: Patriots receiver Julian Edelman left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury. Danny showed a great instinctiveness to kind of work back inside and get away from (linebacker Jonathan) Casillas and then get what he could get and get down quickly so the ball could get spotted and we’d have enough time to clock it and kick the field goal, not try to waste time trying to dodge around and make another yard or two and waste time going through the whole end-of-the-play process. He actually had the Giants leading for the entire third quarter and then regained the lead with 1:47 left in the fourth.
“I was happy, excited we won – I wish it didn’t come down to what it had to comes down but that’s what happens”. Quarterback Eli Manning completed 24 of 44 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns. Barring any dramatic recovery, Edelman will finish the season with 61 catches, 692 yards and seven touchdowns.
It will be a long bye week for Coach Coughlin and the Giants. But with Philadelphia (4-5) losing to Miami and Dallas (2-7) dropping its seventh straight game, the Giants remain atop the NFC East through Week 10. “We prepared well, worked hard all week, played hard, and had the 10-point lead”.
Sunday’s 27-26 win by the Patriots in the Meadowlands was one of the best games I have seen in a while.
In other words, if Beckham’s play was ruled a catch, it’s likely that the Patriots undefeated season would have ended.
As for the rest of the regular season without Edelman?
Advertisement
Just 51 seconds after Chandler’s touchdown, Beckham stunned the Patriots with a spectacular reaching catch-and-run on which he split New England’s two best defensive backs, Malcolm Butler and Devin McCourty. Bill Belichick said he expected it, and it was easy to stop when you know it’s coming. “We can’t draw up 20 new plays because something happens”. Well, they should’ve made it. They led the Colts by 18 points at halftime, and eventually lost to Peyton in Indianapolis after a very weak second half of play.
