When the teams next met four seasons later, NY won 24-20 on a TD pass by Manning with 15 seconds left to snap New England’s 31-game regular-season home win streak with Brady in the lineup. The 2007 and 2011 “Steel Curtain” defenses are no longer there- the Giants are dead last in yards per game now and have only nine total sacks on the season.
Advertisement
“It’s a totally different team and game and situation and so forth, but they just have a great organization”.
Even more important, when the Giants and Eli Manning need a big play, it tends to be Beckham getting the ball.
The Giants are one of two National Football League teams to have an overall winning record against Brady, largely on the strength of their Super Bowl victories in 2008 and ’12.
“But on the other end, they’ve beaten all the teams that I like”. Also on the schedule are the Jets (5-3), Dolphins (3-5), Redskins (3-5) and Eagles, who will visit MetLife Stadium for the regular-season finale. The Giants ruined the Patriots’ flawless season with the 17-14 upset in Super Bowl XLII after the 2007 season and then earned another Lombardi Trophy with the 21-17 win in Super Bowl XLVI.
With New England firmly in control of the league’s dominate conference and in line for one of the top two playoff seeds, Brady’s on pace to eclipse his career high in passing yardage with 2,709 yards and 22 touchdowns compared to two interceptions for a league-best 113.5 passer rating.
The major caveat: New England has been playing lights-out in building an 8-0 record, while the Giants have struggled to grasp first place in the NFC East.
New England presents the Giants with their toughest test of the season, as they are undefeated with arguably the best offense in the NFL.
Brady continued, “It was an incredible year”.
But what about the history between these two teams?
The Giants are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1990 Super Bowl championship this season. So Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked about star Giants wideout Odell Beckham by reporters this week. The gifted receiver leads the Giants in catches (59, sixth in the NFL), receiving yards (759, fourth), and receiving touchdowns (seven, tied for first).
To this point in the 2015 season, NY has exactly nine sacks, ranking them last in the NFL. “You got a guy that’s only thrown two interceptions”. “I’m sure the more they use him, the more experience and opportunity that he gets, the more plays he’ll make”. In their last five games, the Patriots are 5-0 SU and 5-1-1 ATS in the last seven games. The NY defense was very good, but to hear a few people talk you would think they were the “Steel Curtain” Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970’s. Shuffling an offensive line like that usually spells, at the very least, moderate troubles for an offense.
Of course, there’s plenty of reason for New England to be confident.
Advertisement
“I wasn’t there”, said Pierre-Paul, who played this past weekend for the first time since losing a finger in a July 4 fireworks accident. The Patriots will look to remain undefeated, but the Giants are one of the only teams that have the Patriots’ number. The Giants have given up the 5 most points to quarterbacks so you would have to be absolutely insane to not start Brady.
