New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
What you need to know
New York Giants - QB Eli Manning was poised throughout the game. He managed the team very well, rarely placing the ball in places the opponent had an opportunity to make a play. His interception came on a bobbled pass by Steve Smith and was not his fault. Although he did have a poor pass thrown late in the game that should have been intercepted.RB Brandon Jacobs was unable to consistently move the ball in the running game. The Giants found that Ahmad Bradshaw was more effective and used him more as the game went on.
WR Plaxico Burress caught the go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter that turned out to be the game winner. Burress only caught two passes on nine targets on the night, as Eli Manning often forced the ball to him. Steve Smith and David Tyree both stepped up and provided big games for the Giants. Tyree made arguably the best catch of the night on the game winning drive, jumping up against good coverage to bring in a 32 yard catch. Smith caught several passes when he was well defended. Amani Toomer caught all six balls thrown his way and led the Giants in receiving with 84 yards.
New England Patriots - QB Tom Brady was under extreme pressure all night. He seemed to be a little tentative with his throws because he did not want to throw an interception, and it showed because he would often lead his receivers a little too much on their routes. Most of his yards were on underneath patterns as opposed to big plays -- as seen by his longest passing completion being 19 yards.RB Laurence Maroney was unable to get anything going on the ground. He did score a touchdown on a one yard run after defensive pass interference in the end zone. Kevin Faulk was primarily a blocking wide receiver in the backfield, as he only got one run on the night. He gained 52 yards on seven receptions on the night.
WR Wes Welker tied an NFL record with 11 receptions during the game, and he did it on 14 targets. He was generally running underneath option routes that let him get separation from the defenders. Randy Moss was targeted often but most of them were deep passes while either Brady was pressure or the coverage was solid. Moss did end up catching a touchdown, though. Benjamin Watson did not record a catch but was prevented from catching a touchdown in the end zone when a defensive player interfered with the catch.
What you ought to know
QB Eli Manning, Pass: 19 - 34 - 255 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 4 - 0 - Manning played an outstanding game earning MVP honors. He was placing the ball with great accuracy when he could step into his throw. His interception came on a bobbled ball from Steve Smith where Smith hit the ball up into the air. He was amazing in the fourth quarter where he led the Giants to two clutch touchdowns including the come from behind drive.RB Brandon Jacobs, Rush: 14 - 42 - 0 - Jacobs could not get anything going on the night. He only averaged three yards a carry against the Patriots, and was targeted zero times. He did make many solid blocks in the backfield, but could not get much going on offense.
RB Ahmad Bradshaw, Rush: 9 - 45 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) - Bradshaw got by the linebackers a couple of times for a couple of nice runs. He was pretty consistent and seemed to be more reliable than Jacobs on the night.
RB Madison Hedgecock, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) - Hedgecock was the fullback and saw limited action on the night. He had zero rushing attempts on the night and caught the only ball thrown his way, which yielded three yards.
WR Amani Toomer, Rec: 6 - 84 - 0 (6 targets) - Toomer had a slow start but ended up being a key player in the Giants victory. He made an amazing catch down the sidelines for 38 yards, in which he got away with a push-off but still ended up making a sideline catch that required him to keep his feet in bounds. He led the Giants in receiving and caught all the balls thrown his way.
WR Steve Smith, Rec: 5 - 50 - 0 (9 targets) - Smith caught five of the nine passes thrown his way. One of the passes he failed to catch resulted in an interception that was his fault. Manning threw the ball to him and be bobbled it up into the air and it ended up being intercepted by Hobbs of the Patriots. He caught a few third down passes against tough coverage, which was impressive.
WR David Tyree, Rec: 3 - 43 - 1 (5 targets) - Tyree played extremely well on the night, catching three of the five balls thrown his way. He made an amazing catch on the game winning drive after Eli Manning escaped pressure. It proved to be one of the key plays of the game as it gave the Giants a chance to score to comeback against the Patriots. He also caught the first touchdown of the night for the Giants from the five yard line.
WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 2 - 27 - 1 (9 targets) - Burress only caught two of the nine balls thrown his way, but they were important ones. One converted a third down on their field goal drive and the other ended up being a touchdown reception where he made the defender fall down with his cut. Burress caught the game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. He did drop one pass though that would have resulted in a first down, but it was due to coverage ripping his arm away.
TE Kevin Boss, Rec: 1 - 45 - 0 (2 targets) - Boss only caught one of the two balls thrown his way, but the one he caught ended up being a 45 yard route up the middle where he beat a linebacker, which led to a passing touchdown to David Tyree on an 80 yard drive.
PK Lawrence Tynes 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points - Tynes kicked a 32 yard field goal and made both extra points.
NYG Rush Defense - The Giants dominated the Patriots running game on the night, only allowing 45 yards on 16 attempts. They made several key stops to force the Patriots to punt, and helped lead to the low scoring affair that led the Giants to victory.
NYG Pass Defense - The Giants' pass defense was extremely effective because they pressure Tom Brady all night. They constantly kept him off balance and forced several errant passes, even if the pressure was not there that play. Brady was out of it and it was obvious. Most of his 266 yards came to Welker on short crossing patterns. QB Tom Brady, Pass: 29 - 48 - 266 - 1 TD / 0 INT - Brady was pressured all night and it was obvious it was affecting his play. He was 29 for 48 on the night for 266 yards, but most of his incompletions were due to errant throws. He hit Wes Welker 11 times on the night and Welker caught ever one of those passes.RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 14 - 36 - 1, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (3 targets) - Maroney was unable to effectively run the football against the stiff Giants' defense. He did get into the end zone after pass interference was called on a pass to Ben Watson in the end zone, but he could never get much going. The Giants filled the holes consistently and he was unable to break through them, only managing 36 yards on 14 rushing attempts. He caught two of the three balls thrown his way for 12 yards.
RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 7 - 52 - 0 (9 targets) - Faulk was primarily used as a receiver like usual. He had one rush for seven yards, but was used almost exclusively in shotgun sets for blocking and receiving. He caught seven of the nine balls thrown his way, but dropped one ball on the night which would have likely led to a first down. He was able to make many defenders miss which helped up his yardage total to 52 yards on the night.
RB Heath Evans, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 - Evans was rarely used. He had one rush for two yards and served as the fullback when New England used one.
WR Wes Welker, Rec: 11 - 103 - 0 (14 targets) - Welker was targeted 14 times on the night, catching an amazing 11 of those targets. He showed great hands and ran great underneath routes the entire game. He was the only receiver to gain over 100 yards on the night and tied an NFL record with 11 receptions. Six of the 11 catches he had were for first downs.
WR Randy Moss, Rec: 5 - 62 - 1 (12 targets) - Moss caught five balls for 62 yards. He was generally covered with safety help and targeted on deep routes. He was unable to make a big play due to the coverage and pressure on Tom Brady. He often had a step on his defender but he was so deep that Brady would have had to step into the pass, which was simply not possible against the rush Brady was facing. He did catch a touchdown pass, in which the defender fell down after a great cut before the ball was thrown.
WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 3 - 34 - 0 (5 targets) - Stallworth was not a huge factor on the night. He was the clear cut third option in the receiving game and only got targeted five times. He caught three of those for a total of 34 yards, one of which he broke a tackle to gain 18 yards on.
WR Jabar Gaffney (2 targets) - Gaffney did not receive many targets. He was the primary target on a play from the end zone but he was covered well and the ball ended up being thrown over Randy Moss's head. He did not catch either of the balls thrown his way, one of which was when the Patriots were desperate in the fourth down a field goal.
TE Kyle Brady, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) - Brady was not involved much in the offense, and caught the only ball thrown his way for three yards.
TE Ben Watson (2 targets) - Watson did not have a reception on the night, but would have had a touchdown catch if not for defensive pass interference in the end zone. The Patriots ended up getting a touchdown two plays after the interference penalty.
PK Stephen Gostkowski 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points - Gostkowski made both of his field goals, but the Patriots had an opportunity to have him kick a 48 yard attempt but they decided to go for it instead on fourth and 13 early in the game.
NE Rush Defense - The Patriots were able to contain Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw fairly efficiently on the night. They only allowed the running backs to gain 87 yards on 23 attempts. They were overall average on the night. They did not give up any big runs but they were unable to stop a couple of key third and short plays.
NE Pass Defense - The pass defense was solid on the night. They forced Eli Manning into 15 incompletions, one of which was an interception. They had three sacks, but ended up allowing the Giants to drive on them in the fourth quarter to win the game. Several of the catches made by the Giants were contested and it seemed like there was not much more the defense could do against the passes.
