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| BUF at PHI | CAR at TB | CIN at MIA | DAL at WAS | DET at GB | JAX at HOU | KC at NYJ | MIN at DEN |
| NE at NYG | NO at CHI | PIT at BAL | SD at OAK | SEA at ATL | SF at CLE | STL at ARI | TEN at IND |
Week 17 Game Recap: New England Patriots 38, New York Giants 35
What you need to know
| New England Patriots |
The Giants certainly did not make it easy, but Tom Brady was still able to complete 76 percent of his passes for 356 yards, and two touchdowns on their way to a 16-0 season. On a fourth quarter 65 yard touchdown to Randy Moss; Tom Brady broke the single season passing touchdown record held by Peyton Manning, and the Patriots broke the single season scoring record held by the Minnesota Vikings. Those points would also give the Patriots the first and only lead they would need in the game on their way to a perfect regular season.
Randy Moss was held down for much of the game, only accounting for 30 yards through three quarters, though to his credit he caught his 22nd touchdown of the regular season, tying the NFL record held by Jerry Rice for touchdown catches in a single season in the second quarter. On his first catch of the fourth quarter, Moss caught a deep Tom Brady pass down the right sideline for a 65 yard touchdown, on a play that would help Moss break Rice's record.
Wes Welker was hardly the story in this game with so many other things going on, but he once again quietly had a stellar game to the tune of 11 catches and 122 yards. Barring something unforeseen in the late games, Welker will end up leading the league in receptions with 112; a truly amazing accomplishment, given his modest physical ability.
| New York Giants |
Eli Manning completed 22 of 32 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns, while only throwing one interception. He looked composed considering a Patriots pass rush that was in the backfield for much of the game, and only made the one mistake on an overthrown ball to Plaxico Burress that was intercepted by Ellis Hobbs. Given that Manning came into the game with four touchdowns and eight interceptions over his last five games, this was an especially encouraging performance from Manning, and should give him a nice confidence boost heading into the post season.
Plaxico Burress looked healthy, coming out with a 52 yard reception on the Giants opening drive. He ended up with 84 yards on four receptions, but two of those went for touchdowns in the second half. One on a beautiful 19 yard score down the right sideline where he was narrowly able to keep his feet in bounds, and the second on a one handed catch for a four yard touchdown. Burress may not practice frequently, and is generally seen as a malcontent, but when he is motivated to play is a dominant player. With Jeremy Shockey out for the season, Burress will need to remain Manning's big play threat in the postseason.
Brandon Jacobs only had seven yards on seven carries through the first half, but came out and played well in the second half, especially on two consecutive carries of 16 and 15 that would eventually setup a Plaxico Burress touchdown. Jacobs was used on passing downs in this game, and only gave way to his backup Reuben Droughns once. As usual, Jacobs ran with power, and proved difficult to bring down once into the defensive secondary. He finished the game with 111 total yards on 20 touches, with one receiving touchdown.
What you ought to know
| QB Tom Brady, Pass: 32 - 42 - 356 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - -4 - 0 |
Tom Brady completed 32 of 42 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns. For much of the game Brady seemed content looking to his receivers on intermediate routes, as the Giants did a very good job of keeping the Patriots in front of them. While the Giants pass rush was all over Brady, he stayed composed in the pocket and looked accurate on his throws. In the fourth quarter Brady broke it open, finding Randy Moss deep down the right sideline for a 65 yards touchdown, which gave the Patriots a lead they would not relinquish.
| RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 19 - 46 - 2 |
Laurence Maroney carried the ball 19 times for 46 yards, but had two second half touchdowns, the second of which gave the Patriots the win. Maroney found very little room to run, with the exception of a 13 yard gain in the second quarter. Tom Brady and the passing game was able to get it into the redzone a couple of times in the second half though, and Maroney punched it in from six and five yards respectively. He was the primary ball carrier, but did not garner any targets in the passing game as Kevin Faulk replaced him on all passing downs.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0, Rec: 8 - 64 - 0 (8 targets) |
Kevin Faulk carried the ball only twice for negative two yards in the game, but as usual managed to find a way to make an impact in the passing game, catching all eight of his targets for 64 yards. Brady looked to Faulk frequently underneath as his primary check down option, and Faulk continuously made something out of nothing to keep the Patriot quarterback out of trouble.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 11 - 122 - 0 (12 targets) |
Wes Welker caught a workmanlike 11 passes for 122 yards, most of which were on short passes that Welker was able to take for nice gains. Tom Brady has the utmost confidence in Welker, as the pair play the game like they've been doing it together for years. His precise route running and flawless hands make for a perfect compliment to the big play ability of Randy Moss.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 6 - 100 - 2 (13 targets) |
Randy Moss caught six of his 13 targets for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Through the first three quarters, Moss was held to only 30 yards, but in the fourth quarter with the Patriots down by four, Tom Brady found Moss wide open down the deep right sideline, but Moss dropped the under thrown pass. On the very next play Brady again called Moss' number deep down the right sideline, and this time Moss caught the perfectly thrown ball to jog in for an easy 65 yard touchdown. The Patriots took the lead, and would not give it up from there. Moss also caught a four yard touchdown in the second quarter.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (3 targets) |
Donte Stallworth played in three and four receiver sets, and caught all three of his targets for 32 yards. Though Stallworth has elite deep speed, Moss is clearly the preferred deep weapon of Tom Brady as Stallworth was never looked at down the field.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 4 - 38 - 0 (6 targets) |
Ben Watson caught four passes for 38 yards, on six targets. Watson dropped a couple of passes in the first quarter, but later settled down and had separate receptions of 21 and 16 later in the game, showing his ability to get down field.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Gostkowski hit all three of his field goal attempts of 37, 46, and 37 respectively, plus made good on all three of his converts.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots allowed 79 yards on 19 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per carry. Brandon Jacobs found very little room to run in the first half only carrying the ball seven times for seven yards, but in the second half would break off consecutive runs of 16 and 15 to get things going a little.
| NE Pass Defense |
The Patriots allowed Eli Manning to complete 22 of his 32 passing attempts for a 69 completion percentage, as well as throw for 251 yards and four touchdowns. Though the Patriots seemed to be in the Giants backfield frequently throughout the game, they only managed to sack him once, while causing one interception on an overthrown ball. Considering Eli Manning came into the game with a four to eight touchdown to interception ratio over his last five games, this was a discouraging performance for the Patriots pass defense.
| QB Eli Manning, Pass: 22 - 32 - 251 - 4 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 13 - 0 |
Eli Manning completed 22 of 32 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns. With the exception of a fourth quarter interception on a deep pass down the left side that was over thrown, Manning played composed in the pocket and did not make any mistakes. Given that the running game gave him virtually nothing in the first half, Manning's performance looked even more impressive since the Giants got out to a 21-16 lead. One of Manning's better plays of the game came late in the second quarter in the Patriots redzone, Manning unable to find anyone open scrambled up the middle for an 11 yard gain, setting the offense up with a first down on the goalline. Manning was able to keep things close in the second half, finding Plaxico Burress twice for scores.
| RB Brandon Jacobs, Rush: 15 - 67 - 0, Rec: 5 - 44 - 1 (6 targets) |
Brandon Jacobs ran the ball 15 times for 67 yards, with five receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Jacobs did not find a lot of running room in the first half, carrying the ball seven times for a total of seven yards. In the third quarter he got things going with consecutive runs of 16 and 15 respectively, eventually setting up Plaxico Burress with his first of two scores on the day. Jacobs had a nine yard run and first down nullified by a penalty, which eventually cost the Giants another potential score when Eli Manning was sacked for a big loss a few plays later.
| RB Reuben Droughns, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Droughns did not have a carry until the third quarter, and it went for negative one yard. He did not see any other game action.
| WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 4 - 84 - 2 (8 targets) |
Plaxico Burress caught four passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns on eight targets. He started out the game with a bang, catching a pass down the deep middle for 52 yards, eventually setting up Brandon Jacobs with a receiving score. Burress garnered a target short left in the endzone in the second quarter, but was in tight coverage with Asante Samuel. Kevin Boss would score one play later. In the second half Burress came alive again, first catching a beautiful ball down the right sideline narrowly keeping his feet in bounds for a 19 yard touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Burress caught Eli Manning's last score of the game on a one handed grab for three yards. He found himself wide open after the defender fell down, then made the one handed stab look easy.
| WR Amani Toomer, Rec: 4 - 41 - 0 (7 targets) |
Amani Toomer caught four passes for 41 yards, on seven total targets. Toomer was targeted most often on intermediate routes. He committed a costly fourth quarter holding penalty that negated a Brandon Jacobs first down run.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (4 targets) |
Steve Smith caught three passes for 29 yards, all on the last Giants drive of the game. He made two clutch grabs that set up the eventual Plaxico Burress touchdown to bring the score to 38-35 Patriots. Smith played in three and four receiver sets splitting time with David Tyree. He was targeted a total of four times in the game, dropping one pass in the first quarter.
| TE Kevin Boss, Rec: 4 - 50 - 1 (5 targets) |
Starting for the injured Jeremy Shockey, Kevin Boss caught four passes for 50 yards, and a touchdown. Boss showed some big play ability, as Eli Manning found him for catches of 17 and 23 yards. He caught his three yard touchdown short over the middle in the second quarter, and strangely all of his five targets were in the same quarter.
| PK Lawrence Tynes 0 - 0 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 5 points |
Tynes converted all five of his point extra attempts, and did not attempt a field goal. His biggest game impact came late in the fourth quarter with the Giants down 38-35. Needing an onside kick to get the ball back, the ball was kicked too far down the field, and Tynes did not get the ball high enough to allow the special teams unit to have a chance at it. The Patriots were able to ice the clock from there.
| NYG Rush Defense |
The Patriots ran the ball 26 times, but for only 44 yards and a 1.7 yard per carry average. The Giants defensive line seemed to man-handle the Patriot offensive line at various points throughout the game, and generally the Patriots had very little room to run either outside or up the middle. On the downside, Laurence Maroney had two second half touchdowns of six and five yards respectively, the second being the game winning points.
| NYG Pass Defense |
Most games if you give up 356 passing yards, two touchdowns and a 76 percent completion rate, that's a poor effort. Those numbers certainly don't tell the whole story here though. While Brady was still able to complete most of his passes, the Giants pass rush was in his face for most of the game, making life difficult for the Pro Bowl pivot. The Giants only sacked Brady once, and did not intercept any passes, but they hurried him countless times throughout the game. With the exception of a fourth quarter 65 yard touchdown to Randy Moss, they also did a good job of keeping the Patriots in front of them.
