Patriots drop a tough one to the Giants at Gillette
Monday, November 07, 2011
The ability to bounce back after a loss has certainly been a trademark characteristic during Bill Belichick's tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots.
That ability was put to the test Sunday in Foxboro by the New York Giants. And as they did to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, the Giants once again came from behind late in the game to beat the Pats 24-20, ending New England's 20-game regular season unbeaten streak at home.
Perhaps it was nothing more than just a Pittsburgh hangover, but the Patriots found themselves with poor field position on their first two drives of the game. Only one first down came as a result, as the Giants tried to take advantage of good field position themselves. But the oft-maligned New England defense managed a couple of big stops on third down themselves, after allowing the Steelers six straight 3rd down conversions in the first quarter a week ago. With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Tom Brady found Wes Welker over the middle for 25 yards, and Brady kept the ball himself for a first down to keep the drive moving in New York territory as the quarter ended.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Giants came up with their big stop as a tipped Brady pass over the middle found the waiting arms of Mathias Kiwanuka, halting the Pats’ drive at the 28 yard line. Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth made his presence felt, on the ensuing series, collapsing the pocket against Eli Manning and forcing the Giants into long yardage plays – which they failed to convert.
Once again, the Patriots produced one first down, then failed to sustain a drive thanks to a bobbled snap and dropped pass from Rob Gronkowski. The Giants also had a drive into New England territory stopped short by a penalty, and a bobbled snap, forcing another punt.
At least the punters were getting a workout.
The field position battle seemed to edge toward the Giants after a Zoltan Mesko punt gave New York the ball at their own 49 with 4:45 to play before the half. Thanks in part to a solid rush up the middle from Vince Wilfork, the Patriots’ defense forced a three-and-out, giving Brady and the offense the ball at the New England nine. After hitting Danny Woodhead for 14 yards, and Welker for three over the middle, Brady found an open seam for 21 more yards to Welker to the NE 48 at the 2:00 minute warning. With 1:13 left on the clock, Brady found Welker for a short gain over the middle, and on the tackle by Michael Boley, Welker seemed to land awkwardly on his right shoulder. Two plays later, Brady hit Woodhead for 13 to the sideline, and Gronkowski for another gain to the 11. On third and seven from the eight, Brady missed Aaron Hernandez open in the end zone, forcing Stephen Gostkowski into a 27 yard FG attempt – that he missed.
Scoreless at halftime? Incredible as it might have seemed, it was that ugly. At least for the offense. The 0-0 first half was the first time both teams played to a scoreless first half tie in a Patriots’ game in almost 20 years.
On the first play of the third quarter, Brady found Hernandez for a 15 yard completion that was initially ruled incomplete as a juggled catch before hitting the ground. However, the ruling was challenged by Bill Belichick and subsequently overruled as a completion. While that provided a momentary spark, two plays later, Brady threw his second interception as Deon Grant stepped in front of a pass intended for Gronkowski – turning back another Patriot drive in NY territory. Manning quickly hooked up with ex-UMass star Victor Cruz, then for 29 yards over the middle to TE Jake Ballard at the Patriot 11. Three plays later, Kyle Arrington tipped away a pass at the goal line intended for Cruz, and Lawrence Tynes connected from 22 yards out for the first score of the game, making it 3-0 Giants with 10:09 left in the 3rd quarter.
It went from bad, to worse – for the Patriots from there. On a third down pass attempt, Brady was stripped from the football and fumbled, giving NY the ball at the 10 yard line. It only took one play for Brandon Jacobs to run it into the end zone…10-0 Giants, with 9:10 to play in the quarter.
Tom Brady’s game to this point? Two interceptions and a fumble, leading directly to the ten New York points on the scoreboard. You read that right.
The break the Patriots desperately needed came after a Mesko punt, which was fumbled by Aaron Ross at the NY 33. However, the drive stalled at the 14, forcing Gostkowski into a 32 yard field goal to make the score 10-3 with 5:29 to play in the third. After the New England defense forced the Giants into a three-and-out, Julian Edelman fumbled a punt return (the 4th NE turnover of the game) at his own 40. Manning found Cruz for a 23 yard gain to the 17, and Ramses Barden for 14 yards to the three. Three plays later, the defense turned in a big play of their own, as Arrington picked off Manning in the end zone on third-and-goal. With the energy of that big stop behind them, Brady hit Welker for 27 yards, to the NY 47…then found Welker for 28 more to the 16 yard line, putting the Patriots in range to tie it up at the end of the third quarter.
On the second play of the 4th quarter, Brady found Hernandez from six yards out for the Pats’ first touchdown, tying the score at 10-10 with 14:28 to play.
After the NE defense forced a Giant punt, the Patriots offense took over at their own 21. Welker picked up 13 yards on an end run, then Brady found Gronkowski for 27 yards over the middle, as Gronk made a nice shoestring catch on the play. The drive stalled out on the NY 27 yard line, which left it up to Gostkowski to make good from 45 yards away.
He did, to make it 13-10 Patriots with 7:08 remaining. But the game wasn’t quite over.
A 35 yard pass interference call against Arrington on Mario Manningham gave the Giants the ball at the Patriot 40. A run by D.J. Ware put the ball at the NE 24, and a completion to Barden set NY up at the 15 with a first down. Three plays later, Manning found Manningham in the endzone, beating Arrington in the corner on a 10 yard reception to make it 17-13 with 3:03 left on the clock.
Time enough for Tom Terrific?
The Patriots got good field position after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced the Giants to kick off from their 20, with the offense setting up shop at their own 36. Brady hit Deion Branch for 15, Woodhead carried the ball for gains of nine and five, then Brady completed a pass to Gronkowski for 20 yards to the NY 15 at the 2:00 warning. With 1:54 on the clock, and all three time outs remaining, was there a soul in Gillette Stadium who didn’t think the Patriots would find a way into the end zone?
Four plays later, on 4th down and nine from the 14, Brady delivered magic one more time, finding Gronkowski open in the end zone for the go ahead score. Yet with 1:36 still to play, there was plenty of time for Eli Manning to “out-Brady” Brady. Starting from their 20, Manning hit Cruz for 19 yards, 28 yards to Ballard over the middle, then Manning picked up 12 more on a scramble to the NE 21. On first down from the 21, the defense (Sergio Brown) was called for pass interference on Cruz in the end zone.
Two plays later, from inside the one, Manning found Ballard for the score, and a phenomenal finish went the Giants’ way, much like it did in Super Bowl XLII. With :15 seconds left and no time outs left, there was no time left for Brady or the Patriots…except time to think about what might have been.
Again.
Post Game Notes
The Patriots have lost back-to-back games for just the third time since the beginning of the 2003 season. Over that span, the Patriots are now 26-3 in games following a regular season loss. Over the last nine seasons (2003-11), the only other times the Patriots lost back-to-back games was once in 2006 and once in 2009...Prior to Sunday, the last time the Patriots lost a regular-season game at Gillette Stadium was on Nov. 30, 2008, when New England fell 33-10 to Pittsburgh...
Rob Gronkowski had eight catches for 101 yards, including a grab for a 14-yard touchdown with 1:36 remaining that gave the Patriots a 20-17 lead. Gronkowski now has six touchdowns this season and has 16 touchdowns since the start of the 2010 season, the most among any tight end in the NFL over that span...Tom Brady concluded a 31-game winning streak as a starter in home games. Brady’s streak of 31 straight home victories was the longest such streak for any starting quarterback in NFL history, besting Brett Favre’s string of 25 straight home wins from 1995-98...
Kyle Arrington registered his fifth interception of the season when he picked off Eli Manning in the end zone in the third quarter. He is tied with Eric Weddle (Seattle) and Charles Woodson (Green Bay) for the NFL lead...The Patriots were held scoreless in the first half for the first time since a 21-0 loss at Miami on Dec. 10, 2006. The Patriots and the Giants did not score in the first half. It is the first time since a 14-0 loss at the LA Rams on Sept. 13, 1992 that the Patriots played a 0-0 first half...
One-and-One:
Nitpick - this time, it's on the offense. All of a sudden, the juggernaut of an offense for New England is merely ordinary, as opposing defenses figure out a way to slow down Brady and the vaunted Patriots' passing game. Brady continues to put up yards, but the end result is more mistakes by the QB, and by his receivers. Brady has gone from one of the best in the game, to merely good...
Superlative - Welker and Gronkowski continue to impress with their physical, clutch play in tough spots. Gronk had a career best eight catches for 101 yards, Welker had nine grabs for 136 yards.
Sneak peek @ Next Week - @ the New York Jets:
'Nuff said?
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