PATS REMAIN PERFECT
See-saw battle finally ends on 54-yard field goal
Fractions of inches, micro-seconds and a couple marginal replay reviews were all that separated the New England Patriots from their first defeat — and the New York Giants from their biggest win since Super Bowl XLVI.
In one of the season’s most thrilling games, the visiting Patriots eked out a 27-26 win Sunday on Stephen Gostkowski’s 54-yard field goal with one second remaining in the cool of a mid-autumn evening at MetLife Stadium.
New England improved to 9-0. New York fell to 5-5 but still clings to the NFC East lead.
Both teams could have given out a slew of game balls in this ferociously fought game.
In the final two minutes, it seemed the Giants had about five glorious chances to win it.
With 2:06 left, Giants quarterback Eli Manning appeared to throw a five-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. that would have put the Giants up 30-24.
But on replay review, Patriots second-year cornerback Malcolm Butler — last year’s Super Bowl hero — swatted the ball out of Beckham’s hands the moment he got his second foot down in the end zone with ball secured.
The call could have gone either way. It was surprising, then, that officials overturned the on-field call of touchdown into an incompletion.
Another incompletion and a sack later, the Giants settled for a 29-yard Josh Brown field goal to go up 26-24, with 1:47 left.
On the first play after Brown’s touchback, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a lifeless deep pass far short of receiver Aaron Dobson that rookie Giants safety Landon Collins appeared to intercept. He caught it and smacked to the turf.
But the old complete-the-catch-tothe-ground rule came into play. Collins lost the ball just before his falling motion stopped. Incomplete.
Three plays later, on fourth and 10, a rattled Brady found Danny Amendola for a 12-yard gain. After another completion to Amendola, the Patriots started stacking momentum.
With 19 seconds left, Brady hit Amendola one more time for eight yards, down to the Giants’ 36. Brady rushed the team up and spiked the ball with six seconds left.
Gostkowski then made the long winning field goal, tucking it inside the left upright by less than a yard. The Giants blew it and knew it. “A greatly disappointing loss,” a clearly upset Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said afterward. “Not much for me to say about it other than the frustration was … I mean, finish the game! Just get the game over with.
“I’m very disappointed … upset, whatever the words might be. The guys practised hard. They worked hard. They wanted it badly. They prepared well. They battled out on the field. But a very frustrating loss.”
PEYTON BENCHED: It played out simultaneously on your widescreen TV into early Sunday evening: A Tale of Two Mannings.
And what a contrast. Older brother Peyton was benched late in the third quarter after a putrid performance in the Denver Broncos’ 29-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — another eye-opening sign that his late-career renaissance is near, or at, an end.
Younger brother Eli, meanwhile, confirmed for a living fact his own late-career renaissance with another spectacular passing performance. Eli finished 24 of 44 for 361 yards, two TDs and no interceptions against the Patriots’ stout defence.
But whatever Eli might have done Sunday was never going to be as newsworthy as Peyton’s dismal day in Denver.
After breaking Brett Favre’s NFL career passing yards record early in the first quarter — officials stopped the game briefly, as Manning waved the ball in acknowledging the hometown fans’ cheers — he could barely complete another throw.
At halftime, with K.C. up 19-0, Peyton had hit on only four of 15 passes for 30 yards, three interceptions and a 0.0 passer rating.
“I have never seen Peyton Manning look as bad as he looks today,” his former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy tweeted at halftime. “I have to think he’s hurt.”
Manning then missed on four of five throws in the third quarter and was picked off again before Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak mercifully pulled him late in the stanza, with Denver down 22-0.
“I was protecting him because I was worrying about him,” Kubiak said. “I’m disappointed in myself. This one was on me. I probably should have made the decision not to play him.”
Manning had been listed all week with a foot injury, and was surprisingly treated Saturday for a ribs issue as well.
Denver now has lost two in a row after opening 7-0. K.C. continued its run of impressive play to improve to 4-5.