Patriots pull away late to knock off Giants
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| Elise Amendola/AP |
That was no different tonight, but the Patriots were still able to topple New York 35-14 at Gillette Stadium thanks to their outstanding defense and special teams. With the win, New England improves to 6-0.
In the early going, Big Blue was able to match just about everything New England did. The Patriots got on the board first on a blocked punt by Chase Winovich, and then added another score courtesy of Brandon Bolden. Follow Bolden's touchdown, New York answered with a big play from rookie quarterback Daniel Jones to Golden Tate that resulted in a score. On New England's next drive, the Giants recovered a Tom Brady fumble and tied the game at 14.
It was not until late in the game that they were able to pull away. With just over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Patriots were clinging to a 21-14 lead. A fumble by Jonathan Hilliman recovered by Jamie Collins led to a quick Brady touchdown to put the defending Super Bowl champions up 28-14.
Minutes later, after the Giants went three-and-out, The Pats got another rushing touchdown from Brady to seal the victory.
Brady began his night going 4-of-11 and at one point missed on seven straight passes. On top of his two rushing touchdowns, he finished 31-of-41 for 334 yards and one ugly interception on a ball that was intended for Julian Edelman, whom had himself a historic night.
The Super Bowl LIII MVP hauled in nine passes for 113 yards and is now third on the Patriots' all-time receptions list.
Despite the offensive struggles, New England's defense dominated once again. The Boogeymen came up with four takeaways and only allowed one passing touchdown, the first of such it has allowed this season. Three of those takeaways were interceptions from John Simon, Duron Harmon and Stephon Gilmore.
New England did not walk out of Foxborough completely healthy, though. Wide receiver Josh Gordon, tight end Matt LaCosse and safety Patrick Chung all left with injuries and did not return.
What's more, the struggles of the offensive line and Mike Nugent reared their ugly heads for the second straight week. Nugent in particular should be feeling the heat, as he missed a 40-yard field goal and saw the Patriots take multiple fourth down opportunities inside of Giants territory instead of opting for a field goal.
Next up, the Patriots will travel to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets on Oct. 21 in a Monday night match up.
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