Giant heartbreak: Unbeaten Patriots escape with last-second win on Stephen Gostkowski's 54-yard field goal
Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants walks off the field after a loss against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Shane Vereen knew.
He'd been on the other side, been in the huddle with Tom Brady. So when the Giants had to settle for a field goal that gave them a two-point lead with 1:47 left, the former Patriots running back figured it was unlikely to end well for his new team.
"You never have a good feeling giving a good quarterback -- arguably the best quarterback -- two minutes to go down the field and score without us putting up six,'' Vereen said of the situation. "It was tough.''
He wound up being correct.
The Giants nearly earned the second-most-improbable victory over an unbeaten Patriots team in franchise history on Sunday. Instead, they had to deal with the kind of heartbreak they had dished to New England in their previous three meetings. Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 54-yard field goal with one second left to give the Patriots a 27-26 win at MetLife Stadium.
"Extremely disappointing loss,'' Tom Coughlin said. "I'm very disappointed, upset, whatever the words might be . . . A very frustrating loss.''
Mostly because the Giants had chances to seal the win in the final few minutes.
Josh Brown kicked a 29-yard field goal with 1:47 left for that tenuous 26-24 lead. But the Giants nearly scored a touchdown on the drive, which started at their 3, when Eli Manning hit Odell Beckham Jr. on a 5-yard pass to the left side of the end zone. Malcolm Butler knocked the ball from Beckham's hands as he came down with it, and although the play originally was ruled a touchdown, it was reviewed as incomplete.
After the field goal, the Patriots (9-0) took over at the 20. Landon Collins nearly intercepted Brady's first pass, a deep throw down the middle, but couldn't hang on when he landed hard after a leaping attempt. After two incompletions, the Patriots faced fourth-and-10 from the 20 and Brady hit Danny Amendola for 12 yards and a first down. The Pats drove to the Giants' 36, which set up the 54-yard field-goal try.
"I mean, finish the game,'' Coughlin groused. "Just get the game over with.''
It's something the Giants have struggled with this season. Four of their five losses are by a total of nine points. This was their third defeat in a game in which they held a second-half lead of at least 10 points.
''There's been plenty of times this season we had the opportunity to win and we just didn't,'' cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. "We had the opportunity to seal the game and didn't come up with it. We've just got to find a way to win.''
There were other opportunities, too. The Giants had a chance to extend their 23-17 edge in the fourth but came up empty. Jasper Brinkley sacked Brady from behind and forced a fumble recovered by Markus Kuhn at the Patriots' 31, practically assuring the Giants points. But Manning was sacked for a loss of 13 yards on the first play, pushing them out of field-goal range, and they never got back in it. They had to punt.
That gave the Patriots the ball in a one-possession game and they took advantage. Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for a 76-yard touchdown on a simple seam route on which safeties Brandon Meriweather and Craig Dahl collided, giving the Patriots a 24-23 lead with 11:33 left.
When Brady hit Brandon LaFell for 54 yards on a pass that went through the arms of cornerback Jayron Hosley, it seemed they would build on that lead, but Brady was picked off by Trumaine McBride at the goal line on a pass intended for LaFell. McBride undercut the route and went down at the 3, giving the Giants the ball and nearly the length of the field to go in 6:01 for a victory. They got to the Patriots' 5 before settling for the field goal.
"At the end of the game, not getting the touchdown right there,'' Manning said with regret. "Had a couple of opportunities and we just didn't make it.''
Despite the loss, the Giants (5-5) go into their bye still leading the NFC East thanks to the Eagles' loss to the Dolphins. But instead of rejoicing in their fortune of playing in such a terrible division, the Giants again were left shaking their heads over not being able to take full advantage.
"The other guy finished the game,'' Coughlin said. "We didn't get it done.''
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
