Josh Brown felt the pressure before game-winning kick

Josh Brown had already won the job. And the game didn't count. But that didn't stop the veteran kicker from feeling the pressure as he lined up for Thursday night's game-winning (and more importantly overtime-averting) field goal in the final minute of a 16-13 victory over the Patriots.

"I think (it's helpful) any time that you can put yourself into that situation, practice that moment," Brown said after the 37-yarder with 38 seconds left. He also kicked field goals of 24 and 45 yards. "It doesn't happen all the time, so when you get the opportunity, it's good for everybody. It's good for the o-line, it's good for the opposing team to get to rush that, it's good for me to be able to kick it. It's good for everybody to know that feeling and to be able to kind of just dissolve the situation and do the job."

The Giants traded Brown's competition this week, sending young kicker Brandon McManus to Denver for a conditional pick.

Brown said he didn't even know how long the game-winner was until he was told afterwards.

"That's what you do," he said. "You want to put yourself in a frame of mind to where it is irrelevant. You just want to swing and you want to swing freely and be able to put the ball through the uprights from any point on the field."

Even in the waning moments of a long preseason.

"I think the situation is always the same," he said. "I think the kicker determines how heavy the situation is and that's in your mind. You try to view them all the same and keep focused and take it one kick at a time without regarding the situation. You have to do your job."