PATRIOTS VS. GIANTS SERIES HISTORY MEMORABLE PATRIOTS-GIANTS MATCHUPS The Patriots and Giants will meet for the Aug. 15, 1971— The Patriots defeated the Giants 20-14 in the 18th time in the preseason and for the opening preseason game at the old Foxboro Stadium. fourth straight year in the preseason Dec. 21, 1996— The Patriots rallied from a 22-3 fourth-quarter finale. The clash between the Patriots deficit to clinch a first-round playoff bye with a 23-22 win at and Giants will mark the fourth time the Giants Stadium. defending conference champions have faced each other in less than a year. Aug. 10, 2001— New England began its first Super Bowl Last season, the two squared off in championship season with a 14-0 preseason shutout of the defending NFC champion Giants. their preseason and regular season finale and capped off the NFL season Dec. 29, 2007— The Patriots defeat the Giants by a thrilling in Super Bowl XLII. All three 2007 contests were decided by 38-35 score to cap off the first 16-0 regular season in NFL seven points or less. Overall, the Giants hold a 10-7 advantage history. in the preseason series. The Patriots claim a 5-3 edge in the February 3, 2008— The Patriots faced the Giants in Super regular season play and have won four Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz. straight regular-season games against the Giants since 1996. The clubs have been frequent preseason opponents MUST-SEE TV recently, squaring off in the The last two times the Patriots and Giants faced off made national and local TV history. preseason openers for three straight years from 2001-03 and resuming Super Bowl XLII (02/03/08): Last year’s Super Bowl was the series in 2005. The series dates the second most-watched show of any kind in the history of back to 1970, the year of the AFL- recording television audiences. Its 97.5 million total viewers NFL merger. trailed only the 1983 series finale of M*A*S*H (105 million viewers). Preseason – New York 10, New England 7 2007 Regular Season Finale (12/29/07): The Patriots- Date Result Score H/A Stadium Giants game on Dec. 29 was seen by 34.5 million people 08/15/71 W 20-14 H Schaefer Stadium nationwide, making it the most-watched regular season game 08/27/72 L 10-31 H Schaefer Stadium since 35.7 million people watched the Dallas-Kansas City game 08/12/73 L 7-13 H Schaefer Stadium on Thanksgiving Day, 1995. Additionally, it earned a 50.1 rating 08/11/74 L 6-21 H Schaefer Stadium 08/10/75 L 14-28 H Schaefer Stadium (75 share) in the Boston Market, making it the highest-rated 08/01/76 W ot 13-7 H Schaefer Stadium regular season Patriots game in the history of the Boston 08/06/77 W 19-3 A Giants Stadium market. 08/03/84 L 20-48 H Sullivan Stadium 08/16/87 L 17-19 H Sullivan Stadium LAST PRESEASON MEETING: 08/12/89 L 17-20 H Sullivan Stadium PATRIOTS 27, GIANTS 20 08/24/91 W 24-6 H Foxboro Stadium August 30, 2007 ¹ Gillette Stadium (Att: 68,756) 08/10/01 W 14-0 H Foxboro Stadium 1 2 3 4 Final 08/10/02 L 19-22 A Giants Stadium New York Giants 7 0 3 10 — 20 08/07/03 W 26-6 H Gillette Stadium New England Patriots 3 7 7 10 — 27 09/01/05 L 3-27 H Gillette Stadium 08/31/06 L 23-31 A Giants Stadium The Patriots ended the 2007 preseason with a 27-20 victory 08/30/07 W 27-20 H Gillette Stadium over the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium. New England quarterbacks Matt Cassel, Vinny Testaverde and Matt Gutierrez Regular Season – New England 5, New York 3 Date Result Score H/A Stadium combined to complete 24-of-34 passes for 246 yards and one 10/18/70 L 0-16 H Harvard Stadium touchdown, while Patriots rushers totaled 85 yards on 26 carries 09/22/74 W 28-20 A Yale Bowl and scored two touchdowns. The New England defense recorded 11/08/87 L 10-17 A Giants Stadium eight sacks while allowing the Giants to convert just three-of-14 12/30/90 L 10-13 H Foxboro Stadium third-down opportunities. 12/21/96 W 23-22 A Giants Stadium 09/26/99 W 16-14 H Foxboro Stadium LAST REGULAR SEASON MEETING: 10/12/03 W 17-6 H Gillette Stadium PATRIOTS 38, GIANTS 35 12/29/07 W 38-35 A Giants Stadium December 29, 2007 Giants Stadium (Att: 79,110) ¹ Playoffs – New York 1, New England 0 1 2 3 4 Final Date Result Score H/A Stadium New England Patriots 3 13 7 15 — 38 02/03/08 L 14-17 N U. of Phoenix Stadium New York Giants 7 14 7 7 — 35 NEW ENGLAND TIES The Patriots improved to 16-0 with a 38-35 win over the New In the decades leading up to the founding of the American York Giants and in doing so became the fourth team in the 88- Football League in 1960, many football fans in New England year history of the NFL to finish the regular season undefeated followed the Giants, a franchise founded in 1925. New England- and untied. Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and totaled based NFL outfits such as the Providence Steam Roller (1925- 356 yards to lead New England to a come from behind win at 31), the Boston Redskins (1932-36) and the Boston Yanks Giants Stadium. With the win, the Patriots set a new NFL record (1944-48) folded or moved away, leaving the Giants as the for consecutive regular season wins. Since December 11, 2006, closest NFL team to New England until the Patriots franchise New England has won 19 straight regular season contests, one inaugurated play in the 1960 season. more than the team’s previous record set over the 2003 and 2004 seasons. 2008 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS PATRIOTS VS. GIANTS SUPER BOWL XLII CONNECTIONS GIANTS 17, PATRIOTS 14 Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spent 12 seasons on the February 3, 2008 ¹ University of Phoenix Stadium (Att: 71,101) Giants’ coaching staff, and was the team’s defensive 1 2 3 4 Final coordinator for their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV. New York Giants 3 0 0 14 — 17 Belichick joined the Giants as the special teams coach on Ray New England Patriots 0 7 0 7 — 14 Perkins’ staff in 1979, and during his tenure coached special teams (1979-82), linebackers (1980-84) and the secondary The second largest crowd in television history watched a (1989-90), while also holding defensive coordinator defensive clash for the first three quarters of Super Bowl XLII as responsibilities (1985-90). the Patriots headed into the final quarter of the NFL season with Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson was originally a 7-3 lead thanks a Laurence Maroney one-yard touchdown at drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 1986 NFL the beginning of the second quarter. The Giants retook the lead Draft. He won two Super Bowls and twice earned Pro Bowl with 11:05 left in the game after a five-yard touchdown pass honors during his career with New York, which spanned from from Eli Manning to David Tyree. 1986-92. The Patriots retaliated with 2:42 left in the game when Tom Patriots tight ends coach Pete Mangurian was the Giants’ Brady found Randy Moss in the end zone for a six-yard offensive line coach from 1993-96. touchdown strike. Patriots safety Rodney Harrison wrote an introduction for The Giants quickly drove down the field when they were faced Giants wide receiver David Tyree’s book "More Than Just with third down and five yards to go with 1:15 left in the game. The Catch" that was released this past September. Manning escaped heavy pressure and found Tyree 32 yards Patriots special assistant/secondary coach Dom Capers was down field to keep the drive alive. Manning put the Giants ahead the first head coach of the Houston Texans and made Giants’ for good when he found Plaxico Burress in the left corner of the quarterback David Carr the first selection in Texans’ history end zone as the Giants went on to win by a 17-14 score. by taking him with the first overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. Capers coached Carr with the Texans through 2005. Giants ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL BERTHS quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer served as the Texas 8 .....Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2001-05. 6 .....New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos Patriots special assistant/secondary coach Dom Capers 5 .....San Francisco 49ers, Oakland/LA Raiders, Washington served as Giants head coach Tom Coughlin’s defensive Redskins, Miami Dolphins coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1999-2000. 4 .....New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Patriots linebackers coach Matt Patricia was born in Sherrill, Buffalo Bills N.Y. Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin was the head coach at MOST FREQUENT PRESEASON OPPONENTS Boston College from 1991-93 and also served as the The Patriots and Giants will meet for the 18th time this week, quarterbacks coach at the Heights (1981-83). Coughlin was tying the Giants with Philadelphia as the Patriots' second most the wide receivers coach on the Giants’ coaching staff while common preseason opponent.