2007 New England Patriots – New York Giants game The 2007 Patriots – Giants game was an American football game held on December 29 , 2007 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford , New Jersey . The game became a preview of Super Bowl XLII . Held on the final week of the regular season , the game was a close comeback win for the Patriots , giving them the first undefeated regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the only undefeated regular season since the league expanded to 16 games . The game , notable for the events related to its television broadcast , was the second of three meetings between the teams in the 2007 season : they met in the last week of the preseason , and again in Super Bowl XLII , in which the Giants upset the Patriots 17 - 14 . Network television coverage . The NFL Network had exclusive rights to broadcast the Patriots - Giants game , and in the weeks before the game , the network increasingly promoted the game via television commercials on other stations . It was clear the game was one of the most anticipated of the season , and could therefore serve as an important promotion for the NFL Network , which had tried unsuccessfully over the previous year to expand its viewership by becoming included as an " extended basic service " on the major American cable TV providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable . Political pressure from the Northeast to make the game more widely viewable preceded the decision to simulcast the game on CBS and NBC . ( NBC was the primary broadcast network for primetime games , while CBS normally holds the rights to air games in which the road team belongs to the AFC . ) Arlen Specter , the Pennsylvania senator who was the ranking minority member on the Senate Judiciary Committee , and Patrick Leahy of Vermont , the Committee ' s head , wrote the league a letter threatening to reconsider the antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by the NFL under United States law . Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had pressured the league and cable companies to settle their dispute so " no die - hard Pats fans will be shut out from watching their team take aim at football history . " In the end , 15 . 7 million viewers watched the game on CBS , 13 . 2 million on NBC , 4 . 5 million on the NFL Network , and 1 . 2 million on local stations in New York , Boston , and Manchester , New Hampshire . The game was the most watched program on television since the 2007 Academy Awards and the most watched regular season NFL game in more than 12 years . Moreover , the NFL Network , which had devoted over 30 hours of programming in the week prior to the Patriots - Colts game in Week 9 , devoted over 60 hours of programming to the game , consisting primarily of re - broadcasts of nine Patriots games from the 2007 season ; they also had a special countdown clock for the game which appeared over 1 , 000 times in the week leading up to the game , and live coverage of Patriots press conferences that week . Moreover , NFLN aired a six - hour pregame show devoted to the game ; no NFL game , including Super Bowls , had received more coverage . In Canada , the established sports channel TSN held the rights to the game , as it did for all NFL Network regular - season games . After the NBC / CBS simulcast was announced , TSN ' s parent broadcast network CTV announced it too would carry the game , allowing CTV simultaneous substitution rights over U . S . stations broadcasting the game . This meant that , in areas of eastern Canada receiving their " big three " network affiliates from Boston , the CTV signal was seen on four different basic - cable channels , in addition to TSN ' s broadcast ( which only differed from CTV in terms of network identification and some commercials ) . This controversy did not lead to the NFL offering the " Thursday Night Football " package to other networks , and so the games remain on NFL Network as of 2011 . However , the Thanksgiving night game , which was part of the package until 2011 , was sold to NBC beginning in the 2012 season . Game summary . " at Giants Stadium , East Rutherford , New Jersey " In their final regular season game , the 15 - 0 Patriots traveled to Giants Stadium , trying to win a record 16th game of the season . With the game scheduled to air on NFL Network , not available on some cable providers , the NFL arranged a three - way simulcast of the game with CBS and NBC , the first time an NFL game was broadcast on three networks , and the first national simulcast of any NFL game since Super Bowl I . The New York and Boston television markets both had a fourth channel , a local TV station in each respective market covering the game . In the week leading up to the game , the NFL Network aired a record 65 . 5 hours of game - specific coverage , including a six - hour pregame special which matched the longest NFL pregame show , including for a Super Bowl , on a single network . On the second play of the game , the 10 - 5 Giants moved into the Patriots ' red zone on a 52 - yard completion from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress . Three plays later , the Giants took the lead on a 7 - yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs . The Patriots responded with a pair of 14 - yard completions to Randy Moss and Wes Welker ; Welker ' s catch , his 102nd of the season , set a Patriots franchise record . The Patriots then converted a fourth down , and on their next fourth down , Stephen Gostkowski made a 37 - yard field goal . The Patriots would regain the ball at midfield following a Giants three - and - out . Completions to Donté Stallworth and Welker put the Patriots in the Giants ' red zone , where Brady completed a 4 - yard touchdown pass to Moss , taking a 10 - 7 lead on the first play of the second quarter . The play broke one record and tied two others : the Patriots ' 560th point of the season surpassed the 1998 Minnesota Vikings ’ s record of 556 points ; the touchdown pass was Brady ’ s 49th , tying Peyton Manning ’ s 2004 record ; and Moss recorded his 22nd touchdown catch of the season , tying Jerry Rice ' s 1987 record . As a result of a 15 - yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after the touchdown ( Moss was flagged for dancing with Ben Watson in the endzone ) , the Patriots kicked off from the 15 - yard line . Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon received it from the Giants ' 26 - yard line and proceeded to run for a 74 - yard touchdown return , retaking the lead for the Giants . Starting from their own 33 - yard line , the Patriots moved into Giants territory on a 13 - yard Maroney rush and 8 - yard Faulk reception . Brady ' s 8 passing yards on the play gave him 4 , 557 for the season , breaking Drew Bledsoe ' s 1994 franchise record of 4 , 555 yards . After the drive stalled , Gostkowski recorded his second field goal for the game , reducing the Giants ' lead to 14 - 13 . Following a Giants punt , the Patriots mounted a drive that resulted in Gostkowski ’ s third field goal of the night , from 37 yards , after a 3rd down end zone pass to Moss ricocheted off of linebacker Gerris Wilkinson ’ s helmet . With 1 : 54 remaining the half and the Giants trailing 16 - 14 , Manning completed five of his first seven passes to move from the Giants ' 15 - yard line to the Patriots ' 3 - yard line . On second down with 18 seconds remaining , Manning threw his second touchdown pass of the game , this time to Boss , to take a 21 - 16 lead at the half . After the Patriots began the second half with a three - and - out , the Giants increased their lead to 12 points on a 19 - yard touchdown catch by Burress from Manning . Facing their largest deficit of the season , the Patriots drove to the Giants ' 16 - yard line with several Brady completions . A pass interference call against the Giants ’ Wilkinson gave the Patriots the ball at the Giants ' 1 - yard line . Brady ' s end zone pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel was no good , and an illegal formation penalty moved the Patriots back 5 yards . Laurence Maroney then scored on a 6 - yard touchdown run to cut the Giants ' lead to 28 - 23 . Three consecutive drives resulted in punts , and the Patriots gained possession of the ball with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game . On the second play of the drive , Brady attempted a deep pass to Moss , which was underthrown and dropped . On the next play , Brady attempted another deep pass to Moss , who caught this one for 65 yards , setting two more NFL records : Moss set the record for most touchdown receptions in a season ( 23 ) and Brady set one for touchdown passes ( 50 ) . The touchdown , Brady ’ s last of the game , also brought Brady ' s touchdown - to - interception margin to + 42 ; Peyton Manning held the previous record , + 39 during the 2004 - 05 season . The Patriots converted the subsequent two - point attempt , their only two - point attempt of the season , on a Maroney rush to take a 31 - 28 lead with 11 : 15 remaining . On the Giants ' ensuing drive , Hobbs intercepted a Manning pass intended for Burress at the Patriots ' 48 - yard line . After driving to the red zone , a 5 - yard catch by Moss marked his 1 , 493rd reception yard for the season , breaking Stanley Morgan ' s 1986 franchise record of 1 , 491 yards . On the subsequent play , Maroney scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5 - yard run ; Gostkowski converted his last PAT of the season to give the Patriots a 38 - 28 lead . Gostkowski finished the season a perfect 74 - for - 74 on PATs , eclipsing St . Louis Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins ' 1999 record of 64 - for - 64 . With 4 : 36 left in the game , the Giants drove the ball to the Patriots ' 4 - yard line , and two plays later , Manning completed a 3 - yard touchdown pass to Burress , Manning ’ s fourth for the game . But when the Giants tried an onside kick , Vrabel recovered the ball , allowing the Patriots to kneel three times to end the game , 38 - 35 . The Patriots ' joined the 14 - 0 1972 Miami Dolphins , 11 - 0 1942 Chicago Bears , and 13 - 0 1934 Chicago Bears as the fourth team to record an undefeated season , also setting a record for most regular season wins in a single season . The victory was the Patriots ’ 19th consecutive regular season victory , breaking their own record set during the 2003 - 2004 season . Finally , the Patriots finished the season with a + 315 point differential , breaking the 1942 Bears ' record of + 292 . Playoff impact . Despite the intense media coverage the game was given , from the standpoint of the playoffs , the actual outcome of the game was irrelevant . The Patriots , who had already secured the number one seed in the AFC , had nothing to win or lose and had no control over the seeding of the other teams . The Giants , already locked into the number five seed in the NFC , were guaranteed to play Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round of the playoffs . The game ' s impact was summarized by Scott Graham on NFL Films ' subsequent hour - long replay of the contest ( " Perfect Ending " , an episode of " NFL Films Game Of The Week " ) : " Never had a meaningless game carried more meaning . "