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While Tom Brady didn’t play tonight for the Patriots, the Giants actually put Eli Manning on the field for the first drive of the game before removing him for Jared Lorenzen.
Manning did well in his 8 minutes of work going 5 for 8 for 58 yards and leading the Giants on a 16 play 80 yard drive that was capped by a Brandon Jacobs 1 yard scoring run.
The scoring drive a mix of 8 runs and 8 passes ate up 8:13 on the clock and mostly showcased Jacobs, the replacement for Tiki Barber, who ran the ball all 8 times for 22 yards.
Patriots back up quarterback Matt Cassel, got the start in place of Brady and he was able to get the Patriots on the board with :38 seconds left in the quarter when they got a 37 yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski to cut the Giants lead to 7-3.
Starting at their own 49 Cassel had two big completions. One went 24 yards to Bam Childress the other a five-yard out on 3rd and 7 to Garrett Mills got Gostkowski closer for the attempt.
The first time the Patriots got the ball in the second quarter, they marched 83 yards in 13 plays that was topped off with Heath Evans going in from one yard out and a 10-7 New England lead.
It was a lead the Pats would take to the half.
In the 3rd quarter the Patriots would up their lead to 17-7 on the first drive behind 21-year veteran Vinnie Testaverde. Testaverde, who took over for Cassel after three series, took the Patriots 70 yards in just 6 plays with Quinton Smith scoring from a yard out. Testaverde showed he still has it as he completed passes of 3,15,23,15 and 8 yards to get them to the one where they punched it in for the score.
The Giants would get three back later in the quarter when rookie Josh Huston, who’s in a battle for the kicking job, kicked a 33 yard field goal to cap a 14 play, 49 yard scoring drive and cut the Patriots lead to 17-10.
Lawrence Tynes, would stake his claim to the kicking job when he, booted a 43-yard field goal on the Giants first possession of the 4th quarter to cut the lead to 17-13. But Gostkowski would get it back shortly thereafter with 23 yarder of his own to re-establish the 7-point lead at 20-13.
Both teams played as many players as possible while leaving most of their starters off the field. Matt Gutierrez, who most likely gets cut as the fourth quarterback, threw a 12-yard TD pass to Childress to put the Pats up 27-13 with just 3 minutes left.
The Giants would come up with a touchdown in the final minute by Ryan Grant on a 1-yard run to cut the score to 27-20. The rush capped a frantic two-minute drive that went 67 yards on 7 plays.
Both teams had key players miss the game and it wasn’t because they were ready for the regular season.
The Giants were without Michael Strahan, who is thinking about retiring, and WR Plaxico Burress, who has a back injury.
The Patriots meanwhile played without WR Randy Moss who is injured and newly returned Asante Samuel.
The Patriots open the season on September 9th at the Meadowlands when they play AFC East Rival, the New York Jets. Be sure to stay with Sox and Dawgs all NFL season long for the latest on the Patriots and the attempt to win their 4th Super Bowl in the last 7 seasons.
