NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Brady is one of eight Patriots and Patrick Willis one of eight 49ers to make the Pro Bowl, the most on each roster.

Defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay (14-1), led by starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Baltimore (11-4), led by veteran linebacker Ray Lewis, have seven apiece for the Jan. 29 game in Honolulu, the NFL announced Tuesday.

Brady is one of seven starters from New England (12-3). The others are receiver Wes Welker, tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, defensive end Andre Carter, and guards Brian Waters and Logan Mankins all are starters for the AFC from the Patriots. Special teamer Matthew Slater is the other New England representative.

Linebacker Willis, DE Justin Smith, cornerback Carlos Rogers and tackle Joe Staley will start for the NFC from the 49ers (12-3), who had only Smith and Willis make the Pro Bowl last year.

Green Bay’s Rodgers is the starting NFC quarterback, backed by record-setting Drew Brees of New Orleans (12-3).

“It does have special significance, because when I was voted in in 2009, I was the third guy and I was very thankful to be voted in, and got the opportunity to start because of some injuries and guys not going,” Rodgers said. “It’s great to be voted in as a starter, that means a lot to me and it’s a special honor.”

Four of the NFL’s biggest headline makers this season did not get voted in by players, coaches and fans: Lions DT Ndamukong Suh, Steelers LB James Harrison, Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton, and Denver QB Tim Tebow.

Tebow, who supplanted Kyle Orton after the Broncos stumbled to a 1-4 start, is a second alternate.

Suh might have lost support after drawing a two-game suspension for stomping an opponent, and Harrison’s one-game suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns QB Colt McCoy might have reduced his support.

Fifteen first-time Pro Bowlers made the NFC squad, including Rogers, Staley and safety Dashon Goldson of the 49ers. Thirteen AFC players were first-time selections, including Gronkowski, Carter and Slater of New England. Carter is on injured reserve (left quadriceps) and won’t play.

“If you look around the NFC, you see a ton of amazing and talented players at tight end,” said the Saints’ Jimmy Graham, the starter at the position and a first-time Pro Bowler. “And to be thought of in that company by my peers, the head coaches and the fans who follow the NFL is something I take seriously.”

Fourteen teams from each conference were represented, with St. Louis (2-13) and Washington (5-10) drawing blanks in the NFC, Buffalo (6-9) and Tennessee (8-7) shut out in the AFC.

Pittsburgh (11-4), New Orleans and Chicago (7-8) each had five representatives.

Three rookies were chosen: Denver linebacker Von Miller, Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green, and Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson, selected as a kick return specialist. He has tied an NFL record with four punt runbacks for TDs this season.

“As I’ve said before, A.J. is the best first-round draft pick that I’ve ever been around,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “He has shown the other players in this league, and the fans, that he deserved this honor. I have not seen a receiver better than he is at getting to the ball.”

All the kickers are from Bay Area teams.

NFC special teamers included two 49ers: record-setting placekicker David Akers, and punter Andy Lee; Peterson; and Corey Graham of Chicago.

For the AFC, the Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski is the placekicker, Shane Lechler the punter. The kick return specialist is Pittsburgh WR Antonio Brown, and the special-teams player is Slater.

NFC starters will be Rodgers, Eagles RB LeSean McCoy, Packers FB John Kuhn, Graham, Panthers C Ryan Kalil, Saints guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, Eagles tackle Jason Peters and Staley, Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald and Lions WR Calvin Johnson on offense.

On defense, it will be Vikings DE Jared Allen and Eagles DE Jason Babin, Cowboys DT Jay Ratliff and Smith, Packers OLB Clay Matthews and Cowboys OLB DeMarcus Ware, ILB Willis, Packers CB Charles Woodson and Rogers, Seahawks safety Earl Thomas and Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson.

AFC starters will be Brady, Ravens RB Ray Rice and FB Vonta Leach, Gronkowski, Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey, Mankins and Waters at guard, Browns tackles Joe Thomas and Dolphins tackle Jake Long, Welker and Steelers WR Mike Wallace.

On defense, it will be Broncos DE Elvis Dumervil replacing Carter, Colts DE Dwight Freeney, Wilfork and Ravens DT Haloti Ngata, Miller and Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs, Lewis, Jets CB Darrelle Revis and Broncos CB Champ Bailey, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Ravens safety Ed Reed.

Players who make the Super Bowl will be replaced on the Pro Bowl rosters.

FOXBORO — The wins keep coming for the New England Patriots. Yet each one seems to spark doubts about whether they’re as good as their 11-3 record suggests.

There is concern, from former Patriots Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison to some of their current players to nervous fans who have watched opponents shred their defense.

How can a team that’s on track to allow the second-most yards in NFL history have a six-game winning streak and the best record in the AFC? Is it superior coaching, a star quarterback, or just a remarkable run of good fortune?

“Maybe one or two games we can say, ‘Man, that was a pretty good game,’ ” wide receiver Deion Branch said. “The rest of them you can just pinpoint a lot of mistakes. But we were lucky enough to come out with a victory.”

Last Sunday, the Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 41-23 but allowed 252 yards rushing, 167 in the first quarter alone. One week earlier, they beat the Washington Redskins, 34-27, a victory secured only by Jerod Mayo’s interception at the Patriots 5-yard line with 20 seconds left.

And the week before, they watched a 31-3 lead shrink in the last 11 minutes before they held on to beat the then-winless Indianapolis Colts 31-24.

The Patriots figure to win their remaining regular-season games against the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, both currently 5-9. If they do, they’ll have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

But then what? The Patriots lost their opening

playoff game in each of the last two years, games in which their best antidote to poor defense, Tom Brady, struggled.

“This Patriot team is a proven regular-season team, but they have a lot to prove in the playoffs, where they have failed miserably the last two years,” Bruschi, a linebacker on the Patriots’ three Super Bowl championship teams, said Monday during an online chat on ESPNBoston.com. “All teams that make the playoffs should be feared by the Patriots, because what I fear the most for the Patriots is them playing the way they’ve played the last two years in the postseason. So it’s not about who they play, it’s about them showing up.”

Right now, it’s about ignoring the critics and just working to get better.

“I don’t really care what everyone else says,” linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. “I’m just trying to focus on each week and playing good football. We have a good record, yes, but we have to continue to play hard until the season (ends) and when the playoffs start we need to continue to improve. So I really don’t listen to anything out there, just shut it all out.”

To be fair, the starting defense has been battered by injuries. Safety Patrick Chung and linebacker Brandon Spikes missed the last six games. Cornerback Devin McCourty sat out two. Safety James Ihedigbo has missed parts of several games. And now Andre Carter, New England’s best pass rusher with a team-high 10 sacks, is out for the season after hurting his left quadriceps against the Broncos.

While they’ve allowed the most yards in the NFL, only 13 teams have given up fewer points. They’ve let teams score from inside the 20-yard line just 80 percent of the time, seventh in the league. They lead the AFC with a plus-12 turnover differential. And of their three losses, one came on a last-play field goal, another on a touchdown with 15 seconds left and a third by eight points.

“Our team has played well enough to win 11 games, so that’s good,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We still feel like our best football is in front of us and we keep working hard to try to perform at that level.”

But so far the Patriots have allowed 76 plays of at least 20 yards, more than five per game and 20 more than the single-season franchise high. Overall, they’ve given up an average of 414.4 yards. At that rate, they’d finish with 6,630 total yards, second in NFL history to the Baltimore Colts, who gave up 6,793 yards in 1981 when they went 2-14.

Because of injury or inconsistency, the Patriots have used 16 players in the secondary, including wide receivers Matthew Slater and Julian Edelman. On Wednesday they added a new one, signing seven-year veteran safety Vincent Fuller, who already had been cut this season by Tennessee and Detroit.

“They’ve had a lot of injuries, but (Belichick’s) moved guys around and they’re filling in and getting the job done,” said Redskins receiver Jabar Gaffney, a member of the Patriots team that went 18-0 in the 2007 season before losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. “It may not look as pretty, but they still find a way to win.”

It looked downright ugly to Harrison, a hard-hitting safety on the Patriots’ last two championship teams in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

“They should be concerned because that secondary is probably the worst secondary I’ve seen in the last decade,” Harrison, an analyst on NBC’s “Football Night in America,” said after the Redskins completed passes of 51 and 49 yards against it two weeks ago. “It’s been proven the last two years in the playoffs. If Brady’s off just a little bit, they’re vulnerable to lose.”

But the Patriots try to block out the doubters. No one has to tell them what their weaknesses are.

“You listen to other people if you want to, but (we) know what’s going on inside,” said running back Kevin Faulk, a Patriot since 1999. “There’s always room for improvement and if you are to reach what you want to reach, you always want to improve your team, no matter what it is, in every aspect of it.”

——

AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Washington, D.C., and freelancer Matthew Carroll in Foxborough contributed to this story.

The training camp quote that came to mind watching the Philadelphia Eagles getting schooled 38-21 by the New England Patriots Sunday wasn’t Vince Young’s now-laughable “Dream Team” remark from July  — how far away those days of optimism and Super Bowl talk now seem.

No, the comment that came to mind dates back a few years, to 2003, when Eagles owner Jeff Lurie called his team the “gold standard” for NFL teams, “the model of what NFL franchises want to be.”

Sunday offered a team that looked close to that standard playing at Lincoln Financial Field — but it certainly wasn’t the inept, quarreling and dispirited Eagles. The Patriots come as close as any NFL team to “the gold standard” of what consistent success looks like.

Since 2001, New England has won eight division championships, four AFC crowns and three Super Bowls (and were only a catch of the century from the New York Giants’ David Tyree from a fourth). The Eagles’ numbers are six, one and zero and, of course, they lost the Super Bowl XXXIX to New England.

Since 2002, the Patriots are 71-15 at home; the Eagles, 53-33. New England is 51-15 against divisional foes since 2001; Philadelphia, 44-26.

Want to compare owners’ tenures? Since 1994, Bob Kraft’s Patriots are 205-104; since 1995, Lurie’s Birds are 158-118-2.

Under Kraft’s ownership the Pats lead the NFL in Super Bowl wins, conference championships, overall winning percentage, playoff wins and playoff winning percentage and are second in playoff seasons.

And it’s worth noting that Kraft has emerged as a major player in the NFL boardroom and one of the most powerful and respected owners — he played a large role in settling the lockout that threatened the 2011 season — whereas Lurie is rarely mentioned in such contexts. (It should be noted that Lurie’s ‘Go Green’ environmental initiative is progressive, important and highly thought of by experts.)

Pretty obvious who’s the “gold standard” and “model” for the rest of the league to emulate, isn’t it? On the field, the gap between the Patriots and Eagles appeared ever-larger Sunday.

It’s not merely talent — though the Patriots’ aggressive and effective linebacker corps stood in strong contrast to the Eagles’ overmatched and ineffective unit — but what’s done with the talent. Philadelphia came out with an effective game plan to establish a 10-0 lead.

New England appeared to be in trouble, training on the road in front of a pumped-up crowd baying for Patriot blood. But then Bill Belichick fixed the problems.

On offense, Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady exploited some gaps in the Eagles’ pass rush, a rush that initially enjoyed considerable success against Brady. By moving Brady up in the pocket, and by using a no-huddle offense, New England gained a extra second or two for Brady to throw, resulting in 361 yards of passing and almost all of it downfield — the Patriots did not complete a pass to a running back all game.

Eagles fans are still waiting for the counter-adjustments from defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and defensive line coach Jim Washburn, though the latter may have been too busy feuding with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg to bother.

On defense, the Patriots got torched for two long passes early that set up scores. The next time Vince Young went deep he was intercepted and after that the Birds’ long-passing game was pretty much dormant.

“I think the Eagles offense at first had a lot of quick throws and they were working,” New England cornerback Kyle Arrington said. “I think we needed to press them more and it worked. We felt that we needed to mix the coverages up more and make the Eagles earn it.”

Patriot linebacker Jerod Mayo tipped his cap to his coaches.

“I think we started a little slow on defense in the beginning of the game and then we just had to settle down,” he said. “The sideline made some great adjustments and it really paid off for us. It worked out for us and we played better. The defensive coaches made some big changes and it was really helped us and the defense went out and executed it.”

Young noticed.

“They wanted to be more (man-to-man),” he said. “They got out of the zone because they saw that we were attacking a little bit so they got out of that and went to a little more man.”

If Mornhinweg and head coach Andy Reid had a response, it was drowned out by the sounds of the scoreboard in the midst of ringing up a 38-3 New England run.
“Gold standard”, anyone?

“I still think we’re the better team,” Eagles’ defensive end Trent Cole said. “I still think we should have won that game.”

Back in the real world, there was little doubt that a “gold standard” was on display Sunday — and it didn’t wear green and white. Nor, based on current evidence, will it, for an awfully long time — or as long as Bob Kraft’s Patriots are still around.

Brad Wilson can be reached at 800-360-3601 or bwilson@express-times.com. Talk about sports at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Super Bowl or midseason game, Eli Manning and the New York Giants are masters of the last-minute comeback against the New England Patriots.

Manning capped a decisive drive eerily similar to the one in the 2008 Super Bowl, throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left and giving the Giants a 24-20 win on Sunday.

“I knew we would win,” Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. “It definitely took me back to the Super Bowl.”

In that 17-14 victory, Manning threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds to go. Four plays earlier, David Tyree trapped Manning’s third-down pass over the middle on top of his helmet for a 32-yard gain.

On Sunday, the teams met in a meaningful game for the first time since then. And Manning threw another completion over the middle to an unheralded receiver on third down, connecting with a leaping Ballard for a 28-yard gain. Five plays later, they hooked up for the winning pass.

“If it was thrown anywhere else, I wouldn’t have caught it,” Ballard said. “You dream about making catches like that.”

And Ballard’s number? The same as Tyree’s, 85.

Manning, of course, threw all those passes, outplaying Tom Brady, who is known for his fourth-quarter comebacks.

“I’d rather be down by three with a minute-thirty (left) than up by four with a minute-thirty with Tom Brady, with their offense on the field,” Manning said. “You like those situations where you have an opportunity to go win the game.”

The Giants (6-2) kept their two-game lead in the NFC East over the Dallas Cowboys. The Patriots (5-3) are tied with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, next week’s opponent, atop the AFC East.

“We’ve got half the season to go,” Brady said. “We’ll see what our team’s made of this week.”

The loss ended several impressive streaks: wins in an NFL record 31 regular-season starts at home for Brady and in 20 regular-season home games for the Patriots.

Brady did throw a touchdown pass for the 24th straight regular-season home games. But the Patriots lost consecutive games for just the third time since the start of the 2003 season.

The Giants won for the sixth time in seven games.

“We got a little carried away,” defensive end Justin Tuck said when asked about players lifting coach Tom Coughlin on their shoulders in the locker room. “Considering how good that team is and what they’ve done here in the last 20 games, it was a big win, and to win it in the fashion that we won it, it brings back memories.”

For a while, it looked like the Patriots would win with a comeback when Brady threw a 14-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20-17 with 1:36 to go.

But the Giants had enough time. And they had Manning.

They were helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Sergio Brown that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds left.

“I was looking at the ball the whole time,” Brown said. “I was surprised. They come and tell us as long as we’re looking at the ball we can play the ball.”

Three plays later, Manning found Ballard in the back left corner of the end zone.

“I knew I’d be hit hard,” Ballard said. “I concentrated as hard as I could.”

He was guarded by Kyle Arrington.

“We’re going to be hard on ourselves,” Arrington said. “We don’t take losing well.”

After a scoreless first half, the Patriots took their first lead, 13-10, on Stephen Gostkowski’s 45-yard field goal with 7:08 to go in the game. Manning then led the Giants on an 85-yard march to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 3:03 remaining.

The Giants won despite injuries that kept their top rusher, Ahmad Bradshaw, and leading receiver, Hakeem Nicks, from making the trip. But New York’s defense pressured Brady much of the game, coming up with two sacks and two interceptions.

Manning completed 20 of 39 passes for 250 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Brady was 28 for 49 for 342 yards and two touchdowns.

Both quarterbacks struggled throughout the first half.

The offense was so bad that fans booed when Brady threw an incompletion with 8:30 left in the third quarter. They cheered on the next play when Aaron Ross fumbled Zoltan Mesko’s punt and Rob Ninkovich recovered.

But the Patriots managed just a 32-yard field goal by Gostkowski that cut the lead to 10-3.

The Giants punted on the next series and got the ball back when Spencer Paysinger recovered Julian Edelman’s fumble.

Manning moved the Giants from the Patriots 40 to a third-and-goal at the 5, then threw an interception to Arrington in the end zone. Seven plays later, Brady hit Aaron Hernandez for a 5-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10 just 32 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Giants had much better field position in the first half, starting at their 23, 22, 36, 28, 25 and 49. But all those series ended with punts.

The Patriots began at their 5, 6, 17, 20, 11 and 9. They punted four times and lost one interception before wasting their best scoring opportunity when Gostkowski pulled his 27-yard field goal attempt to the left with 3 seconds remaining. On that drive, the Patriots had five first downs, matching their total to that point.

Notes: The Giants have forced at least one turnover in 21 straight regular-season games. … Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul had a sack for the fifth straight game. … The Giants have 14 players remaining from the 2008 Super Bowl team, the Patriots have seven.

FOXBORO — Hanging from the steel framework at the home of the New England Patriots is a banner unlike any other in the NFL, one that commemorates their 16-0 record in the 2007 regular season.

Perfection.

Almost.

The Patriots won every game that season and the first two in the playoffs as well, giving them a chance to be the first NFL team to finish the year 19-0. But their quest for perfection disintegrated — along with their hopes for a fourth title in seven years — when they ran into the New York Giants in the Super Bowl .

“We’ve won them, we’ve lost them, but they’re all in the past; they’re in the books,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Whatever happened or didn’t happen, can’t change it, it’s part of history. Right now I’m focused on getting ready for this week’s game. That’s the way it is every week: focus on the week that we’re playing, not what happened in the past.”

The Giants and Patriots will play again Sunday — the first time they’ve met in a game that counts since New York won the Super Bowl 17-14 with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the one by Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left set up by David Tyree’s acrobatic catch. Although the teams have different emotions about that game, they agree the 2007 season and the ’08 Super Bowl are too far in the past to help them plan for this weekend.

“If we were still living in the shadow of 2007, then that’s one of our greatest downfalls,” defensive lineman Justin Tuck

said. “We have to move on. … Obviously, 2007 was a great year in all of our careers, but that’s not going to help us going there this year. A lot of guys are back from those two teams and a lot of guys are gone.

“The better team this year is going to win the football game, not the better team in ’07.”

There are only 14 players left from the Super Bowl on the Giants now; for New England, it’s just seven. But some of the big names remain, including quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“That’s a distant memory,” Brady said. “This is an entirely different team that we have and that they have. … We’ve played them in the preseason this year and that probably gives us a little more of an understanding of what they do then the game a few years ago.”

The Giants (5-2) and Pats (5-2) both have impressive records — and still plenty of reason to doubt they are on the right track.

The Patriots lost to Pittsburgh last week in a game that further exposed their NFL-worst defense, and showed what happens when the offense isn’t able to carry the team.

Brady threw for a season-low 198 yards against a team he had dominated, and he was strip-sacked at the end of the game for a safety that cost the Patriots their remote chance at a comeback.

New York barely slipped by winless Miami last week, getting a touchdown pass from Manning to Victor Cruz with just under 6 minutes left to take the lead. Two key offensive players, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, are banged-up and might not play.

Next up for New York after New England: San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Green Bay, a stretch that is likely to determine whether the Giants make the playoffs for the second time since their Super Bowl win.

“It’s been a few years, so obviously now we’re more focused on trying to get back to those circumstances,” Manning said. “Our focus is on this week’s game and getting ready for the Patriots.”

The Giants may have been the ones that stood in New England’s way four years ago, but they were also the ones that made the 16-0 banner possible by losing to the Patriots on the final weekend of the regular season, 38-35.

They made up for it in the title game.

Coach Tom Coughlin doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it — not even this week.

“It seems like a long time ago,” he said. “I certainly was very proud of our players and very happy for our team and our franchise and our ownership, and I’ll always cherish those memories. There isn’t any a question about that.

“The New England Patriots were a team that had gone through the regular season undefeated, which is a feat that is very, very, very rare indeed, and they deserve credit for that. That’s the extent of it for me. I’m trying to live in the moment.”

click image to enlarge

THEM AGAIN: Quarterback Tom Brady (12) and the New England Patriots will face the New York Giants today in a game that counts for the first time since the Giants ended the Patriots quest at a perfect season with a victory in Super Bowl XLII.

AP photo

Hanging from the steel framework at the home of the New England Patriots is a banner unlike any other in the NFL, one that commemorates their 16-0 record in the 2007 regular season.

Perfection.

Almost.

The Patriots won every game that season and the first two in the playoffs as well, giving them a chance to be the first NFL team to finish the year 19-0. But their quest for perfection disintegrated — along with their hopes for a fourth title in seven years — when they ran into the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

“We’ve won them, we’ve lost them, but they’re all in the past; they’re in the books,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Whatever happened or didn’t happen, can’t change it, it’s part of history. Right now I’m focused on getting ready for this week’s game. That’s the way it is every week: focus on the week that we’re playing, not what happened in the past.”

The Giants and Patriots will play again today — the first time they’ve met in a game that counts since New York won the Super Bowl, 17-14, with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the one by Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left set up by David Tyree’s acrobatic catch. Although the teams have different emotions about that game, they agree the 2007 season and the ’08 Super Bowl are too far in the past to help them plan for this weekend.

“If we were still living in the shadow of 2007, then that’s one of our greatest downfalls,” defensive lineman Justin Tuck said. “We have to move on. … Obviously, 2007 was a great year in all of our careers, but that’s not going to help us going there this year. A lot of guys are back from those two teams and a lot of guys are gone.

“The better team this year is going to win the football game, not the better team in ‘07.”

New faces

There are only 14 players left from the Super Bowl on the Giants now; for New England, it’s just seven. But some of the big names remain, including quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“That’s a distant memory,” Brady said. “This is an entirely different team that we have and that they have. … We’ve played them in the preseason this year and that probably gives us a little more of an understanding of what they do then the game a few years ago.”

The Giants (5-2) and Patriots (5-2) both have impressive records — and still plenty of reason to doubt they are on the right track.

The Patriots lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday in a game that further exposed their NFL-worst defense, and showed what happens when the offense isn’t able to carry the team. Brady threw for a season-low 198 yards against a team he had dominated, and he was strip-sacked at the end of the game for a safety that cost the Patriots their remote chance at a comeback.

New York barely slipped by winless Miami last week, getting a touchdown pass from Manning to Victor Cruz with just under 6 minutes left to take the lead. Two key offensive players, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, are banged-up and might not play.

Next up for New York after New England: San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Green Bay, a stretch that is likely to determine whether the Giants make the playoffs for the second time since their Super Bowl win.

“It’s been a few years, so obviously now we’re more focused on trying to get back to those circumstances,” Manning said. “Our focus is on this week’s game and getting ready for the Patriots.”

The Giants may have been the ones that stood in New England’s way four years ago, but they were also the ones that made the 16-0 banner possible by losing to the Patriots on the final weekend of the regular season, 38-35.

They made up for it in the title game.

Coach Tom Coughlin doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it — not even this week.

“It seems like a long time ago,” he said. “I certainly was very proud of our players and very happy for our team and our franchise and our ownership, and I’ll always cherish those memories. There isn’t any a question about that.

“The New England Patriots were a team that had gone through the regular season undefeated, which is a feat that is very, very, very rare indeed, and they deserve credit for that. That’s the extent of it for me. I’m trying to live in the moment.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Hanging from the steel framework at the home of the New England Patriots is a banner unlike any other in the NFL, one that commemorates their 16-0 record in the 2007 regular season.

Perfection.

Almost.

The Patriots won every game that season and the first two in the playoffs as well, giving them a chance to be the first NFL team to finish the year 19-0. But their quest for perfection disintegrated — along with their hopes for a fourth title in seven years — when they ran into the New York Giants in the Super Bowl .

“We’ve won them, we’ve lost them, but they’re all in the past; they’re in the books,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Whatever happened or didn’t happen, can’t change it, it’s part of history. Right now I’m focused on getting ready for this week’s game. That’s the way it is every week: focus on the week that we’re playing, not what happened in the past.”

The Giants and Patriots will play again Sunday — the first time they’ve met in a game that counts since New York won the Super Bowl 17-14 with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the one by Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left set up by David Tyree’s acrobatic catch. Although the teams have different emotions about that game, they agree the 2007 season and the ’08 Super Bowl are too far in the past to help them plan for this weekend.

“If we were still living in the shadow of 2007, then that’s one of our greatest downfalls,” defensive lineman Justin Tuck said. “We have to move on. … Obviously, 2007 was a great year in all of our careers, but that’s not going to help us going there this year. A lot of guys are back from those two teams and a lot of guys are gone.

“The better team this year is going to win the football game, not the better team in ’07.”

There are only 14 players left from the Super Bowl on the Giants now; for New England, it’s just seven. But some of the big names remain, including quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“That’s a distant memory,” Brady said. “This is an entirely different team that we have and that they have. … We’ve played them in the pre-season this year and that probably gives us a little more of an understanding of what they do then the game a few years ago.”

The Giants (5-2) and Patriots (5-2) both have impressive records — and still plenty of reason to doubt they are on the right track.

The Patriots lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday in a game that further exposed their NFL-worst defence, and showed what happens when the offence isn’t able to carry the team. Brady threw for a season-low 198 yards against a team he had dominated, and he was strip-sacked at the end of the game for a safety that cost the Patriots their remote chance at a comeback.

New York barely slipped by winless Miami last week, getting a touchdown pass from Manning to Victor Cruz with just under 6 minutes left to take the lead. Two key offensive players, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, are banged-up and might not play.

Next up for New York after New England: San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Green Bay, a stretch that is likely to determine whether the Giants make the playoffs for the second time since their Super Bowl win.

“It’s been a few years, so obviously now we’re more focused on trying to get back to those circumstances,” Manning said. “Our focus is on this week’s game and getting ready for the Patriots.”

The Giants may have been the ones that stood in New England’s way four years ago, but they were also the ones that made the 16-0 banner possible by losing to the Patriots on the final weekend of the regular season, 38-35.

They made up for it in the title game.

Coach Tom Coughlin doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it — not even this week.

“It seems like a long time ago,” he said. “I certainly was very proud of our players and very happy for our team and our franchise and our ownership, and I’ll always cherish those memories. There isn’t any a question about that.

“The New England Patriots were a team that had gone through the regular season undefeated, which is a feat that is very, very, very rare indeed, and they deserve credit for that. That’s the extent of it for me. I’m trying to live in the moment.”

___

AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, N.J., contributed to this story.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Hanging from the steel framework at the home of the New England Patriots is a banner unlike any other in the NFL, one that commemorates their 16-0 record in the 2007 regular season.

Perfection.

Almost.

The Patriots won every game that season and the first two in the playoffs as well, giving them a chance to be the first NFL team to finish the year 19-0. But their quest for perfection disintegrated — along with their hopes for a fourth title in seven years — when they ran into the New York Giants in the Super Bowl .

“We’ve won them, we’ve lost them, but they’re all in the past; they’re in the books,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Whatever happened or didn’t happen, can’t change it, it’s part of history. Right now I’m focused on getting ready for this week’s game. That’s the way it is every week: focus on the week that we’re playing, not what happened in the past.