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.

AP PHOTO
Patriots QB Tom Brady called the 2007 Super Bowl loss to the Giants Ôa distant memory’ as the teams prepared for today’s contest. It will be the first regular-season game between the two since the Giants staged the staggering Super Bowl upset.

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.”

Posted: 12:00 AM

BY JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

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 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.”

——

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

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.

Patriots hope ’08 Super Bowl loss to giants behind them

By Jimmy Golen / Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH – 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 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.”

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Steelers respectful but not in awe of Patriots

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By WILL GRAVES

AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) Brett Keisel’s short-term memory is a little hazy. Actually, his long-term memory is clouded, too, at least when it comes to the New England Patriots.

The Pittsburgh defensive end isn’t quite sure how many times Tom Brady has beaten the defending AFC champions.

Is it four? Five? All Keisel knows is, whatever the number is – six, actually – it’s too many. He also knows he’s not dwelling on it heading into their showdown Sunday at Heinz Field.

“I really haven’t thought about what they’ve done in the past, honestly,” Keisel said.

Good idea.

The Steelers have won 129 games (including a pair of Super Bowls) since Brady took over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001. Only one of those victories came against the two-time MVP.

Does that mean New England is in the Steelers’ heads? Keisel has the ultimate respect for the Patriots, but he’s not ready to go there.

“If they feel good about themselves for beating us back in whenever, and it’s an advantage for them, so be it,” Keisel said.

The Patriots haven’t just beaten the Steelers through the years, however, they’ve dominated.

New England’s average margin of victory against Pittsburgh since 2001 is 12.3 points with only one game decided by fewer than seven points.

Impressive, to be sure.

Also, the Steelers point out, irrelevant.

“The amazing thing is none of that counts,” safety Ryan Clark said. “They clearly have no reason to be afraid of us, but neither do we.”

Maybe, though the Steelers (5-2) are well aware they’ve played second fiddle to the Patriots (5-1) over the last decade in which the two organizations combined to win half the Super Bowls and seven AFC titles.

“That’s how it always is,” linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. “They’ve got a great organization, great coaches, great players. Last time I checked, we were pretty good, too.”

Just not good enough to beat Brady.

The Steelers insist there’s no secret formula to beating Brady. Put pressure on him, disrupt his timing and try to put him on the ground.

“If I knew the reason why they’ve beaten us more than we’ve beaten them, we wouldn’t have that problem anymore,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “So, we’ve just got to go out there and do what we do.”

And just do it better than they’ve done it in the past even if Brady seems immune to whatever schemes the Steelers throw at him. If they blitz, he finds the hot receiver. If they drop back and give him time, he picks them apart.

Brady’s numbers against the Steelers seem as if they’ve come out of a video game. He has racked up 2,008 yards passing with 14 touchdowns against three interceptions against Pittsburgh, remarkable statistics against any team, mind-blowing considering the Steelers annually rank among the league’s top defenses.

This year is no different. The Steelers are third in the league in average yards against and first against the pass.

Yet Brady is in a different league than the likes of Curtis Painter, Blaine Gabbert and Tarvaris Jackson, and the Steelers know it.

New England has beaten the Steelers in a variety of ways. Early in Brady’s career the Patriots relied on the defense and running game. Now coach Bill Belichick lets his quarterback throw it all over the field.

Whatever button the Patriots push works. That’s typically not the way it goes when teams face the Steelers.

“You see them one week and they do this, then the next week they do something completely different,” Clark said. “One week it’s five receivers and the next it’s two tight ends.”

And sometimes it’s both in the same game.

The Patriots slogged to a 10-3 halftime lead a year ago only to pull away for a 39-26 victory, with Brady throwing for 350 yards and three scores.

“We scored points and our defense played pretty good but it was like something that was missing, like we were trying but we just couldn’t get there,” Steelers receiver Mike Wallace said. “You always going to keep that in the back of your head that you have to beat this team because of what happened.”

If the Steelers need advice on how to turn things around, they need only look within their own locker room.

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery spent seven seasons in New York before signing with Pittsburgh during training camp.

The Patriots whipped the Jets regularly early in Cotchery’s career before New York evened things out over the last three seasons. The Jets went 4-3 against New England from 2008-10, including an upset victory last season in the divisional playoffs that served as an exclamation point in one of the AFC’s most heated rivalries.

How did the Jets go from patsies to Pats-beaters? Cotchery says it started with an attitude adjustment. Former Jets coach Eric Mangini – a longtime New England assistant – gave his players the belief they could hang with New England.

Rex Ryan, Mangini’s replacement, took it a step further by telling the team to ignore New England’s star power and just hit the delete button.

It’s a lesson Keisel is already following. Cotchery thinks it would be wise for the rest of his new teammates to follow suit.

“You just have to play ball, you don’t play history,” he said. “It’s not Steelers versus history. It’s Steelers vs. Patriots.”

Updated October 27, 2011

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Brett Keisel’s short-term memory is a little hazy. Actually, his long-term memory is clouded, too, at least when it comes to the New England Patriots.

The Pittsburgh defensive end isn’t quite sure how many times Tom Brady has beaten the defending AFC champions.

Is it four? Five? All Keisel knows is, whatever the number is — six, actually — it’s too many. He also knows he’s not dwelling on it heading into their showdown Sunday at Heinz Field.

“I really haven’t thought about what they’ve done in the past, honestly,” Keisel said.

Good idea.

The Steelers have won 129 games (including a pair of Super Bowls) since Brady took over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001. Only one of those victories came against the two-time MVP.

Does that mean New England is in the Steelers’ heads? Keisel has the ultimate respect for the Patriots, but he’s not ready to go there.

“If they feel good about themselves for beating us back in whenever, and it’s an advantage for them, so be it,” Keisel said.

The Patriots haven’t just beaten the Steelers through the years, however, they’ve dominated.

New England’s average margin of victory against Pittsburgh since 2001 is 12.3 points with only one game decided by fewer than seven points.

Impressive, to be sure.

Also, the Steelers point out, irrelevant.

“The amazing thing is none of that counts,” safety Ryan Clark said. “They clearly have no reason to be afraid of us, but neither do we.”

Maybe, though the Steelers (5-2) are well aware they’ve played second fiddle to the Patriots (5-1) over the last decade in which the two organizations combined to win half the Super Bowls and seven AFC titles.

“That’s how it always is,” linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. “They’ve got a great organization, great coaches, great players. Last time I checked, we were pretty good, too.”

Just not good enough to beat Brady.

The Steelers insist there’s no secret formula to beating Brady. Put pressure on him, disrupt his timing and try to put him on the ground.

“If I knew the reason why they’ve beaten us more than we’ve beaten them, we wouldn’t have that problem anymore,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “So, we’ve just got to go out there and do what we do.”

And just do it better than they’ve done it in the past even if Brady seems immune to whatever schemes the Steelers throw at him. If they blitz, he finds the hot receiver. If they drop back and give him time, he picks them apart.

Brady’s numbers against the Steelers seem as if they’ve come out of a video game. He has racked up 2,008 yards passing with 14 touchdowns against three interceptions against Pittsburgh, remarkable statistics against any team, mind-blowing considering the Steelers annually rank among the league’s top defences.

This year is no different. The Steelers are third in the league in average yards against and first against the pass.

Yet Brady is in a different league than the likes of Curtis Painter, Blaine Gabbert and Tarvaris Jackson, and the Steelers know it.

New England has beaten the Steelers in a variety of ways. Early in Brady’s career the Patriots relied on the defence and running game. Now coach Bill Belichick lets his quarterback throw it all over the field.

Whatever button the Patriots push works. That’s typically not the way it goes when teams face the Steelers.

“You see them one week and they do this, then the next week they do something completely different,” Clark said. “One week it’s five receivers and the next it’s two tight ends.”

And sometimes it’s both in the same game.

The Patriots slogged to a 10-3 halftime lead a year ago only to pull away for a 39-26 victory, with Brady throwing for 350 yards and three scores.

“We scored points and our defence played pretty good but it was like something that was missing, like we were trying but we just couldn’t get there,” Steelers receiver Mike Wallace said. “You always going to keep that in the back of your head that you have to beat this team because of what happened.”

If the Steelers need advice on how to turn things around, they need only look within their own locker room.

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery spent seven seasons in New York before signing with Pittsburgh during training camp.

The Patriots whipped the Jets regularly early in Cotchery’s career before New York evened things out over the last three seasons. The Jets went 4-3 against New England from 2008-10, including an upset victory last season in the divisional playoffs that served as an exclamation point in one of the AFC’s most heated rivalries.

How did the Jets go from patsies to Pats-beaters? Cotchery says it started with an attitude adjustment. Former Jets coach Eric Mangini — a longtime New England assistant — gave his players the belief they could hang with New England.

Rex Ryan, Mangini’s replacement, took it a step further by telling the team to ignore New England’s star power and just hit the delete button.

It’s a lesson Keisel is already following. Cotchery thinks it would be wise for the rest of his new teammates to follow suit.

“You just have to play ball, you don’t play history,” he said. “It’s not Steelers versus history. It’s Steelers vs. Patriots.”

Brett Keisel’s short-term memory is a little hazy. Actually, his long-term memory is clouded, too, at least when it comes to the New England Patriots.
The Pittsburgh defensive end isn’t quite sure how many times Tom Brady has beaten the defending AFC champions.
Is it four? Five? All Keisel knows is, whatever the number is — six, actually — it’s too many. He also knows he’s not dwelling on it heading into their showdown Sunday at Heinz Field.
“I really haven’t thought about what they’ve done in the past, honestly,” Keisel said.
Good idea.
The Steelers have won 129 games (including a pair of Super Bowls) since Brady took over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001. Only one of those victories came against the two-time MVP.
Does that mean New England is in the Steelers’ heads? Keisel has the ultimate respect for the Patriots, but he’s not ready to go there.
“If they feel good about themselves for beating us back in whenever, and it’s an advantage for them, so be it,” Keisel said.
The Patriots haven’t just beaten the Steelers through the years, however, they’ve dominated.
New England’s average margin of victory against Pittsburgh since 2001 is 12.3 points with only one game decided by fewer than seven points.
Impressive, to be sure.
Also, the Steelers point out, irrelevant.
“The amazing thing is none of that counts,” safety Ryan Clark said. “They clearly have no reason to be afraid of us, but neither do we.”
Maybe, though the Steelers (5-2) are well aware they’ve played second fiddle to the Patriots (5-1) over the last decade in which the two organizations combined to win half the Super Bowls and seven AFC titles.
“That’s how it always is,” linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. “They’ve got a great organization, great coaches, great players. Last time I checked, we were pretty good, too.”
Just not good enough to beat Brady.
The Steelers insist there’s no secret formula to beating Brady. Put pressure on him, disrupt his timing and try to put him on the ground.
“If I knew the reason why they’ve beaten us more than we’ve beaten them, we wouldn’t have that problem anymore,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “So, we’ve just got to go out there and do what we do.”
And just do it better than they’ve done it in the past even if Brady seems immune to whatever schemes the Steelers throw at him. If they blitz, he finds the hot receiver. If they drop back and give him time, he picks them apart.
Brady’s numbers against the Steelers seem as if they’ve come out of a video game. He has racked up 2,008 yards passing with 14 touchdowns against three interceptions against Pittsburgh, remarkable statistics against any team, mind-blowing considering the Steelers annually rank among the league’s top defenses.
This year is no different. The Steelers are third in the league in average yards against and first against the pass.
Yet Brady is in a different league than the likes of Curtis Painter, Blaine Gabbert and Tarvaris Jackson, and the Steelers know it.
New England has beaten the Steelers in a variety of ways. Early in Brady’s career the Patriots relied on the defense and running game. Now coach Bill Belichick lets his quarterback throw it all over the field.
Whatever button the Patriots push works. That’s typically not the way it goes when teams face the Steelers.
“You see them one week and they do this, then the next week they do something completely different,” Clark said. “One week it’s five receivers and the next it’s two tight ends.”
And sometimes it’s both in the same game.
The Patriots slogged to a 10-3 halftime lead a year ago only to pull away for a 39-26 victory, with Brady throwing for 350 yards and three scores.
“We scored points and our defense played pretty good but it was like something that was missing, like we were trying but we just couldn’t get there,” Steelers receiver Mike Wallace said. “You always going to keep that in the back of your head that you have to beat this team because of what happened.”
If the Steelers need advice on how to turn things around, they need only look within their own locker room.
Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery spent seven seasons in New York before signing with Pittsburgh during training camp.
The Patriots whipped the Jets regularly early in Cotchery’s career before New York evened things out over the last three seasons. The Jets went 4-3 against New England from 2008-10, including an upset victory last season in the divisional playoffs that served as an exclamation point in one of the AFC’s most heated rivalries.
How did the Jets go from patsies to Pats-beaters? Cotchery says it started with an attitude adjustment. Former Jets coach Eric Mangini — a longtime New England assistant — gave his players the belief they could hang with New England.
Rex Ryan, Mangini’s replacement, took it a step further by telling the team to ignore New England’s star power and just hit the delete button.
It’s a lesson Keisel is already following. Cotchery thinks it would be wise for the rest of his new teammates to follow suit.
“You just have to play ball, you don’t play history,” he said. “It’s not Steelers versus history. It’s Steelers vs. Patriots.”

Over the past decade the New England Patriots have established themselves as the top franchise in the NFL with three Super Bowl victories over that span.

However, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the Patriots. Here is a look at the worst moments in the history of the franchise.

5. January 26, 1997:

Eleven years after their first Super Bowl appearance, the Patriots returned to the Superdome for Superbowl XXXI. Green Bay handed the Patriots a 35-21 defeat. Even worse, Head Coach Bill Parcells was disgruntled and resigned after the loss, then brokered a deal to head up the New York Jets.

4. January 26, 1986:

The Patriots earned a spot in Super Bowl XX, but were but a speed bump in the Chicago Bears’ 15-1 season. The outmatched Patriots actually led in the game 3-0, but that was all that went their way, as Chicago pounded out a 46-10 win in the Superdome.

3. December 18, 1976:

The Patriots looked to be on their way to the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, when the Raiders came from behind for a 24-21 win. Adding to the agony was a late flag for roughing the passer called by referee Ben Dreith against Patriot defender Ray Hamilton. The bad call led to a Raider touchdown with 10 seconds left. Oakland went on to beat Pittsburgh the next week, then topped Minnesota for Super Bowl XI.

2. August 12, 1978:

Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley takes a hit from Oakland’s Jack Tatum in a preseason game. The hit broke a vertebrae in his next and Stingley never walked again. He died in April 2007 of heart disease and pneumonia complicated by his quadriplegia. The moment was a sad one for both the Patriots and the NFL.

1. February 3, 2008:

The Patriots, aiming for their fourth Super Bowl and for the second NFL season, had a record breaking year. But it all fell apart in Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants, who converted three third-down plays as Eli Manning(notes) led a game winning drive to edge New England 17-14.

Sources:

Jim Halley, “Patriots-Raiders, No love lost over time”, USA Today

Darryl Stingley, Patriots.com

Super Bowl History, NFL.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Over the past decade, the New England Patriots have been the premier franchise in the NFL. The team that was on the verge of being moved in the 1990s, has claimed three Super Bowl titles, a perfect regular season and a long list of records and achievements.

Here is a closer look at the best moments in the history of the New England Patriots.

5. With the 199th pick …

What didn’t seem like a big moment at the time, ended up being the biggest game-changer in the franchise’s history. The Patriots already had a franchise quarterback in Drew Bledsoe at the time, but selected Tom Brady(notes) with the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady was the sixth quarterback drafted that year, and for sure value it’s hard to argue there’s been a better pick in NFL history as Brady has put together a Hall of Fame career and won three Super Bowls with the Patriots.

4. Super Bowl XXXVIII

The Patriots second Super Bowl victory came in Houston. Like their first title, it came via a late field goal by Adam Vinatieri(notes), this time helping the Pats to a 32-29 victory over Carolina at Reliant Stadium. Tom Brady finished with 364 yards passing and three touchdown in the win, the second in three seasons to begin the dynasty talk around the franchise.

3. Super Bowl XXXIX

The Patriots won their second consecutive Super Bowl and third in four seasons, adding to the dynasty ferver with a 24-21 victory over Philadelphia at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville. The Patriots defense forced four turnovers, and Deion Branch(notes) was named MVP by pulling in a record 11 Brady catches for 113 yards.

2. Snow Bowl

The Super Bowl XXXVI victory wouldn’t have been possible without the “Tuck Rule” and the amazing overtime win over Oakland during a constant flurry at the old Foxboro Stadium. With the Patriots trailing, 13-10, and losing what appeared to be fumble with just 1:42 left, the game seemed over. But the call was overturned, and Adam Vinatieri added what many argue is the greatest kick in NFL history to tie the score. The Pats got the ball first in overtime and marched down the field for a game-winning field goal by Vinatieri. A week later the team won at Pittsburgh and headed to Super Bowl XXXVI.

1. Super Bowl XXXVI

The Patriots entered their third Super Bowl trip as big underdogs to heavily favored St. Louis. But the Patriots’ team mentality and a young quarterback, Brady, refused to give in to the Rams’ hype as “The Greatest Show on Turf”, even with St. Louis rallying to tie the game late.

The Patriots took possession of the ball on their own 17 with just 1:21 left. Brady led the Pats offense down the field and with time running out on the clock, and Vinatieri booted the ball through the uprights at the Superdome for a game-winning 47-yard field goal.

The first two may be the chicken and the egg scenario. Sure, we know the Snow Bowl came first, but without the Snow Bowl the Patriots are watching Super Bowl XXXVI. Of course, without Super Bowl XXXVI, the outcome of the Snow Bowl wouldn’t have mattered in the franchise’s history.

Sources:

Super Bowl History, NFL.com

Rick Weinberg, “‘Tuck’ play spurs Patriots to OT playoff win,” ESPN.com

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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Westborough Public Library presents local author Vin Femia on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. to talk about his new book, “Patriot Pride: The 50 Year Rise of the New England Patriots as Seen Through a Fan’s Eyes”.

The book provides a decade-by-decade summary of the sometimes turbulent and recently dominant history of the New England Patriots from the formation of the American Football League in the 1960s, through the development of a strong, title-contending team and the near-misses of the 1970s, the ups and downs and the initial Super Bowl trips in the 1980s and 1990s, and the great successes that the team achieved in the Super Bowl wins and perfect regular season in the era from 2001 to the present.  Also included are in-depth interviews with 16 key players and contributors to Patriots’ and NFL history.

Vin Femia is a graduate of Holy Cross and also the author of “The Possible Dream”.  Copies of “Patriot Pride” will be available for purchase and signing.  Mr. Femia will donate a portion of the proceeds to two charities: the ALS Association, which helps patients who have been stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease, and IMEC, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide quality medical equipment to health care facilities aiding the poor in developing countries.

This program is free and open to the public.  For more information, please call the library at 508-366-3050.

All aboard the New England Patriots Super Bowl bandwagon! This is your final boarding call!

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk joined The Dan Patrick Show, with special guest host Tom E. Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England. The two sportswriters mused and mulled over Super Bowl hopefuls and early season letdowns.

The PFT writer backed out of his preseason Super Bowl pick, and went with a wildly popular pick in the Patriots.

Might it have had anything to do with the fact that the Patriots beat his previous Super Bowl pick, the San Diego Chargers? Or maybe it wasn’t just that they beat the Chargers, but that the Chargers beat themselves? They turned the ball over four times on Sunday against the Patriots, with those turnovers translating to 18 points for New England.

The Chargers just couldn’t get out of their own way long enough to win the game, and Florio sees that as a consistent problem that could plague the team in January.

“It doesn’t matter if they end up with the top seed in the AFC and get home games in the playoffs,” Florio said. “They’ll still find a way to lose when the games are on the line.”

The Chargers are like a dog chasing its tail. A whole lot of wasted energy, a whole lot of movement, and fun to watch, but they’re not accomplishing anything.

The Patriots, however, have ruled the air with efficiency, led by general Tom Brady. His dominant start to the season figures to be at least part of the reason for Florio’s change of heart.

“If I got a chance to do a do-over, I’d have to go with Patriots and Packers, although it’s the obvious predictable pick,” he said. “The Packers have some flaws on defense, but if you’re always going to score enough points on offense to have more points than the other team, it doesn’t matter if your pass defense isn’t any good.”

His statement about the Packers applies to the Patriots, as well. New England has given up 762 yards and a 93.9 passer rating on defense. That hasn’t mattered for the Patriots, as Brady has strung together two of the finest regular-season performances of his storied career in the first two weeks of the NFL season. In fact, no quarterback in NFL history has thrown for more yardage in the first two games of a season than Brady has in 2011.

What’s more surprising, that Florio is changing his pick from the Chargers, or to the Patriots?

Listen to the full segment at danpatrick.com.