Patriots’ thrilling victory over Giants brings satisfaction and worry
Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots kicks the game-winning field goal against the Giants
COMMENTARY
Rarely is the margin between delight and despair as thin for the Patriots as it was Sunday afternoon. Whether we’re discussing the perfect record compiled with little drama through this season’s first half or the entire magnificent Brady-Belichick era as a whole, the truth is that delight is almost always the outcome around here, and that outcome is usually settled long before the commencing of postgame handshakes and Jim Nantz’s saccharine postscripts.
Only the occasional opponent has left the Patriots and their fans in despair over the past decade and a half, and, of course, only one opponent is notorious for doing so twice, on American sports’ biggest stage. Despite the Giants carrying a three-game winning streak over the Patriots — including those agonizing, all-too-similar upsets in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI — I went into Sunday’s game unconvinced that Tom Coughlin’s team had punctured the Patriots’ mystique or unearthed some significant advantage.
And after the Patriots’ beyond-thrilling, hard-fought, affirming 27-26 victory, I … actually, I remain unconvinced. The Giants are a chronically tough opponent, admirable and stout and talented, but nothing more than that. I will concede it is appropriate that the margin of victory — that margin between delight and despair — was as thin as the gap between the football and the left goalpost on Stephen Gostkowski’s winning 54-yard field goal. It wasn’t thisclose, but it was close enough to require punctuation with an enormous exhale.
Win or lose, sometimes a game’s aftermath delivers a hodgepodge of reactions and emotions. This was one of those Sundays. There was a soaring satisfaction in the victory, a wholly deserved satisfaction. The Patriots met their toughest challenge of the season and emerged with the zero in the loss column intact. This was not a replay of the two Super Bowl losses — the stakes were so much lower that the difference should not even need to be acknowledged.
But there were some eerie similarities. The Giants had Brady under siege despite the knowledge that it would be understandable if their best pass rusher curled into the fetal position every time he hears Katy Perry’s “Firework’’ for the rest of his days.
And yet Brady led the Patriots to a rally against the best team they have faced since February. While Peyton Manning was burying his legend and filling the daily family quota for interceptions against the Chiefs, Eli Manning was again playing like his big brother rarely did in big games, hitting no-name receiver after no-name receiver with one impossibly precise throw after another. When the Giants went ahead with less than two minutes remaining, we knew it wasn’t a repeat of the Super Bowl losses in terms of magnitude, but it sure as hell looked and felt familiar.
So much worked against the Patriots — I’m nearly convinced that the head official was not Ed Hochuli, but Roger Goodell in an inflatable body builder suit and a striped Brooks Brothers referee shirt — and yet they rose up. They rose up, first when Tom Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski on a 76-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to take a 24-23 lead, the best players doing exactly what the best players should do even when everyone is expecting it.
Following Giants kicker Josh Brown’s go-ahead field goal with one minute and 47 seconds remaining, the Patriots rose up again on Gostkowski’s winning kick, a boot that should silence the radio caterwaulers who for some silly reason choose to hunt for flaws amid his accomplishments. He has replaced Adam Vinatieri, and in the Patriots record books, he has surpassed him. Think about how improbable all of that might have seemed a decade ago, and how normal it feels now.
Oh, and we cannot forget Malcolm Butler, who was beaten for an 87-yard touchdown by high-voltage receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants’ first possession. Devin McCourty, charged with supplying help on the play, curiously morphed into Tebucky Jones, missing the containment tackle and wiping out Butler in the process. After that? Beckham had three catches for 17 yards on 11 targets. It was probably the best game Butler has played as a Patriot, at least among those in which he didn’t save a Super Bowl.
Yet there were remnants of despair in the delightful aftermath of the win. A week after losing open-field virtuoso Dion Lewis to a season-ending knee injury, the Patriots saw an even more vital member of the offense end the night on crutches. Julian Edelman, the jittery, fearless receiver, suffered what was reported to be a broken foot, news that may have explained why Tom Brady was so sullen after the win. He knew the degree of difficulty in the next few weeks is about to increase.
Edelman’s season probably isn’t over, but his absence could have a profound impact on the Patriots’ prolific offense. Danny Amendola (10 catches, 79 yards, one spectacular punt return) can act as a capable stand-in the slot role. It’s what he was brought here to do, after all, before Edelman surpassed him and he moved outside. But you don’t just lose a player like Edelman and go about your merry way, dropping 38 points on every opposing defense that comes along.
The Patriots are now without their best wide receiver, their most versatile running back, and their top three tackles. Such a lengthy roll call of the injured and infirm would be insurmountable for so many teams — the vast majority of them, really. The Patriots’ quality depth is helping them continue to prevail, but they cannot afford to lose any more stars. There has to be a tipping point with these injuries, and we know exactly what it is, even if we don’t speak of it.
Let’s just agree that right-minded New Englanders cringe in unison every time Brady and Gronk, the Buzz and Woody leading this crew away from peril, take a low hit. But they have remained intact, as have core defenders Butler, McCourty, and Dont’a Hightower. Jamie Collins and Sebastian Vollmer presumably will be back soon.
They will return to a team that is unbowed, not entirely unbroken, but still unbeaten. Where the Patriots stand and what they’ve already accomplished is worth delighting in — right after one more deep exhale as we ponder Sunday, and all that is to come.
Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.
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