A Good Old Fashioned Beatdown
- Daniel Botolino
- Dec 2
- 3 min read
It was a night filled with memories of the past. It was a matchup between two teams that had multiple legendary showdowns in the Super Bowl. It was a frigid clear night, the type that you see in old NFL Films clips and the Patriots rocked their throwback red uniforms.
In the game there was an element of the old times as well. There were big hits, scuffles, and tough running. But more than that, it felt like a throwback to a not too old past when a great Patriots Quarterback and his reliable Tight End tore defenses apart as they went on long winning streaks.
The Patriots could not have asked for a better start to the ball game. After a long Terell Jennings opening kick return led to a field goal, they took early control when the Swiss Army Knife that is Marcus Jones dashed through a wide-open field, going basically untouched on a 94-punt return touchdown.
On the next Giants drive, the Patriots set the tone and put some fear into the Giants when Jaxson Dart rolled out of the pocket on a scramble and ran down the sideline before getting popped by Christian Ellis. This resulted in a scrum and a 15-yard penalty on Tight End Theo Johnson which effectively ended the drive.
The Patriots finished the quarter with their best drive of the game where they went 61 yards in just 5 plays, and a Kayshon Boutte touchdown reception was set up by a Hunter Henry 36-yard reception.
The Giants showed some fight in the 2nd quarter getting on the board on their first drive of it when Jaxson Dart hit Darius Slayton on a slant who took off and scored a 30-yard touchdown.
After a short Patriots drive and a Bryce Baringer 22-yard shank it looked like this might turn into a close one, but the Pats defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs before Drake Maye threw an over-the-shoulder 33-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams to make it 24-7. Despite it only being the 2nd quarter, this was the dagger in the game.
New England finished the half with 2 field goals before the third quarter featured no points. Early in the 4th quarter a 22-yard wildcat touchdown run by Devin Singletary followed by a two-point conversion cut the lead to 15, but the Giants were not able to score on their next drive. The Patriots went on a 5-and-a-half-minute drive that led to a field goal to put the final score at 33-15 and give New England their 10th straight win.
Drake Maye added to his MVP campaign with 24 completions on 31 attempts for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns while both his running backs ran for 40 or more yards with Rhamondre Stevenson carrying 12 times for 40 yards and TreVeyon Henderson doing so 11 times for 67 yards. Hunter Henry had 4 receptions for 73 yards and Maye completed passes to 8 different receivers overall.
On the losing end, Jaxson Dart threw the ball for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Devin Singletary added a touchdown on 68 yards rushing. Wan’Dale Robinson was the top receiver for Dart racking up 7 receptions, but for only 34 yards.
Both teams have their bye week next week before New England takes on Buffalo on December 14th and the Giants play the Commanders.
