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Giants Now: 15-year anniversary of 'paradoxical' Giants vs. Patriots finale

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Peter King looks back at 2007 Giants-Patriots regular season finale

Believe it or not, tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of a special moment in Giants history that often gets overlooked.

On December 29, 2007, the Giants welcomed the 15-0 New England Patriots to East Rutherford in the Week 17 season finale. The Giants were already locked into the NFC's fifth seed and had nothing to play for, while the Patriots were obviously looking to complete their perfect regular season.

In his weekly 'Football Morning in America' column, NBC Sports' Peter King took a moment to commemorate this game and coach Tom Coughlin's decision to play his full team against the Patriots

As we all know, the two teams took part in an epic battle, one that saw the Giants hang in there for all four quarters before New England edged out a 38-35 victory.

While the Patriots won the battle, the Giants would eventually win the war. The two teams met again five weeks later in Super Bowl XLII, where the Giants pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in Super Bowl history with their 17-14 win over the previously 18-0 Patriots.

Coach Coughlin recently spoke with King, where he shared an impactful memory from the day after the season finale matchup against the Patriots.

"I gotta tell you one more story because this is what will be most meaningful," Coughlin said. "It was a great performance. I'm really proud of my team. That's a team that's 16-0, we know we can play with them. All that stuff. Next morning at 5 o'clock I come into my office and I see the red light's on the phone. A voicemail. I pick up the phone and it's John Madden. He's saying, 'Tom, I just wanted to call. Because I want you to know that is the greatest thing that's happened to the NFL in the last 10 years.' He said, 'This is the National Football League—we don't not play our players. We owe a responsibility to our fans to perform every day. That's what you did. I'm just so proud to be a part of that. I'm so proud of what you've accomplished and what your team has accomplished.' He said, 'I'm very emotional right now. But I want you to know how I felt.' I played it for my team in our next team meeting. It was moving. Very moving."

Check out the video below to watch coach Tom Coughlin discuss that memorable voicemail from the legendary John Madden.

View rare photos of the all-time history between the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts.

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Limited tickets available for Giants vs. Colts

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