LAST TIME OUT: New England trailed the Pittsburgh Steelers for all but the first five minutes of its 25-17 loss at Heinz Field. Brady entered the game 6-1 all-time against the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger threw 50 times for 365 yards and handed the Patriots only their second loss in the last 11 games coming off a bye.
RECORD: 5-2 (3-0 at home), tied for first in AFC East with Buffalo.
STREAK: L-1.
PATRIOTS/GIANTS CONNECTIONS:
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (Giants assistant coach for 12 seasons).
- Tight ends coach Michael Pope (RB and TE coach with New England from 1994-1996).
- Asst. special teams coach Larry Izzo (won three Super Bowls playing for the Patriots from 2001-2009).
- Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson (won two Super Bowls playing linebacker for the Giants from 1986-1992).
- Asst. strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul (same position with NE from 2000-2004)
HEAD COACH: Bill Belichick, 17th year (182-102 overall).
FRANCHISE VS. FRANCHISE: The Patriots have won the last four regular season meetings to take a 5-3 lead in the series. The Giants lead the postseason series, 1-0, with a victory in Super Bowl XLII.
DID YOU KNOW: Belichick and Brady have 117 regular season victories together, tying Hall of Famers Don Shula and Dan Marino as the most prolific coach-quarterback tandem. One more will break the record.
PASSING: 324.7 (2nd in NFL).
RUSHING: 112.4 (18th).
OPP. PASSING: 323.1 (32nd).
OPP. RUSHING: 101.0 (9th).
PTS/G: 28.9 (5th).
OPP. PTS/G: 22.9 (17th).
PATRIOTS UPDATED INJURY REPORTBACK IN FOXBOROUGH: "On to the Giants here. It's a good football team. They really do pretty much everything well; strong in all three phases of the game," *Belichick said on Tuesday. "It will be a big challenge for us this week to have a good week of preparation and be ready for their group of outstanding players and the schemes they present. I think Tom [Coughlin] and his staff, as always, do a good job - obviously the Giants are well prepared and well coached. We'll have to do a good job in all three phases of the game. They present a lot of challenges, they make a lot of big plays, they're an explosive team that can make long plays on offense, make big plays, turnovers, scores on defense and they're strong in the kicking game. That's what we're looking at this week."
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