Giants beat Patriots 24-20 on last-minute comeback

By Howard Ulman

Associated Press

Published: Sunday, Nov. 6 2011 5:47 p.m. MST

View 12 photos »

New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs is alone as he runs into the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Foxborough, Mass.. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011.

Charles Krupa, Associated Press

Summary

Eli Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, giving the New York Giants a 24-20 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, repeating a comeback victory similar to the 2008 Super Bowl between the teams.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Eli Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, giving the New York Giants a 24-20 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, repeating a comeback victory similar to the 2008 Super Bowl between the teams.

The Giants won that one, 17-14, on Manning's 13-yard scoring pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining. But on Sunday, it looked like the Patriots would win with a comeback of their own when Tom Brady threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20-17 with 1:36 to go.

But the Giants (6-2) had enough time to move 80 yards on eight plays — helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against the Patriots (5-3) that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds to play. Three plays later, Manning found Ballard in the back left corner of the end zone.

Comments