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Patriots look to wrap up perfect regular season vs. Giants

Dec 29, 2007 - 11:27 AM New England (15-0) at NY Giants (10-5) 8:15 pm EST

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Fifteen up, fifteen down and only the New York Giants stand in the way of the New England Patriots' pursuit of perfection.

And considering that Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't likely to take his foot off the accelerator, expect Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the Patriots to give it their best shot in their quest to become the first team to run the regular-season table since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

The 1972 Dolphins, who completed a 17-0 season en route to winning the Super Bowl, were the only other team to start a regular season 14-0. The league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

The 2007 Dolphins were no match for Brady, who completed 18-of-33 passes for 215 yards and three first-half touchdowns to lead the Patriots to a 28-7 victory last weekend.

With 48 touchdown passes, Brady now finds himself tied with Dan Marino for the second-highest total of all time - one shy of tying Peyton Manning's record of 49 set in 2004.

Two of last weekend's scoring passes went to wide receiver Randy Moss, giving him 21 for the season and putting him within one of tying Jerry Rice's all-time mark set in 1987.

A scoreless second half prevented New England from setting the NFL single-season scoring record last weekend. The Patriots have 551 points for the season and need six on Saturday to surpass the mark of 556 set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998.

Records aside, Patriots coach Bill Belichick echoed his usual stance after Sunday's victory.

"It's good to win and we're not really too hung up on that," Belichick said. "We'll get ready for next week. We'll take one week at a time and get ready for next week."

While the Patriots seem intent on finishing the season the way they started, the Giants seemingly have little incentive to even take the field.

New York clinched a wild-card playoff berth and the NFC's fifth seed with a 38-21 victory against the Buffalo Bills. The Giants will be on the road to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs on January 5 or 6.

They are one of just four teams to reach the playoffs in each of the last three years, joining Indianapolis, New England and Seattle.

Last weekend, running back Brandon Jacobs rushed for two touchdowns and linebacker Kawika Mitchell returned an interception for the go-ahead score.

It was the franchise-record seventh straight road win for New York, which rallied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit.