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 On the final drive, New England quarterback Tom Brady was almost
intercepted by Giants rookie safety Landon Collins, who dropped the
ball when he landed awkwardly on his neck and upper back.
The Patriots moved the ball into Giants territory with four seconds
remaining and Gostkowski finished the rally.
"All I really think about is don't kick the ball too hard because a
lot of times when I miss kicks, it's when I really try to kill it,"
Gostkowski said, adding that he sang a song in his head to tune out
the noise and other distractions prior to attempting his
game-winning kick.
"I look forward to the opportunity. I think if you shy away from the
opportunity, you have a good chance of going out there and
second-guessing yourself."
The Giants had gone ahead 26-24 on a 29-yard Josh Brown field goal
just after the two-minute warning, though they felt they had scored
a touchdown just moments before when quarterback Eli Manning
connected with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in front of
cornerback Malcolm Butler in the end zone.
Officials ruled a touchdown, but replays showed Butler batted the
ball out of Beckham's hands before his second foot was on the ground
to complete the catch.
"I lost us the game with the play down in the end zone, a play that
should have been made," Beckham said.
"You can't leave it up to the officials to get anything right.
You've got to make the play yourself and it was just a case of
playing the play longer than the opponent."
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New York's defense played the Patriots tough, coming up with two big
turnovers, but the offense was unable to convert either into
touchdowns.
Brady completed 26 of 42 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns.
Manning threw for 361 yards, completing 24 of 44 with two
touchdowns.
"Not much for me to say about it other than the frustration was -- I
mean finish the game, just get the game over with," Giants head
coach Tom Coughlin said.
"I thought there were times in the second half we weren't able
obviously to sustain any kind of drives and that was frustrating in
itself."
(Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)
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