Giants give Patriots feeling of deja vu

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Super Bowl or midseason game, Eli Manning and the New York Giants are masters of the last-minute comeback against the New England Patriots.

Manning capped a decisive drive eerily similar to the one in the 2008 Super Bowl, throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left and giving the Giants a 24-20 win on Sunday.

"I knew we would win," Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. "It definitely took me back to the Super Bowl."

In that 17-14 victory, Manning threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds to go. Four plays earlier, David Tyree trapped Manning's third-down pass over the middle on top of his helmet for a 32-yard gain.

On Sunday, the teams met in a meaningful game for the first time since then. And Manning threw another completion over the middle to an unheralded receiver on third down, connecting with a leaping Ballard for a 28-yard gain. Five plays later, they hooked up for the winning pass.

"If it was thrown anywhere else, I wouldn't have caught it," Ballard said. "You dream about making catches like that."

And Ballard's number? The same as Tyree's, 85.

"I'd rather be down by three with a minute-thirty (left) than up by four with a minute-thirty with Tom Brady, with their offense on the field," Manning said. "You like those situations where you have an opportunity to go win the game."

The Giants (6-2) kept their two-game lead in the NFC East over the Dallas Cowboys. The Patriots (5-3) are tied with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, next week's opponent, atop the AFC East.

"We've got half the season to go," Brady said. "We'll see what our team's made of this week."

The loss ended several impressive streaks: wins in an NFL-record 31 regular-season starts at home for Brady, and in 20 regular-season home games for the Patriots.

Brady did throw a touchdown pass for the 24th straight regular-season home game. But the Patriots lost consecutive games for just the third time since the start of the 2003 season.

The Giants won for the sixth time in seven games.

"We got a little carried away," defensive end Justin Tuck said when asked about players lifting coach Tom Coughlin on their shoulders in the locker room. "Considering how good that team is and what they've done here in the last 20 games, it was a big win, and to win it in the fashion that we won it, it brings back memories."

For a while, it looked like the Patriots would win with a comeback when Brady threw a 14-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20-17 with 1:36 to go.

But the Giants had enough time. And they had Manning.

They were helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Sergio Brown that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds left.

"I was looking at the ball the whole time," Brown said. "I was surprised. They come and tell us as long as we're looking at the ball we can play the ball."

Three plays later, Manning found Ballard in the back left corner of the end zone.

"I knew I'd be hit hard," Ballard said. "I concentrated as hard as I could."

After a scoreless first half, the Patriots took their first lead, 13-10, on Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal with 7:08 to go in the game. Manning then led the Giants on an 85-yard march capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 3:03 remaining.

The Giants won despite injuries that kept their top rusher, Ahmad Bradshaw, and leading receiver, Hakeem Nicks, from making the trip. But New York's defense pressured Brady, coming up with two sacks and two interceptions.

Manning completed 20 of 39 passes for 250 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Brady was 28 of 49 for 342 yards and two touchdowns.