Close and Closer

The Patriots took an imperfect route to their ninth consecutive victory this season.

For a night, it was perfect enough for them, as they snuck past the Giants yesterday with a 27-26 victory at MetLife Stadium to improve to 9-0 and keep the unblemished vengeance tour intact. The defending Super Bowl champions are driven toward a greater purpose, but they erased a supersized demon on that path.

“If you’re playing to play undefeated, then you’re playing for the wrong reasons,” linebacker Dont’a Hightower said. “We’re playing to win. That’s what we do. We’re never playing to be undefeated or to win by 3 or to win by 7. A win is a win.”

Kicker Stephen Gostkowski delivered a 54-yard field goal with 1 second remaining to complete the frantic comeback, and quarterback Tom Brady completed 5-of-10 passes, excluding a spike, during the orchestration of the 49th game-winning drive of his career.

“It always comes down to the end with them,” Brady said. “We talked about it before the game, play hard for 60 minutes, and it took every last second. I’m proud of our team, the way we fought, but we can do some things better than we did today. Certainly, I can. But I’m proud we’re 9-0.”

Brady’s decisive march got off to an ominous start, as the Pats took over at their own 20-yard line with 1:47 remaining and no timeouts at their disposal. Giants safety Landon Collins dropped a surefire interception on Brady’s first bid, which was a badly underthrown heave to receiver Aaron Dobson, and it was the first of three consecutive incompletions that staked them to a fourth-and-10 hole.

But Brady fired a 12-yard strike to receiver Danny Amendola (10 catches for 79 yards) to start a stretch in which he completed five of his next seven deliveries. Brady closed down his hectic drive with a 9-yarder to Amendola to the Giants 36, and he spiked the ball with :06 to go.

“It came down to the wire,” Amendola said. “We knew it was going to be a battle. Everybody fought their ass off.”

Gostkowski’s winner hooked through the friendly side of the left post.

“Me, (holder) Ryan (Allen) and (snapper) Joe (Cardona) all felt eerily calm out there,” Gostkowski said. “We thought we were going to get it.”

The Pats erased a 10-point second-half deficit, as New York quarterback Eli Manning’s offense got hot in the second and third quarters while Brady fell out of a rhythm after receiver Julian Edelman exited with a broken foot. Manning targeted linebacker Jonathan Freeny and cornerbacks Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin for the brunt of his success, and receiver Dwayne Harris got past Coleman for a 17-10 lead late in the second quarter. New York kicker Josh Brown pushed the advantage to 20-10 with a 38-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half.

Brady’s group responded with a three-and-out, but after the defense held, Amendola ripped off an 82-yard punt return that set up running back LeGarrette Blount’s 1-yard TD.

Brown answered with a 53-yarder late in the third, and Brady made his first of two fourth-quarter miscues to threaten the chances of a comeback when linebacker Jasper Brinkley’s forced fumble set up the Giants at the Pats 31. But defensive end Rob Ninkovich’s timely first-down sack pushed the Giants out of field-goal range.

And then, the parallels to 2007 continued, as Brady delivered a beautiful deep ball to tight end Rob Gronkowski for a Randy Moss-like 76-yard touchdown that put the Pats ahead, 24-23, with 11:33 to go.

Cornerback Malcolm Butler took over on the next drive, erasing a tough first-quarter memory after receiver Odell Beckham Jr. beat him for an 87-yard touchdown that tied the game, 7-7, and doubled as the longest play ever surrendered by Bill Belichick’s Patriots defense. Butler shut down Beckham on three consecutive throws to force a punt, but Brady couldn’t seal it.

After an impressive voyage, which began at their own 19-yard line, David Andrews’ holding penalty wiped out Blount’s 1-yard TD. Two plays later, Brady threw behind receiver Brandon LaFell at the goal line, and cornerback Trumaine McBride’s diving interception set up the Giants.

“Obviously a bad throw, just a terrible throw,” Brady said.

Manning then proceeded to do it again, or so it seemed. He completed five of his first seven passes of the drive for 72 yards, and the Giants converted three third downs to knock on the door. But Butler knocked a touchdown out of Beckham’s hands, and the Pats forced a field goal.

And then, it was up to Brady, who finally gave the Giants the taste of an agonizing defeat.

“Unbelievable,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said, “every time we play these guys, it’s that kind of game.”