Tom Brady and Bill Belichick chatting on the sidelines before their historic game with the Giants.
Since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, no team has completed an entire season as a undefeated Super Bowl champion.
In fact, there has been only one team to complete the regular season undefeated.
That team is the 2007 New England Patriots, who are the only team to 16-0 in the regular season since the NFL expanded the schedule to 16 games.
The Patriots, led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, won three Super Bowls in four years, but after a loss in the 2006 AFC Championship Game to the Indianapolis Colts, the team felt they needed a upgrade in the wide receiver position in order to get back to the Super Bowl.
So in the offseason so they signed Donte Stallworth as a free agent, acquired Wes Welker in a trade from the Miami Dolphins, and received the league’s best deep receiver, Randy Moss, in a trade with the Oakland Raiders.
The moves paid huge dividends in the season opener as the Patriots crushed the New York Jets 38-14, thanks to Moss’ 9 catches for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns to go along with Welker’s six catches for 61 yards.
But controversy erupted on the very next day when Belichick was accused of videotaping the Jets’ defensive signals as a camera used by one of his assistants was confiscated at the Jets game.
Three days later, Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team’s first round pick in the 2008 Draft was taken away.
The incident that became known as “Spygate” polarized the team amongst NFL fans outside of the New England region, as they were branded as cheaters by many fans.
Using anger from “Spygate”, the Patriots would win the next 14 games on the schedule, many of them by double digits as Brady entered the season finale with 48 touchdown passes, one short of tying the record set by Peyton Manning just three years earlier, and Moss with 21 touchdown receptions, one short of the record held by Jerry Rice since 1987.
While the Patriots enjoyed a smooth ride throughout most of the 2007 season, the Giants went through a roller coaster ride to get to the regular season finale with the Patriots.
The Giants dropped their first two games and were down 17-3 at halftime of the third game of the season, until they mounted a second half comeback to pull off a 24-17 win against the Washington Redskins.
New York would win its next five games to improve its record to 6-2 until they lost two of their next three games, which included a 41-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in which quarterback Eli Manning had three of his four interceptions returned for touchdowns.
But the Giants would bounce back again and win three of their next four, including a 38-21 win over the Buffalo Bills in the 15th game of the season to clinch a playoff berth for the third straight year.
The Giants entered the game with the Patriots with a 10-5 record and locked into the #5 seed, which allowed the opportunity for head Tom Coughlin to rest his players before the playoffs began the following week and treat the game like a preseason game.
However, Coughlin decided to play Manning and all his starters in hopes to derail the Patriots’ hopes of completing the first undefeated regular season in 35 years.
Eli Manning was valiant in defeat as he threw four touchdown passes.
While the competitive nature of the game was solved, the availability of the game to NFL fans was another problem.
The game was slated to air on the Saturday night before the final Sunday on the NFL Network, which was not available to many cable customers.
In an unprecedented move, the NFL network telecast was simulcasted on CBS and NBC, giving all NFL fans a chance to see if history was to be made.
The Giants received the opening kickoff and started their first drive at their own 26-yard-line.
On 2nd-and-6 from the 30, Manning went deep and hit Plaxico Burress for a 52-yard gain that help led to Manning’s 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Brandon Jacobs that put the Giants on top 7-0, just four minutes into the game.
The Patriots responded to the touchdown with a 12-play, 54-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that trimmed the New York lead to 7-3.
Then after forcing a three-and-out, the Patriots got the ball back right at the 50-yard-line, only to have the Giants appear to force a three-and-out of their own as Brady was sacked by linebacker Antonio Pierce on 3rd-and-14.
But cornerback Corey Webster was called for illegal contact on the play, negating the sack, and giving New England a fresh set of downs at the Giants’ 49-yard-line.
That is when Brady went to work as he completed 4 passes for 47 yards, the last completion being a 4-yard touchdown pass to Moss, that tied the record for most touchdown passes and most touchdown receptions in a season, and broke the record for most points in a season by a single team.
It also gave the Patriots a 10-7 lead as the touchdown came on the first play of the second quarter.
Moss drew an unsportsmanlike penalty after the touchdown for excessive celebration, meaning the Patriots would have to kick from their 15-yard-line.
This meant that the Giants would get great field position to begin their next offensive drive, but that drive never started as wide receiver Domenik Hixon returned the kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown that gave the lead back to New York at 14-10, just 16 seconds into the second quarter.
New England would begin its next drive at its own 33 and drive 39 yards in seven plays before settling for a 45-yard field goal by Gostkowski that cut the New York lead to 14-13.
The Patriots would force another punt by the Giants, then drove 61 yards in 10 plays to set up Gostkowski’s third field goal of the game, a 37-yarder that gave New England the lead once again at 16-14 with 2:04 before halftime.
Having produced only 20 yards of offense since their opening drive, the Giants got the ball at their 15 with 1:54 left and two timeouts.
The drive got off to an auspicious start as Manning threw an incomplete pass, but he would complete four straight passes for 66 yards, then scramble for 11 more to set up a 1st-and-goal at the Patriots’ three with 21 seconds left.
After an incomplete pass to Burress, Manning would find tight end Kevin Boss for the three-yard touchdown that put the Giants back in the lead at 21-16 as the first half come to a close.
Randy Moss runs toward the end zone for his record-setting 23rd touchdown reception.
The Patriots got the ball to start the second half but went three-and-out, giving the ball back to the Giants who took over at their own 40.
That is when the Giants went to the running game as Jacobs carried the ball four times for 37 yards on a seven-play drive that culminated with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Burress to increase the Giants’ lead to 28-16 with 9:12 left in the third quarter.
Now facing their largest deficit of the season, the Patriots got the ball at their own 27 and rode the arm of Brady as he completed five straight passes for 59 yards to get New England to the Giants’ 16-yard-line.
Two plays later, Moss drew a pass interference penalty on linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, giving the Patriots a 1st-and-goal at the one-yard-line.
An illegal formation penalty pushed New England back five yards, but running back Lawrence Maroney would punch it in from six yards out to cut the New York lead to 28-23 with four minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Giants would start their ensuing possession at their own 40 after a 26-yard return by Hixon and drove to the New England 41-yard-line until Manning was sacked for a 14-yard loss by Adelius Thomas, killing the drive and forcing the Giants to punt.
After both teams punted on their next drives, the Patriots took at their own 35-yard-line with 11:29 to play.
After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Brady went deep for Moss, but the ball was underthrown and dropped by Moss.
However on 3rd down, the Patriots went back to the same play as Brady threw it deep and hit Moss in stride to complete a 65-yard touchdown that not only gave the Patriots, but also gave Brady the record for most touchdowns passes in a season(50) and Moss the record for most touchdown receptions in a season(23).
New England would for two after the touchdown and when Maroney ran in the successful two-point conversion, the Patriots had a 31-28 lead with exactly 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The Giants try to mount a response on their ensuing possession until Manning was intercepted by cornerback Ellis Hobbs at the Patriots’ 48-yard-line.
Brady would found Donte Stallworth for a 17-yard gain on the first play of the drive, but was sacked on the next play by linebacker Reggie Torbor for a 10-yard loss setting up a 2nd-and-20.
However, Brady got out of the jam as hit back-to-back passes to Welker and Kevin Faulk for 22 yards to give the Patriots a 1st down at Giants’ 23-yard-line.
The Giants defense put Brady in another desperate situation as two runs by Maroney gained only one yard, setting up a 3rd-and-9.
But Brady would connect with Welker for 12 yards and another 1st down, and two plays later Maroney scored his second touchdown of the game on a five-yard run to give the Patriots their largest lead of the game at 38-28.
Now needing two scores, the Giants took over at their own 32-yard-line with 4:30 to play in regulation.
A Patriots fan holds up a 16-0 sign after New England's 38-35 win completed the first undefeated regular season in 35 years.
Manning would complete six of eight passes on a 11-play, 68-yard drive, the last completion being a three-yard touchdown pass to Burress, who made a one-handed grab for the touchdown that brought the Giants to within three points, 38-35 with 1:04 left.
With little time left and only one timeout in their pocket, the Giants had no choice but to try for the onside kick.
But after linebacker Mike Vrabel recovered the kick and Brady kneeled the ball three times to run out the clock, the Patriots had finished the regular season undefeated, with a hard-fought 38-35 win.
The Patriots became just the fourth team in NFL history to finish a regular season undefeated as they joined the 1972 Dolphins and the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears in that accomplishment.
The Patriots would keep their undefeated season alive with wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers to return to the Super Bowl where they faced the Giants, who rode the momentum of their strong performance against into the playoffs as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, and Green Bay Packers, all on the road to make it to the Super Bowl and get a rematch with New England.
That is where the Giants shattered the dreams of the Patriots, thanks to David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch”, which set up Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Burress with 35 seconds left that gave New York a 17-14 win and the NFL championship.
The loss in the Super Bowl earned the 2007 Patriots the “Best Team That Didn’t Win A Super Bowl” on an episode of the NFL Network’s show “Top 10”, a countdown show of the greatest moments, teams, players, and performances.
But there are some Patriots fans who take pride in fact that their team is the only one to go undefeated in a 16-game regular season.
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