text: The game was of very little importance with respect to the playoffs as both teams had already locked up their respective spots in the playoffs, with the Patriots in the AFC's #1 seed and the Giants in the NFC's #5 seed.  The Patriots had already clinched a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the playoffs while the Giants were guaranteed to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card playoffs.  Nevertheless, the Patriots were attempting to become the first team since the NFL's expansion to a 16-game regular season schedule to go undefeated and thus the game became the most heavily promoted game in the history of the NFL to that point and the most watched regular season game ever to that point.
  On the second play of the game, the 10–5 Giants moved into the Patriots’ red zone on a 52-yard completion from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress. Three plays later, The Giants took the lead on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs. The Patriots responded with a pair of 14-yard completions to Moss and Welker; Welker's catch, his 102nd of the season, set a Patriots franchise record. The Patriots then converted a fourth down, and on their next fourth down, they made a 37-yard Gostkowski field goal. The Patriots would regain the ball at midfield following a Giants three-and-out. Completions to Stallworth and Welker put the Patriots in the Giants’ red zone, where Brady completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Moss, taking a 10–7 lead on the first play of the second quarter. On the play, three records were affected: the Patriots 560th point surpassed the 1998 Minnesota Vikings's record of 556 points in a season; the touchdown pass was Brady's 49th, tying Peyton Manning's 2004 record; and Moss recorded his 22nd touchdown catch of the season, tying Jerry Rice’s 1987 record.