History met destiny in New Jersey, as the Patriots set numerous records on their way to 16-0.
Tom Brady (32 of 42 for 356 yards) threw two touchdown passes, both to Randy Moss, to set the NFL record for touchdown passes in a season with 50. Moss's two TD receptions gave him an NFL-record 23, topping the mark of Jerry Rice, who had 22 in 12 games in the 1987 strike-shortened season.
The Patriots scored 589 points in the season, surpassing the 1998 Minnesota Vikings record of 556.
It was all enough to bring a smile to the normally stoic Bill Belichick, who was beaming afterward.
"I'm happy," said Belichick. "I'm happy because you work all year to try to win every game and to be able to win them all is great. I'm very happy about it."
The 79,110 in attendance witnessed history and a heck of a football game, but the Giants did all they could to end the Patriots pursuit of perfection.
Nobody said 16-0 was going to be easy, and it looked to be in serious trouble when Giants quarterback Eli Manning (22 of 32 for 251 yards, 4 TDs) hooked up with Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone on a 19-yard touchdown pass, giving the Giants a 28-16 lead with 9:12 left in the third quarter.
But Moss and Brady stepped up when it mattered most.
One play after a wide-open Moss dropped a Brady pass inside the Giants' 20, Brady uncorked another deep toss to Moss. This one put them both in the record book and the Patriots back in the lead with 11:06 to go. The 65-yard strike gave Brady his 50th touchdown pass of the year and Moss his 23d TD reception.
Who got the record-breaking football? "I told him, 'I'll give one-half to my kids and you give the other half to your son,' " said Moss.
The Patriots then pushed their advantage to 31-28, when Laurence Maroney squeezed in for the 2-point conversion.
On the Giants next possession, Ellis Hobbs intercepted Manning at the Patriots' 48. Maroney (19 rushes for 46 yards) scored his second touchdown of the night, a 5-yard effort with 4:36 to go that gave the Patriots a 38-28 lead and a sigh of relief.
