OVERVIEW

The New York Giants (1-2) will face the New England Patriots (2-1) this Thursday, Sept. 2 in the New Meadowlands Stadium.

THE SERIES

The Giants and the Patriots have met in 18 preseason games since 1971, with the Giants leading the series, 10-8. Last year, the Patriots defeated the Giants, 38-27, in Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots lead the regular season series, 5-3. The teams have met once in the postseason, when the Giants beat the previously undefeated Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII.

THE LAST MEETING

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Giants, 24-10, on Aug. 28 in M&T Bank Stadium.

Billy Cundiff's field goal gave the Ravens a 3-0 lead with 7:46 remaining in the first quarter. Baltimore drove 62 yards in 12 plays prior to the kick using a three-wide receiver, no-huddle offense that kept the Giants' nickel defense on the field.

On its next drive, Baltimore went 85 yards in 11 plays. Joe Flacco threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to wideout Anquan Boldin on fourth-and-three with 12:20 remaining in the second quarter, making it 10-0.

Flacco's hot streak continued on the next Baltimore possession. He again completed six of seven throws, for 64 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Heap, increasing the Ravens lead to 17-0.

Kicker Lawrence Tynes' field goal on the final play of the first half put the Giants on the scoreboard. The Giants took possession when Corey Webster intercepted Flacco and returned the ball 37 yards to the Ravens' 32-yard line. Manning threw to Steve Smith for eight yards and after an incompletion to Hakeem Nicks, Tynes nailed a 42-yard attempt as time expired.

After a scoreless third quarter, Ravens quarterback Troy Smith led the Baltimore offense downfield on an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Smith found Marcus Smith in the end zone on an 11-yard throw for the score, giving the Ravens a 24-3 advantage.

Backup quarterback Rhett Bomar led the Giants downfield in 1:27 on a six-play, 76- yard drive. Cruz caught a pass over Ravens corner Prince Miller for the Giants' only touchdown of the game, followed by a Tynes' extra point, made the score 24-10.

On the Horizon

Next week the Giants open the regular season at home when they take on the Carolina Panthers in the inaugural regular season game in the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The Panthers lead the regular season series, 3-2. In their last meeting, the Panthers beat the Giants, 41-9, in the final game at Giants Stadium on Dec. 27, 2009. The Panthers won the first three meetings between the teams from 1996-2005, including a 23-0 victory in the first round of the playoffs in 2005. The Giants won the next two meetings in 2006 and 2008.

PATRIOTS CONNECTIONS

Head Coach Bill Belichick was a Giants assistant coach for 11 seasons, where he handled special teams (1979-1980), special teams/linebackers (1981-1982), and linebackers (1983-1984) before being named defensive coordinator (1985-1988), and then defensive coordinator/secondary coach (1989-1990). Belichick was with the Giants during the same time that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was an assistant with the team. Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson played linebacker for the Giants from 1986-1992, setting the franchise record for most sacks in a game (4.5).

TELEVISION

This week's game will be broadcast by WNBC-TV (Ch. 4) in New York. Bob Papa will provide the play-by-play with Carl Banks doing color commentary. Bruce Beck will be the sideline reporter.

GIANTS RADIO NETWORK

WCBS 880 AM will carry this week's broadcast of Giants football on the radio. Anita Marks and Paul Dottino will handle all pre-game and postgame programming, starting at 6:00 p.m. Chris Carrino will deliver the play-by-play, and he will be joined in the booth by color commentators Karl Nelson and Roman Oben. Paul Dottino will be the sideline reporter.

Fans in the Northeast and Mississippi can listen to the call on the following stations:
New York: WPYX (106.5 FM) Albany; WAAL (99.1 FM) Binghampton; WIRY (1340 AM) Plattsburgh; WAUB (1590 AM) Auburn; WGVA (1240 AM) Geneva; WFLR (1570 AM) Dundee; WCGR (1550 AM) Canandigua; WLTB (1310 AM) Utica; WRNY (1350 AM) Rome; WIXT (1230 AM) Little Falls; WENY (1230 AM) Elmira; WENI (1450 AM) Corning; WGMM (98.7 FM) Corning; WTLA 1200 AM, North Syracuse; WSGO (1440 AM) Oswego; W249BC (97.7FM) Mattydale; W261AC  (100.1FM) Oswego
Connecticut: WPOP (100.1 FM) Hartford 
Pennsylvania: WEEX (1230 AM) Easton; WTKZ (1320 AM) Easton
Mississippi: WLEZ (100.1FM) Jackson