The New England Patriots’ victory over the New York Giants on Saturday was the first in the NFL, among several other firsts. The Patriots are the first team in NFL history to finish the season a perfect 16-0. The Patriots became the first team in NFL history to go undefeated since the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0) after expanding their schedule by two games in 1978. Since adding games to the list, the Steelers of 2004, the 1998 Vikings and the 1998 Vikings had 15 wins. 1985 Bears and 1984 49ers.
Saturday’s game against the NJ Giants also had the largest US audience during the regular season since Thanksgiving 1995, when the Kansas City Chiefs faced the Dallas Cowboys. According to the NFL, the game was watched by an average of 34.5 million viewers on NFL Network, CBS, and NBC, making it the seventh most-watched show on television in all of 2007. This game was the first of three. network simulcast game in NFL history, and since the first Super Bowl in 1967, the first time more than one network even showed an NFL football game.
Records broken: Tom Brady threw the most touchdown passes in a season breaking Peyton Manning’s record of 49 for the Indianapolis Colts in 1994 and Randy Moss caught the most touchdown passes in a season with 23, surpassing the record 22 by Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers in 1987. Brady and Moss together made a 65-yard touchdown pass play in the fourth quarter, giving the Patriots a season-high 582 points. This, along with a two-point conversion, helped the Patriots win the game 38-35 over the NY Giants. Surpassing Drew Bledsoe’s 1994 record of 4,555 yards in a season, Brady passed for 356 yards and two touchdowns in this game, completing 32 of 42 passes. The Patriots had a total of 75 touchdowns for the season to surpass the mark of 70 set by the 1984 Miami Dolphins.
They had 393 total first downs, 6,580 total offensive yards, 1,849 total rushing yards, 4,731 total passing yards, made 21 of 24 field goals, and had 75 touchdowns.