Bledsoe Puts Final Coates On Huge Rally

Roundup

The New England Patriots rallied from a 22-point halftime deficit to earn a first-round playoff bye Saturday in what apparently will be Dan Reeves’ bye-bye game with the New York Giants.

Drew Bledsoe capped the sensational comeback for New England (11-5) by throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ben Coates on a fourth-and-7 play with 1:23 to go for a 23-22 win at East Rutherford, N.J.

Coates dragged two Giants’ defensive backs the final yard for New England’s third touchdown in the final 12:20, assuring the Patriots a week off and denying Reeves a going-away present.

Earlier in the week, Reeves said he expected the Giants (6-10) to fire him when the season ends, and indications are that could happen as soon as Monday.

The Giants played a flawless first half in building a 22-0 lead, then collapsed in the second half.

The Patriots’ remarkable comeback enabled Bill Parcells to defeat the Giants in his first appearance against them since leaving as New York’s coach after the 1990 season.

The loss was typical of New York’s inconsistent play all season.

Adam Venatieri’s third-quarter field goal got the comeback going for the Patriots, the AFC East champions. Bledsoe, who was 31 of 47 for 301 yards, made it 22-10 with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Terry Glenn with 12:20 to play, then former Giant David Meggett returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown with 11:09 to go.

The Patriots’ game-winning drive covered 75 yards in 13 plays and lasted 5:45. Bledsoe hit Glenn on passes of 17 and 13 yards, and Troy Brown kept it alive with a great catch while laying on his back for 13 yards on a third and 13 to the New York 29.

Coates capped the drive by dragging Conrad Hamilton and Tito Wooten into the end zone.

The Giants got to the Patriots’ 40 on their final possession, but Dave Brown was called for intentional grounding and New York never got closer.

New York built its 22-0 lead on a safety, two Brad Daluiso field goals, a touchdown run by Charles Way and an interception return by Jason Sehorn.

Patriots 23, Giants 22

New England 0 0 3 20 - 23 N.Y. Giants 2 20 0 0 - 22

NY-Safety, Bledsoe intentionally grounded the ball in end zone

NY-Way 1 run (Daluiso kick)

NY-FG Daluiso 30

NY-FG Daluiso 27

NY-Sehorn 23 interception return (Daluiso kick)

NE-FG Vinatieri 40

NE-Glenn 26 pass from Bledsoe (Vinatieri kick)

NE-Meggett 60 punt return (Vinatieri kick)

NE-Coates 13 pass from Bledsoe (pass failed)

A-65,387.

NE NY First downs 17 17 Rushes-yards 18-26 32-97 Passing 282 199 Punt Returns 3-62 3-43 Kickoff Returns 5-118 6-94 Interceptions Ret. 1-11 2-27 Comp-Att-Int 31-47-2 14-34-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-19 2-16 Punts 6-36.2 6-40.0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 4-24 8-56 Time of Possession 29:25 30:35

Individual statistics

RUSHING-New England, Meggett 7-20, Martin 8-9, Bledsoe 2-(minus 1), Glenn 1-(minus 2). New York, Downs 22-52, Way 7-36, D.Brown 3-9.

PASSING-New England, Bledsoe 31-47-2-301. New York, D.Brown 14-34-1-215.

RECEIVING-New England, Glenn 8-124, T.Brown 7-75, Meggett 6-28, Byars 3-24, Coates 3-19, Martin 2-1, Jefferson 1-22, Grier 1-8. New York, Lewis 5-84, Way 3-50, Dawsey 2-23, Calloway 2-21, Alexander 1-35, Cross 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.

Rams 14, Saints 13

St. Louis awoke from a sluggish start to defeat New Orleans, although it may not have helped save its coach’s job.

Eddie Kennison caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jamie Martin with 5:30 to go as the Rams, who had trailed 10-0 at the half and looked dispirited in the process, rallied for a 14-13 victory at St. Louis in a game of NFL downtroddens.

The Rams (6-10) won three of their last four, but the victims were New Orleans (3-13) twice and Atlanta (3-12), so the finish may not mean a whole lot to coach Rick Brooks’ future. Brooks likely needed to make a bold statement to save his job, and this wasn’t it.

New Orleans 10 0 0 3 - 13 St. Louis 0 0 7 7 - 14

NO-Bates 1 run (Brien kick)

NO-FG Brien 43

StL-Bruce 22 pass from Martin (Huerta kick)

NO-FG Brien 35

StL-Kennison 15 pass from Martin (Huerta kick)

A-57,681.

NO StL First downs 12 14 Rushes-yards 33-93 25-51 Passing 148 136 Punt Returns 2-3 3-16 Kickoff Returns 3-80 3-54 Interceptions Ret. 3-56 0-00 Comp-Att-Int 17-26-0 16-29-3 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-8 6-35 Punts 7-35.3 6-49.7 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-60 1-10 Time of Possession 32:25 27:35

Individual statistics

RUSHING-New Orleans, Bates 21-67, Hunter 7-16, Neal 2-9, DeRamus 1-2, Everett 1-1, Whittle 1-(minus 2). St. Louis, Banks 3-15, Martin 4-13, Phillips 9-11, Green 6-9, Lyle 1-2, Moore 2-1.

PASSING-New Orleans, Everett 17-26-0-156. St. Louis, Martin 12-19-1-132, Banks 4-9-1-39, Bruce 0-1-0-1.

RECEIVING-New Orleans, Haynes 4-65, Small 4-32, Whittle 4-24, Hunter 2-9, Green 1-17, DeRamus 1-6, Bates 1-3. St. Louis, Bruce 7-97, Kennison 4-42, Green 2-10, Laing 1-9, Phillips 1-8, Moore 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALSi-None.