York's record of 10 consecutive road wins included five teams favored to beat them. The Giants achieved playoff victories against the Cowboys (who had defeated New York twice in the regular season) and Packers (who had beaten the Giants in week 2). The Patriots and Giants had played against each other in the last week of the regular season. Technically, the game had little significance, since both teams had already clinched their respective spots in the playoffs. But due to the Patriots' quest for an undefeated season, this game was one of the most heavily watched games in league history. NFL Network was originally scheduled to air the game as part of their Saturday Night Football coverage, with WCVB and WWOR carrying the game locally in Boston and New York. Shortly before the game was scheduled to air, CBS and NBC bought broadcast rights to the game and NFL Network's broadcast was carried by both networks, marking the first time in NFL history that an NFL game was carried on three broadcast networks at the same time. The game was also the first NFL game to be simulcast on a national level since Super Bowl I. As they were favored to do, the Patriots won the game to finish the regular season undefeated. Still, the game was close and competitive, with both teams playing their starters for all 60 minutes. New England won, 38–35, by overcoming a 12-point deficit in the third quarter, the largest deficit the Patriots had faced all season. "There is nothing but positives", Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after the game. "I told the players in playing this game everything would be positives, there would be no negatives and that is how I feel. I don't know any better way to be prepared for the playoffs than to go against a team that was 15–0." This would be the third time in the Giants' four Super Bowl appearances in which the team played its eventual AFC opponent during that year's regular season. Both of the prior occasions saw the Giants beat those opponents in the Super Bowl (defeating Denver in Super Bowl XXI and Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV). For the third consecutive year, the arrival dates for the teams were staggered, with the Patriots arriving on Sunday, January 27 (corresponding to the traditional day that teams arrive for the game with the two-week break) and