Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New England Patriots and New York Giants take the field at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for Week 4 of the NFL preseason. The game can be live streamed here. New England fans can hear all of the action on 98.5 The Sports Hub while New York fans can do the same on 101.9 WFAN.
In the final preseason tilt before the NFL season kicks off next weekend, the Patriots will likely rest up most of their stars. The same case can't be made for the Giants as New York has struggled in new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo's system thus far and will try to work through it in their fifth exhibition game on the preseason schedule.
New England enters play with a 2-1 preseason mark while New York, despite its struggles, is a perfect 4-0 including the Hall of Fame game against the Buffalo Bills.
The Giants are looking for a bounce back season after a 7-9 finish in 2013 that saw the team lose six straight games to kick it off. Part of the reason for the team's struggles was the offensive line and Eli Manning having perhaps his worst season since he was a rookie.
Manning went 317-for-551 (57.5) for 3,818 yards with 18 touchdowns and a career-high and league-worst 27 interceptions in 2013.
Victor Cruz leads the Giants receiving corps after pacing the team with 73 receptions for 998 yards with four touchdowns last season. The Giants brought in Rashad Jennings in hopes to ramp up their running game that also struggled last season.
New York will hope that the offensive line will improve and are confident in their secondary after revamping it through offseason moves.
Despite all the question marks and a rough season in 2013, this Giants group doesn't have any shortage of confidence and believes it can land in the Super Bowl, a game in which it beat the Patriots twice in 2008 and 2012.
"Having the team that we have right now, this is our time," said veteran defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka per The Daily News. "We have to take advantage of it. I don't want to look back on this year with any doubts or regrets. Whatever we do, just leave it all out there on the field, and I feel like if we do that we'll be in the Super Bowl."
Tom Brady returns under center for the Patriots after going 380-for-628 (60.5%) for 4,343 yards with 25 touchdowns and 11 picks last season.
One of Brady's favorite targets last year was Julian Edelman, who had 105 catches for 1,056 yards and found the end zone six times. Edelman joins Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola as part of the arsenal Brady will have to throw to.
Gronkowski dealt with injuries last season, but is excited to be returning.
"It's definitely huge to get it going again," Gronkowski told ESPN upon his return to full-team drills last week. "I've been working with Tom since I've been out here, but we haven't been doing it vs. the defense or anything. So it was good to be out there and 'Boom!' it was just like it was never missed before. He hit me."
Stevan Ridley led the ground game for New England last season, rushing for 773 yards on 178 carries and scoring seven touchdowns.
The Patriots and Giants close out their preseasons when they take the field tonight at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in a rematch of the 2008 and 2012 Super Bowls.
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