Coach Tom Coughlin was continually asked about the game. Eli Manning was, too. And the Giants, faced with a growing list of injuries and other worries to occupy them in the present, were not interested in looking to the past, even for one of the franchise's greatest glories.
"We will focus on the now," Coughlin said, more than once. "That was a long time ago."
It did not feel that way Sunday. Not as Manning led the Giants on another late game-winning drive and not as the Patriots walked off, nearly four years later, stunned again, this time by 24-20. Instead of a floater to Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone, the dagger this time was a 1-yard touchdown pass from Manning to tight end Jake Ballard with 15 seconds remaining.
