August 29, 2008 No Brady, no Manning, no win for Patriots

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — No Tom Brady. No Eli Manning.

The New England Patriots and New York Giants took no chances with their quarterbacks in a preseason finale on Thursday night that matched February's Super Bowl opponents.

This time there was nothing at stake, except a few jobs before the final roster cutdown on Saturday.

David Carr took advantage of Manning's rare night off and threw two touchdown passes to lead the Giants to a 19-14 victory over the winless Patriots at Giants Stadium.

Brady missed the entire preseason because of an injury to his right foot, and once again the Patriots (0-4) looked anemic until fourth-string quarterback Kevin O'Connell came on in the fourth quarter.

The good news for New England fans is that Brady, the NFL MVP, says he will be ready for the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 7.

The Super Bowl champion Giants (2-2) certainly looked ready for the NFL kickoff here next Thursday against the Washington Redskins, even with Manning, the Super Bowl MVP, watching from the sideline.

Carr threw a 26-yard scoring pass to tight end Darcy Johnson on the Giants' opening possession and he added a 9-yarder to Sinorice Moss late in the second quarter. Carr also engineered second-half drives of 54 and 64 yards that ended in field goals of 20 and 30 yards by Josh Huston.

Carr finished 20 of 29 for 192 yards in seemingly nailing down the backup spot to Manning. Anthony Wright seemingly

The quarterbacks weren't the only starters held out.

Less than a week after losing two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a season-ending knee injury, Giants coach Tom Coughlin gave five other starters the night off — receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, tight end Kevin Boss, offensive tackle Kareem McKenzie and defensive end Justin Tuck. Linebackers Antonio Pierce (back) and Danny Clark (groin) also did not play.

Linebacker Adalius Thomas, receiver Wes Welker and tight end Benjamin Watson were healthy Patriot starters who did not play.