The New England Patriots have completed the regular NFL season undefeated after they beat the New York Giants 38-35.
Belichick's side go entire regular season unbeaten
The New England Patriots have become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0 after they defeated the New York Giants 38-35 on Saturday.
They have also become the first side to go through the entire regular season undefeated in 35 years - a feat described by record-breaking quarterback Tom Brady as a "very special" achievement.
But they were made to work hard against a spirited Giants side, with a pair of touchdowns from Laurence Maroney and three field goals from Stephen Gostkowski required as the Patriots came back from 28-16 down early in the third quarter.
Brady's two touchdown passes - both to Randy Moss - gave him a tally of 50 for the season, eclipsing the previous mark of 49 set by Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts in 2004.
Special
Moss hauled in both scoring passes, including one on a 65-yard bomb which handed the Patriots a decisive lead, to give him 23 for the season - beating the record set by Jerry Rice in 1987.
"Sixteen and 0 is very special," Brady later said.
"We were down 10 or 11 in the fourth and found a way to win it."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick echoed Brady's sentiments, adding: "You work all year to win every game.
"To be able to win them all is great, I'm very happy about it."
The first half saw five lead changes with the Giants drawing first blood and last - a 74-yard kickoff return touchdown by Domenik Hixon coming in between as they took a 21-16 lead at the intermission.
They then extended their lead thanks to a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress with 9:12 left in the third quarter.
But, after New England cut the deficit to 28-23 following Maroney's first TD, Brady and Moss then worked their magic on back-to-back plays early in the final quarter.
Brady's first attempt at a long strike was a bit underthrown down the right sideline, however, and although a wide-open Moss tried to reach back for the ball, he dropped it.
But on the very next play, Moss ran an identical route down the right sideline and Brady hit him in stride for 65 yards. Maroney then ran in for the two-point conversion and a 31-28 lead with 11:06 remaining.
"The first throw wasn't Randy's fault it was mine. I threw a bad pass," said Brady, who completed 32 out of 42 passes for 356 yards.
"We came back. I threw it as far as I could and that was a big one for Randy, for me, for our whole team."
Cornerback Ellis Hobbs then intercepted Manning on the ensuing possession and the Patriots took full advantage, with Maroney finishing off a nine-play, 52-yard drive with a five-yard TD run to extend the margin to 38-28 with 4:36 to play.
Manning brought the Giants back downfield, hitting Burress with a three-yard scoring pass with 1:04 left to make the score 38-35.
Perfect
But the Patriots recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock to complete their perfect regular season.
The only other team to match the Patriots' feat are the Miami Dolphins, who completed a 14-0 season en route to winning the Super Bowl back in 1972.
Manning matched his season's best with four touchdown passes but the one interception proved costly for the Giants.
Nevertheless, he completed 23 out of 32 passes for 251 yards.
"We had nothing to lose," Manning said.
"Just had to go out and play hard. We kind of set the tempo, saying we're here to play."
