FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Late in the second quarter Thursday night, what had been a raucous crowd at Gillette Stadium suddenly grew almost funereal.

Minutes earlier, the home fans had been singing and dancing in the aisles as their New England Patriots, with an authoritative drive, took a seven-point lead against an undermanned Giants team. Until then, the game had been sloppy and unbefitting the occasion: a nationally televised rematch of two-time Super Bowl rivals.

But finally, it seemed as if the regal Patriots had taken take control. All was right in Foxborough.

Then, in the few seconds it took for a Giants defender to sack the golden-armed Tom Brady — the football squirting from Brady into the grasp of Giants linebacker Markus Golden, who ran the fumble into the end zone for a game-tying touchdown — the noise of the Gillette Stadium party expired.