The New York Giants face the New England Patriots on Thursday night — the 15th consecutive year the two teams will meet in the final preseason game. The Patriots have faced the Giants 28 times in the preseason, more than any other team.

Pats head coach Bill Belichick has always had an affinity for his old club. He was a Giants’ assistant under Ray Perkins and then Bill Parcells from 1979-1990. Belichick won his first two Super Bowl rings with the Giants as their defensive coordinator in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

This week in his opening presser in Foxborough, Belichick opened by praising the Giants’ progress under second-year head coach Pat Shurmur, who is trying to take the Giants to the next step after a 5-11 inaugural campaign.

“Giants week. Always a good opportunity for us against the Giants. This is a good organization, a good football team. I think competing against them at the end of the preseason is always a good way to finish up the preseason, get ready to go and start the season,” Belichick said. “I think Coach Shurmur’s done a great job down there, really returning to fundamentals, basics, and you can certainly see that in their play in all three phases of the game.”

Belichick usually takes the high road when speaking about opponents or takes no road at all. The Patriots do play the Giants this season in Week 6 — a Thursday night game in Foxborough — so Belichick was surely aware of that in his comments.

But he isn’t wrong about the structure Shurmur has re-established in East Rutherford. The Giants have had a training camp that has run smoothly with 90 players who all want to be here. No contract disputes, sideshows or back-biting commentary to disrupt the flow of progress this year.

Belichick’s history with the Giants goes beyond his years with the team as an assistant. The two teams met in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, with the Giants winning both contests.

Belichick has taken the Patriots to nine Super Bowls since taking over the team in 2000, winning six. The Pats have won 10 or more games in each of the last 16 seasons, tied for the NFL record with the San Francisco 49ers, who accomplished that from 1983-98.