AP photo Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gets ready to unload a pass duirng Thursday night's game vs. the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots actually had to compete for a win on Thursday night.

The New York Giants wouldn’t quite go away, but New England managed to tough out a wind-blown 35-14 win at Gillette Stadium, making coach Bill Belichick 12-0 against rookie quarterbacks at home.

The Patriots a score each from their special teams and defense, and quarterback Tom Brady had two QB sneaks for touchdowns.

But things never seemed easy until two fourth quarter TDs put the game away. The Patriots (6-0) were clinging to a 21-14 lead with 8:33 to play when New England Kyle Van Noy’s 22-yard scoop and score off a fumble by New York’s Jon Hillman gave the Patriots a 28-14 cushion. Brady added his second QB TD sneak with 3:49 left and the Patriots were no longer in danger, up 35-14.

“Happy we won, happy to get to 6-0,” said Brady, who completed 31 of 41 pass attempts for 334 yards, one interception, but no touchdowns. “We grinded it out pretty good. … We’re hanging in there.”

The Giants, despite three interceptions thrown by rookie QB Daniel Jones (15 of 31, 161 yards, one TD, three INTs) were surprisingly giving the Patriots an uneasy time in a 14-14 game late in the first half when Brady directed an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive. His 1-yard sneak for a TD helped to give New England the lead for good at 21-14 with 36 seconds left in the first half.

“Offensively those guys showed some toughness,” Belichick said.

“Well, you can’t obviously throw interceptions,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said, “but (Jones) made a lot of other good throws. We just didn’t win the game, we didn’t make enough plays. … Yeah, I mean, we battled, we didn’t win though. So, we’ve got to make more plays so we can win.”

Brady’s favorite target on the night was – who else – Julian Edelman, who had nine catches for 113 yards.

The teams were trading turnovers and near turnovers until the Patriots special teams broke the ice late in the first quarter as Patriots rookie Chase Winovich caught a deflected punt and returned it 6 yards for a TD with 1:46 left in the first quarter.

The Patriots took a 14-0 lead when they converted Duron Harmon’s interception into a Brandon Bolden 1-yard TD run with 7:11 left in the first half.

The Giants, though, answered back with a Jones 64-yard TD to Golden Tate, the first passing TD allowed by the Patriots in the first six games.

The Giants then tied it on a strip sack by Lorenzo Carter and 42-yard scoop and score by Markus Golden with 4:38 left in the half.

“Give the Giants credit, they battled back,” Belichick said. “We have to avoid givong those big pays to offset the ones we make.

“And in the end we did.”

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