FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots will get help from plenty of fans instead of a video camera when they return to the scene of "Spygate."

Those who aren't at the Meadowlands can still watch the final step in New England's bid for an undefeated regular season on the channel of their choice.

Interest in the potential history-making event convinced the league to allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night's game against the New York Giants nationally. It had been restricted to the NFL Network and local stations in the Boston and New York areas.

Win, and the Patriots become the first team to finish a regular season at 16-0. Lose, and Patriot-haters throughout the country can celebrate in front of their TV sets.

"It will be like the State of the Union address," an unusually cheery Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "You can flip to every channel and see it."

New England fans who just have to be there can pay exorbitant prices online for tickets. Some are being offered by Giants fans who don't care to attend an event that has no bearing on their team's playoff status.

New York plays a first-round game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following weekend.

"We definitely appreciate the support of the fans. We definitely hear them when we're on the road," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "We always have a lot of support on the road, but at the end of the day the game is won or lost between the lines."

The Giants (10-5) clinched a wild-card berth last Sunday with a win at Buffalo. That improved their road record to 7-1. They're 3-4 at home, where fans — like those selling their tickets for Saturday's game — may not be very supportive.

"That's probably one of the reasons why we are better on the road than we are at home," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "If it is that way and (the Patriots) got more fans, then so be it."

At least one person won't be there the way he was three months ago — the Patriots' video assistant who got caught taping the New York Jets' defensive coaches with a sideline camera in the season opener, costing Belichick and the team $750,000 in fines and a first-round draft pick.

That, too, was at the Meadowlands where the Patriots beat the Jets 38-14.

Now, New England, still without a loss, will end its regular season on the same field in front of cameras the NFL wants to be there.

Then the Patriots get to rest during their bye week. They have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

"There's a simple way how we got here, and that's focusing on the opponent that we happen to have in front of us," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said.