1989 Giants @ Redskins

Week 1

The Setup

The 1989 Giants were a team in transition.  They were coming off the 1988 season, in which they lost a heart wrenching game to the Eagles at home in OT, when LT blocked a field goal and Clyde Simmons ran it in for a TD which put the Giants at 7-5, and gave Philly a season sweep.  The Giants would right themselves after this, winning their next 3 games to go into the final week of the regular season at 10-5 and a 1 game lead on Philly, to play the NY Jets, who were playing out the season.  The Giants would fall behind 13-0 and 20-7, until they roared back to take a 21-20 lead, only to lose on an Al Toon TD towards the end of regulation.  An Eagles win over Dallas in Tom Landry's final game gave the Birds the NFC East crown, and a Niners' loss on Sunday Night to the Rams cost the Giants a playoff spot despite a 10-6 record.

The core of the mid 1980s team was getting old.  The Giants lost several key members of the team, particularly on defense, to retirement.  Harry Carson and George Martin retired.  Jim Burt failed his physical due to back problems and retired (only to later un-retire and play 2 more seasons in San Francisco).  Long time safety Kenny Hill signed with the Chiefs.  There were open questions on who would assume the leadership mantle with those guys now gone.  On the offensive line, the Giants would only have 1 starter return from their Suburbanites group, center Bart Oates.  The Giants decided to shift William Roberts to one guard spot and start Jumbo Elliott at left tackle.

On special teams, the Giants decided to move on from steady Phil McConkey, and drafted a small but powerful and speedy Dave Meggett from Towson State to take over from him as a return man.  Meggett started off very slowly, dropping 3 punts in the pre-season opener in Kansas City, but Parcells' stuck with his rookie.

And the last change didn't bring youth, but rather age.  Joe Morris broke his foot in the pre-season finale vs. the Browns and was placed on IR and lost for the season.  The Giants decided to get former Cardinal OJ Anderson re-established as the main RB, at the tender age of 31.  Anderson was an insurance policy after he was acquired in 1986, and didn't play much in 1987.  In 1988, Anderson was used as a short yardage and goal line back, scoring 8 TDs in 65 attempts and was perfect in converting 3rd and shorts.

The Giants would start the season in Washington, where the Redskins figured to rebound from a disappointing 1988 season in their own right, going 7-9 in their title defense.  But the Skins loaded up again for 1989.  They traded for 2 veteran backs, and former Pro Bowlers, in Gerald Riggs from Atlanta and Ernest Byner from the Browns.  They had "The Posse" still in their respective primes (Gary Clark, Art Monk, and Rickey Sanders).  And they gave the ball to a strong armed young QB in Mark Rypien, who was starting for Doug Williams, after Williams had hurt himself getting in shape on the treadmill and was recovering from knee surgery.

The Giants came into RFK for the 1989 Monday Night season opener, as a 4 point underdog and more questions than answers after 2 straight seasons of missing the playoffs.  Most NFL experts figured they'd be the 3rd team in the 3 way fight between the Redskins, Eagles, and Giants for the NFC East.

The Game Highlights

ABC Sports was in a festive mood for this opener in the Nation's Capital.  It was the start of the 20th Season of Monday Night Football and they had two old rivals fighting it out to begin the 1989 season.  It was a hot night in Washington, DC, the temperature a muggy 88 degrees at kickoff meant that players would not only be battling each other but the heat as well.

The Giants would get the ball first, and Chip Lohmiller kicked off to Meggett, who returned the ball out to the 20.  The Phil Simms led Giants offense trotted out on to the field, with OJ Anderson starting the game.  The first play of the season wasn't exactly what the Giants had in mind, as the loud RFK crowd got young RT Doug Reisenberg to jump early for a false start.  On 1st and 15, OJ started with an impressive 10 yard burst up the middle to the 25.  A second down run by OJ went only for a yard, and the drive would officially come to an end as Simms was sacked by Redskins LB Monte Coleman, who blew by guard Damien Johnson coming out late on protection.  On came Sean Landeta, to field a high snap and punted it back to the Skins, who returned it to the Giants 30 yard line.

The new look Giants defense came on to the field.  Erik Howard was replacing Jim Burt as the starting NT.  Harry Carson was now retired from the ILB position.  And because of injuries to Gary Reasons and the training camp holdout of Pepper Johnson, the starting ILB spots went to Johnie Cooks and former Cowboy Steve DeOssie.  Meanwhile, the Redskins gave the ball to Mark Rypien for his first opening day start in Washington.  The Skins started by showing off one of their veteran backs, handing the ball off to Gerald Riggs, who cost them a first round pick going back to Atlanta.  Riggs powered ahead for 8 yards before Banks and rookie Greg Jackson finally brought him down.  A follow up run by Riggs made it 3rd and short, where Riggs was able to plow ahead over Cooks for a first down to the 47.   The Skins took the air on first down, with Rypien overthrowing long time Giant killer Gary Clark, who was covered well by Sheldon White.  On second down, Riggs ran it to the Giants 49 to set up a 3rd and 6.  The Skins brought in their other big name RB, Ernest Byner on third down, but LT decided to get involved.


Rypien went back to pass, but LT swooped around and knocked the ball loose, which was recovered by Washington, but stalled the drive and forced a Redskins punt, which was returned by Meggett to the 19 yard line.

The Giants started their drive by handing off to Mo Carthon who went for 5 yards out to the 24.  OJ then followed up with a strong run off left tackle for 6 more yards and a first down, thanks mainly to a seal block by Mark Bavaro one-on-one vs. Dexter Manley.  Carthon ran it for 8 more yards up the middle, but Wilbur Marshall finally stuffed OJ for no gain on 2nd down.  On 3rd and 2, OJ ran behind Oates for 4 yards and another first down.  After a short gain by OJ, the Giants decided to go to the air


Probably should have just kept it on the ground.  Simms threw the ball into coverage trying to hit Lionel Manuel, and Alvin Walton picked the ball off and ran it back to the Giants 36 yard line.  Simms, his typically scrappy self, got into a fight with Wilbur Marshall on the play and actually ripped Marshall's helmet off.

But the Skins had momentum and the ball well in Giants territory.  On first down Riggs ran it to the 27 where he was finally stopped by Greg Jackson.  On 2nd and 2, LT again made his presence known out in RFK


LT initially had Riggs run by him, but LT would chase him down and as Riggs was going to the ground, LT used his patented chop move to knock the ball out and it was recovered by Mark Collins who took the ball back to the 28 yard line.  It was LT's 2nd forced fumble and the season was not even 1 quarter old.

The Giants started with a 6 yard pass to Lee Rouson out of the backfield and Rouson would carry on the next play out to the 40 yard line for a first down.  A Carthon run would net just 2 yards, and a Simms dump off pass to OJ would get 3 more, as OJ would drag 3 Redskins along to the 46 yard line.  On 3rd and 4, Simms would hit Odessa Turner on a crossing pattern, beating Walton in coverage and Turner would race down the sidelines to the Skins 30 yard line and a first down.  After Dexter dropped OJ for a 1 yard loss, the Giants would look to pass on 2nd and 11.


Odessa Turner was a WR who the Giants, and the Giants fans had high hopes for.  He was big, fast, great talent, but never stayed healthy.  However, he'd show up big in the Redskins games.  This time he took a Simms pass, which seemed ticketed for an interception by Pro Bowler Darrell Green, but the more powerful Turner ripped the ball away from Green and scored on a 31 yard TD pass to make the game 7-0.

Raul Allegre's ensuing kickoff was returned by AJ Johnson out to the 24.  Rypien would hit Clark out to the 40 yard line and a first down to end the first quarter.  A dump off pass to Riggs to start the 2nd quarter was taken to the Giants 46 and another Skins first down.  Riggs was stopped for a short gain on first down and then Rypien hit Rickey Sanders to at the 41.  On 3rd and 5, a Mark May false start cost Washington 5 yards, and the Skins were unable to convert, as a pass to Sanders made it only to the 40 and forced yet another punt, which was fair caught by Meggett at the 8 yard line.

The drive started with another Carthon run, for just 2 yards out to the 10.  On 2nd down, Simms floated a pass out to Bavaro who came back to catch it at the 22 and a first down.  On first down, there was no gain on a run by OJ, however on 2nd down, OJ would rumble for 16 yards out to the 38.  A short run by Carthon and an out of bounds catch on a deep ball by Turner, who beat Brian Davis, set up 3rd and long, and also the coming out party for a new star in NY


For many years the Giants third down package was not all that inspiring.  In the mid 1980s, the Giants used Tony Galbreath as the 3rd down back.  But when Meggett was drafted, it seemed as a return man, we didn't know that we'd see a guy who, along with Eric Metcalf (a fellow rookie in Cleveland), would transform that 3rd down role.  Putting a quick/fast back in 3rd down, where he'd be an instant mismatch on a linebacker or safety forced to cover him, Meggett would become a huge weapon for the Giants over the course of his career.  In this case, Meggett made the catch at the 45, bounced off a hit by Walton and then went into a dead sprint up the middle of the field, outrunning the Skins secondary (including a late horse collar tackle on Davis, which was not a penalty in 1989) for a 68 yard TD and a shocking 14-0 lead by the G-Men.

RFK was in a state of shock and the Skins needed to get moving.  Johnson returned the kickoff to the 35 yard line, but a block in the back by the Skins on Reyna Thompson moved the ball back to the 5 yard line.  Rypien began with a dump off to Riggs, as he just avoided a sack by Eric Dorsey, and Riggs ran it out to near the 15 yard line.  On 2nd down, DeOssie came in and hit Riggs for a loss.  The Skins would convert on 3rd and 2, hitting Sanders over the middle and raced out to the 43 yard line.  The Skins kept momentum going, hitting Don Warren who would plow ahead to the 34, bowling over Terry Kinard along the way.  Rypien attempted a long pass to Clark, but was broken up by Perry Williams.  A second down pass to Clark got it to the 31.  On 3rd and 7, Rypien was pressured by LT and threw it away, which brought on Lohmiller for a 49 yard FG attempt, which he promptly hooked to the left and the Giants kept their 2 TD lead.

Starting from the 31, the Giants started with a 3 yard loss by Carthon, who was nailed by Charles Mann.  An offsides by Dexter helped the Giants on the next play, but on 2nd and 8, Simms was sacked by Daryl Grant on a pass rush up the gut.  A 3rd and long pass to Turner sailed out of bounds and Landeta punted the ball to the Skins 36 with 3:56 to go in the half.

Rypien began with a pass to Warren out to the 43 where he was finally stopped by Banks.  Riggs followed up with a run to midfield and Rypien hit Clark at the 33 and then followed up with another pass to Clark down to the 17 at the 2 minute warning.  Riggs took a draw play to the 11 yard line and then a pass to Art Monk got the ball to the 7 yard line and out of bounds to stop the clock and another first down.  On first down, LT pressured Rypien and forced an incompletion.  On second down, Byner dropped a would be TD at the goal line.  On third down, Banks broke up a pass to Monk and forced a 24 yard Lohmiller FG, which was good and cut the lead to 14-3.

Lohmiller's kick went for a touchback and with 1:28 to go and 3 time outs, it seemed as though Parcells would just sit on the lead and go into the locker room.  On first down, Carthon took a handoff and ran a plunge into the middle for 1 yard.  When it seemed like the Giants were just running out the clock, they tried to catch Washington napping and Simms threw a deep pass to Turner, but it was incomplete.  On 3rd and 9, the Giants again handed off to Carthon to the 26, but not enough for a first and the Skins called a timeout with :35 to go.  Landeta's punt was boomed to the 20, and Joe Howard ran it back to the 36 with :24 to go.

It looked like the Giants had screwed up and would get burned here, giving the Skins a chance to get in for a late FG shot.  However...


Rypien, a young QB, fell into the Giants' trap, and threw into coverage deep over the middle, where Sheldon White made the INT in front of Sanders and ran it back to the Skins 33.  On the play, a clearly gassed LT, affected by the heat, would head right to the locker room for an IV.  On first down, the Giants handed off to Meggett out of the shotgun who ran it to the 25 and brought on Allegre for a big FG attempt with :06 to go in the half.  However, Raul shanked a 42 yard attempt and the Skins averted disaster.  With :01 to go in the half, the Skins tried a Hail Mary, which was actually caught by Sanders for a 45 yard gain out to the 30, but that did little other than pad some stats and the Giants went into halftime up 14-3.

The 2nd half started with the Skins returning the ball to the 24 yard line.  Riggs began with a big run up the middle to the 41 where he was stopped by Kinard.  On his next carry, Riggs was hit for a short gain by DeOssie and Leonard Marshall.  On second down, yet another run by Riggs for a 5 yard gain, stopped by Plan B free agent acquisition Greg Cox.  On 3rd and 5, a Giants blitz forced a quick throw by Rypien, who nearly had the ball picked by Sheldon White for a second time and forced a punt.  But on the punt, we saw the downside to Meggett


Now, as mentioned earlier, Meggett had a bit of the yips in the pre-season in regards to ball control.  However, in this case, Meggett was returning the ball up the field and was drilled by Kurt Gouvea, who forced a fumble which was recovered by Skins punter Ralf Mojseijenko at the Giants 36 yard line.

A first down run by Riggs went for 2 yards to the 34 and he followed that up with a run to the 28, after bouncing off a hit from DeOssie.  On 3rd and 3, Rypien hit Sanders for a first down, however a Skins penalty called it back.  The next down, an Eric Dorsey sack was negated by an LT offsides.  So, back to 3rd and 3 again, Rypien hit Monk down to the 10 yard line and a first down.  With their backs to the goal line, the Giants defense would make another play


I've seen a lot of fumbles over the years.  Riggs was trying to plow ahead for more yards, he was getting hit by LT and as DeOssie came around he jarred the ball loose, which was recovered by Greg Jackson at the 7.  I have never seen a ball spin on it's point like that on a fumble, and on natural grass mind you.  We've seen it tons of times that players will do that when they score a TD.  It's part of Victor Cruz's repertoire to spin the ball just prior to his salsa dance and little palms out hand signal thing.  But on a fumble?  I cant' recall seeing that before or since.

Anyway, that big turnover kept the score at 14-3 and no harm/no foul on Meggett.  First down, OJ was stuffed by Mann for no gain.  On second down, OJ found a seam up the middle and ran it to the 20 for a first down.  The next play OJ took it around right end for another 5 yards, but was stuffed by Dexter for no gain on the play after.  On 3rd and 4, Dexter took a hard inside move, which allowed Simms a lane on the outside to run for a first down to the 35.  After that play though, 2 short OJ runs and an incomplete pass to Stephen Baker ended the drive and brought on Landeta, who boomed the ball down to the 4 yard line, where return man Joe Howard actually had the ball go between his legs and avoid a back breaking turnover.

The Skins began with an incomplete pass deep to Clark.  On 2nd down, Riggs got it out to the 7 where he was stopped by LT and John Washington.  A huge 3rd and 7 play was converted by Clark, who made the catch and headed up field for a 28 yard gain out to the 35.  After a reverse to Monk was snuffed out by LT for 1 yard, Monk made a catch to the 44 for an 8 yard gain.  Riggs would power ahead to the 48 and another first down.  After a 1 yard gain, the Skins finally were able to connect on a deep pass


The Skins OL finally held up the Giants and Rypien uncorked a perfect bomb to Sanders, who got behind Collins and Kinard after a play action fake and hauled in a 49 yard TD late in the 3rd quarter to make the score 14-10.

RFK was rocking and Meggett returned the kickoff to the 27.  Simms began the drive getting sacked by Dexter at the 23.  The Giants then decided to be aggressive and go to their TEs.  Successive catches by Zeke Mowatt to the Skins 46 and then to Bavaro got the ball to the 25.  The Giants would again turn to their running game.  OJ ran it up the gut for 6 yards to end the 3rd quarter.  Rouson would start the 4th with a 2 yard gain to the 17 yard line and OJ would make it to the 14 and another first.  But OJ wasn't done


OJ showed some quickness, rumbling up the middle for a 14 yard TD to quiet the crowd, cap a 73 yard drive, and put the Giants back up by 11 points, making the score 21-10.

The Skins would not back down though.  AJ Johnson returned the kickoff to the 34.  Rypien hit TE Jimmy Johnson to the 47.  A Riggs 10 yard burst got the ball to the Giants 43.  Clark followed that up with a catch and run to the 22 yard line.  After a 5 yard Riggs run, Sanders hauled in a pass to the 7 yard line and a first and goal.  Riggs was stuffed on first down by LT.  Byner would then make a 1 yard catch, and was dropped immediately by Collins.  The Skins would cash in on 3rd and goal


Art Monk made the catch over the middle for at TD as Rypien drilled it to him and Monk avoided Banks to make the score 21-17.

Lohmiller's kickoff was returned by Meggett to the 31, but an illegal block by Rouson set them back to the 21.  After a 1 yard gain by OJ, with RFK Stadium on its feet, the Giants would make a costly error


Simms tried to hit Bavaro, who held up his route, and Coleman continued on in coverage and made a nice 1 handed INT, and turned up field and ran it in for a 24 yard TD.  Now up 24-21, with 2 TDs within moments of each other, RFK was officially up for grabs.

Meggett would return the next kickoff to the 32.  A Simms scramble to the 44 got the Giants going (his fumble on the play was ruled to be caused by the ground).  On the next play, Simms again was scrambling around, but stopped and threw an incompletion.  However, William Roberts, thinking Simms was going to run, headed downfield for a penalty to make it 1st and 20.  With 6:30 to go in the game, Simms went deep to Turner, who held up and out jumped 2 Skins for a 44 yard gain to the Skins 22 yard line, as he stole the ball away from Todd Bowles.  Three straight OJ runs got the ball down to the 10 yard line.  After a 2 yard gain by OJ to the 8, Simms missed Mowatt for an incomplete pass.  On 3rd and 8, Simms was sacked by Mann, more or less a coverage sack, and Allegre calmly drilled a 32 yarder to tie the game at 24-24 with 2:17 to play.

Each team had 3 time outs and the Skins took the kickoff to the 28 yard line, looking for a FG to win the game.  Riggs ran it for 6 yards to bring the game to the 2 minute warning.  Riggs would run it again for 2 yards and set up a 3rd and 2.  Instead of playing it for the first down, Rypien decided to go deep to Art Monk, and missed him even though he was open at the 11 yard line.  That left 1:06 on the clock and Washington had to punt.  After a penalty on Washington forced them to re-kick, Meggett ran the punt back to the 29 yard line with :44 to go in the game.

Out of the gun, Simms hit Bavaro over the middle to the 44 yard line.  Meggett then took an inside handoff from the gun and ran it to the Skins 44 with :22 seconds to go and the Giants called their first time out.  A low snap threw off Simms timing on a pass to Ingram and fell incomplete.  It was now 3rd and 2, with :17 to go in the game, Simms threw a pass to Bavaro, who was interfered with by Clarence Vaughn at the 41 for a first down with :14 to go.  The Giants would call a time out to collect themselves and Simms would hit Ingram down at the 35 with :06 remaining and they would call their final time out.  The Giants decided to bring on Allegre to attempt a 52 yarder and avoid overtime.


Allegre, a career 9-20 from 50+ yards boomed the FG right down the middle, where it cleared the cross bar by about a yard.  The long kick actually took up all 6 seconds so the gun sounded with a huge Giants 27-24 win in the opener, and would help springboard them to an 8-1 start and a 1989 NFC East Title.

Interesting Tidbits/Post Mortem

• Allegre's 52 yarder to win the game was one of several memorable game winning FGs that he hit as a member of the Giants.  Many fans remember his back to back late game winning FGs in 1986 (@ Minnesota and home vs. the Broncos).  However, Allegre, who joined the Giants in 1986 and was on the roster through 1991, only kicked one game winning FG in OT (1987 in a 23-20 win vs. the Eagles).  
• The only OT win the Giants had between 1986 and 1991 (Allegre's tenure) other than the 1987 one, was a 33 yard FG made by Paul McFadden, the barefooted kicker, in a 13-10 win at Detroit in 1988.
• To that end, one of the most clutch kickers in Giants history who would replace Allegre, Matt Bahr, never kicked an OT game winning FG for the Giants.
• Back to Allegre OT game winners, he only had 3 throughout his career.  In his 1983 rookie season as a member of the Baltimore Colts, in a 22-19 win over the Bears.  And in 1991, in his final season, he joined the Jets in the final week and hit a 30 yarder in Miami in Week 16 in OT (a game more well known for then Jets Defensive Coordinator Pete Carroll mocking Dolphins kicker Pete Stoyanovich by making a choking motion after he missed a field goal).  The win put the Jets into the playoffs as an 8-8 Wild Card and put them in the postseason for the first time since 1986.  Allegre would kick for them in that playoff game at Houston, and hit a 33 yarder in his final NFL game in the 17-10 Jets loss.
• Allegre's FG to end regulation prevented the game from going to OT.  The last time the Giants faced the Skins in OT was in 1981, when Washington beat the Giants 30-27 at Giants Stadium.  The next time the Giants would face the Skins in OT?  The 1997 game which ended in a 7-7 tie and was marked by Gus Frerotte knocking himself out with a headbutt in the end zone.
• Allegre only made 3 kicks for the Giants over 50 yards.  The other two were both in the same game against the Eagles in 1987 as he hit 53 and 52 yarders in a 20-17 win at Philly.
• Meggett's 62 yard catch and run for a TD was the longest of his career.  The next closest was a 50 yard TD in a 7-3 win at Philly in 1993.
• A few OJ Anderson tidbits.  His 93 yards rushing was the most for him since 1985, when he ran for 104 yards in a 43-28 win as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Green Bay
• OJ's 23 carries were his most in a game since 1984, when he had 23 carries in a 31-21 win vs. the Giants.
• OJ's 14 yard TD run was his longest since a 39 yard TD run for the Cardinals in a 38-14 loss at Kansas City...in Week 5 of 1983!
• OJ was the epitome of the TD vulture for the Giants prior to 1989.  He scored 10 TDs (including the Super Bowl) for the Giants from 1986-1988.  9 were from 1 yard, and his longest was from 2 yards in a win vs. the Chiefs in 1988.
• Meanwhile, in 1989 - 1990, OJ scored 25 TDs for the Giants, 10 of those were from longer than 2 yards out, with the longest going from 36 yards in 1989 vs. the Cardinals.  So while he did score from further out than in the past, he still was a prolific goal line RB.
• Odessa Turner's 31 yard TD was his longest of 1989.  His career long TD was a 38 yard TD, also vs. the Redskins, in 1988.
• Turner's 99 yards receiving was his season high in 1989.  It was the second highest of his career, behind a 103 yard effort, also at RFK in 1988.
• Turner would catch 8 TDs over the course of his career (7 years with the Giants and Niners).  3 of those TDs would come vs. the Redskins.
• Turner's 44 yard catch was also his longest of the 1989 season.
• Leonard Marshall played the game with a dark visor, which was the only time I can recall him wearing one on the field.  He would be the third Giants player on defense that night to wear a dark visor (along with Johnie Cooks and Steve DeOssie).  Dark visors were prevalent in the 1980s and into the 1990s.  Some players wore them if they had suffered an eye injury/poked in the eye.  Some players wore them because of a sensitivity to light (Jim McMahon probably one of the most famous ones...and DeOssie did too).  Others wore them because they thought it gave them a competitive advantage, ie- not being able to read their eyes.  Vencie Glenn, the former Viking and Giant safety would do that to help him in coverage and keep the QB guessing and see if he could trick him into a pick.  The NFL cracked down the dark visor later in the 1990s due to the fact that it got in the way of the team doctors/trainers to look at an injured player on the field to check their eyes, particularly in the case of a concussion and only allowed it for players who had a medical reason.
• Mark Rypien was the Skins 4th QB to start an opener for the Skins in 5 years.  1985- Joe Theismann.  1986/1987- Jay Schroeder.  1988- Doug Williams.  1989- Rypien.  Rypien would hold down the Opening Day nod through 1993 until his streak was broken by John Freisz in 1994.
• Art Monk's TD was his first vs. the Giants in 17 games played against them.  Monk would actually score again in the Skins rematch at the Meadowlands, as he scored on a 5 yard pass in a 20-17 loss. Otherwise, the only other time he scored vs the Giants was a 28-10 win on the road vs. the rudderless Ray Handley 1992 team.
• Monte Coleman's TD return was his first since 1984, when he returned a pick 49 yards for a TD vs. Dallas
• Gerald Riggs had 397 carries and 33 catches in 1985 as a member of the Falcons with no fumbles.  He fumbled twice vs. the Giants in his first game with Washington.
• Ralf Mojsiejenko's fumble recovery on the Meggett hit was the only one in his 7 year career.
• The Skins were 12-3 at home on Monday Nights going into this game.

Will have the first game "old" game of 2013 ready next week

Another follow up, with Super Bowl being played on Sunday, the NFL off-season will officially begin.  So, what better way to start off the off-season than with an old Giants game review.  I'll have the 1989 Giants @ Redskins season opener posted early next week, just putting some finishing touches on the review and we'll be on our way.

2013 Off-season Plans

As some who have come to this blog have noted, there hasn't been that much activity as far as posts go for old Giants games. With the 2012 title defense for the Giants underway, it just didn't make too much sense to post old games when new ones were being played. Now that the season has wrapped up, an unsatisfying 9-7 season, but an interesting one no matter how you look at it, I'll be firing up the reviews again soon. My goal is to get a game review up every 2 or so weeks throughout the off-season up until the start of camp this summer. Now just because there haven't been posts, that doesn't mean that it was all quiet behind the scenes. I was able to reach out to a number of fellow Giants fans and was able to get a brand new group of games from the 1980s and 1990s that I didn't have, and I'll be adding in some from the early 2000s as well. Not to mention some of my game tapes the quality was what you'd more or less expect from having a VHS tape sitting in a box for 20 years, so I've been able to get some upgrades as well. Stay tuned, and if you have any requests, feel free to email me at mattinsgs@gmail.com and I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

1990 Giants vs. Eagles

Week 1

The Setup

If you go back to the Giants championship core team from 1988 - 1990, that group had put up an impressive regular season record (35-13).  However, there were two teams which gave Parcells’ teams fits.  One was the John Robinson/Jim Everett Rams, who had blown out the Giants in 1988 (45-31 @ Giants Stadium) and in 1989 (31-10 @ LA) and had knocked the Giants out of the playoffs on Flipper’s OT touchdown catch.  The other was the Buddy Ryan/Randall Cunningham Philly Eagles.

What made it worse was that the Giants would find new and mindnumbing ways to lose to the Eagles during this time.  In 1988, the Giants infamously missed the playoffs when they blew a late lead to the Jets in the final game, when Al Toon caught a TD over Tom Flynn, and the Niners “laid down like dogs” on Sunday Night vs. the Rams.  So how did a 10 win team miss the playoffs?  Because the 1988 Eagles swept the Giants.  The first game in Philly was a Monday Night win by the Eagles, highlighted by Randall Cunningham, getting hit around his legs by Carl Banks, but somehow keeping his balance by holding himself up using the football, and just avoided Harry Carson before hitting Jimmie Giles for a TD.  When the Giants closed the score to 17-13 in the 4th Quarter, Randall hit Cris Carter for an 80 yard TD to put that game away.  In the second game, in the cold and rain of Giants Stadium, the Giants blew a 4th quarter lead, with Carter recovering a fumble in the end zone to tie the game at 17-17 late.  In in OT, LT blocked a Luis Zendejas FG, however it bounced right to Clyde Simmons who ran it in for a 15 yard TD return and a 23-17 Eagles win.  I happened to be at that game that day and the crowd was completely stunned, I can’t recall that ever happening before, or since, blocking a FG and seeing the kicking team pick it up and run it in to win a game.

In 1989, the Giants were ready for the Eagles.  The first game in Philly, the Giants went to their bag of tricks, with a Jeff Hostetler to Carl Banks pass for a TD on a fake FG to make it a 10-0 lead early which the Giants increased to a 16-7 4th quarter advantage. However, a Randall TD run and then a late drive resulting in an Anthony Toney 2 yard TD had the Eagles snatch a heartbreaking 21-19 win when the Giants were in control most of the day.  The second game at Giants Stadium was played in a typical cold and windy day (25+ mph winds).  The Giants were getting an emotional boost from LT playing on a broken ankle, which he broke on the Monday Night previous at San Francisco.  But the Eagles defense, which had given Simms and the Giants fits for years, jumped all over the Giants early.  Andre Waters took a fumble near the Giants goal line and ran it in from 3 yards out for a 7-0 lead, and then Clyde Simmons picked off a pass and ran it in for a 60 yard TD to go up 14-0.  The crowd was stunned and angry, but the Giants battled back, with Simms hitting Ingram on a 41 yard TD and the defense clamping down on the Eagles.  The Giants finally battled back to a 17-17 tie in the 3rd quarter.  The Giants defense had pinned the Eagles back near their own goal line and forced a punt, and then came the turning point of that game.  Instead of sending out Max Runager to punt with the wind at his back, the Eagles kept Randall in to punt.  Randall launched a rocket of a punt, which was misplayed by Dave Meggett and resulted in a 91 yard yard punt and changed the field position and complexion of the game.   Ultimately, 5 Eagles sacks and 5 Giants turnovers were too much as the Eagles got a TD from Byars and won the game 24-17 to sweep the series again.  Fortunately for the Giants, they righted themselves and won their last 3 games, and the Eagles lost a Monday Night game to the Saints, which gave the Giants the NFC East title.

So this was the backdrop for the 1990 opener.  The Giants had gone out and brought in more veterans to the defense in former Pro Bowlers Everson Walls from the Cowboys and Dave Duerson from the Bears.  They drafted Rodney Hampton to get some more youth at RB and a much needed offensive weapon.  The Giants and their fans had enough of the Eagles and had them in Giants Stadium to start the season with revenge on the Giants minds and a need to get the 1990 campaign off on the right foot.

The Game Highlights

The Giants and Eagles opened the season with a Sunday Night game in Giants Stadium.  A typical warm night with early September, with a little rain shower mixed in.  The Eagles won the toss and Fred Barnett returned a Raul Allegre kick off to the 13.  On the first play of the season, Randall got tripped up but got a throw off to Toney for a 3 yard gain.  Toney was stuffed on a run up the middle on the next play, which set up a 3rd and 5.  The Giants, who were concerned with Randalls’ ability to scramble and hurt them on 3rd downs, decided to rush with just 1 DL (Erik Howard) and Pepper and LT as stand up DEs.  Dave Duerson was used as a spy just shadowing Randall.  And the defensive alignment paid off early



Randall was flushed out of the pocket, and with Duerson closing on him, floated a pass to former Jet Mickey Shuler which was picked off by Everson Walls.  A few things about this play.  Shuler was in at TE because the Eagles regular TE was Pro Bowler Keith Jackson was holding out in a contract dispute. So Randall really didn’t have the familiarity with him as of yet, and in the meantime Everson Walls, who was brought in as a veteran corner and first thought to be a nickel back, but he outplayed Perry Williams in camp and claimed the starting job, made the play.  Walls was a great compliment at one corner compared with Mark Collins on the other side.  Collins was a physical corner, who could get up on run support and would lock down on receivers, however he wasn’t very good at picking the ball off.  Conversely, Walls was not a physical corner, but rather played with veteran saavy and was a ball hawk.

Walls INT set the Giants up at the Eagles 33.  Simms started with a dump off pass to Lewis Tillman for 1 yard.  The next play, Tillman took a sweep and ran around by Jumbo Elliott’s side to the 25.  With 3rd and inches, Parcells brought out the 3 TEs and OJ at running back, however he was stuffed by the Eagles.  Parcells decided to challenge his team and went for it on 4th down, passing on a medium range FG, and OJ got 2 yards and a first.  However, the momentum would not last, 2 Simms incompletions in the end zone to Odessa Turner and Simms missed a wide open Hampton in the flat.  Raul came on and calmly hit a 38 yard FG to make the score 3-0, so the Giants at the very least came away with points on the turnover.

Barnett would return the kickoff to the 27 and the Eagles would start out with a 3 yard run by Toney.  A holding penalty on Philly erased a near first down reception by Mike Quick, which was compounded by Toney getting stuffed on a draw by Erik Howard.  On 3rd and 16, Randall was under pressure by Pepper and dumped a pass off to Keith Byars, short of a first.  On came a young punter named Jeff Feagles, who’s kick was returned by Meggett to the 28.

The Giants started with a pitch to Tillman for 3 yards and then a pass to Howard Cross over the middle for 17 more.  Simms, known as a prototypical pocket passer, showed off his wheels (and strength) as he scrambled for 20 yards, and actually stiff armed Eagles first round pick, rookie corner Ben Smith to the ground.  With the ball at the Eagles 35, a dump off pass to Carthon gained 5 yards, but the drive would again stall as Tillman was stuffed for no gain and Simms again missed an open Hampton on 3rd down.  Allegre came on and drilled a 46 yard FG right down the middle to help the Giants build their lead to 6-0.

Barnett got the kickoff out to the 21, where he was hammered down by Tillman and Thompson.  And then the Giants and Eagles started playing turnover tag



Randall’s first pass was an ill fated throw to Quick, who was blanketed by Collins and the underthrown ball was picked off by the Giants’ CB.   However, the Giants good fortune wouldn’t last long.  The Eagles, as was their way, had owned the Giants in recent years thanks to their defense making big plays and getting turnovers.  Simms’ pass up the seam to Cross was overthrown and intercepted by Wes Hopkins who ran the ball back to the 43.  The Eagles had dodged a bullet.

On first down, Toney burst up the middle to near mid field.  Randall then hit Byars in the flat out to the 37 and a first down, and followed that up with a scramble of his own, as he broke containment and got it down to the 21.  LT stopped Toney for a short loss on first down, and after an incompletion and a penalty, the Eagles were forced to try for a field goal, which Roger Ruzek converted to cut the lead to 6-3.

Meggett returned the ball to the 23, and Rodney Hampton got his first NFL carry, which went for 3 yards and Hampton then caught a pass out to near the 30 yard line to end the First Quarter.  On 3rd and 3, Meggett was drilled by William Frizzell on a dump off pass, and that brought on Sean Landeta to kick it away to Sean Bellamy, who had a nice 21 yard return, getting the ball out to the Eagles 40.

On first down, Randall saw Myron Guyton coming over into the passing lane, so he held up on the pass and it slipped out of his hands for an incompletion.  After that, LT got involved



LT, who held out in  training camp in what was a contract dispute, and also likely involved the tactic that he’d rather just skip two-a-days in Madison, NJ, swooped in on Randall as the coverage held up.  It was 3rd and 22, but an encroachment on Howard gave the Eagles 5 more yards, and Randall drilled a pass into Shuler for 24 yards and a first down.  Randall again showed his elusiveness, avoiding a free rush by Banks, and connecting with Quick to the 34, and Toney would convert the first down on the next play.  On first down, LT would again make a play, with an assist by the refs



It’s not just today that the NFL has tried to protect the QB.  Back in the 1980s, in order to keep QBs from taking unnecessary hits, they instituted the “in the grasp” sack.  Essentially, the rule was that a defensive player had to have grasp and control of a QB.  Sounds straight forward enough, and while the rule would help a non-mobile QB like Simms or Marino, it would hurt the playmaking abilities of a more mobile QB like Randall, John Elway, or Steve Young.  And the implementation of it was subjective as well.  It was reasons such as this “sack” of Randall by LT, that the NFL ditched the in the grasp sack rule.  Which is was a good thing for the Giants in 2007.  If there was in the grasp back then, there would be no Eli ripping away from the Patriots, no helmet catch by Tyree, and probably no Super Bowl title for the Giants.

On 2nd and 15, Randall hit Byars to the 26 to make it 3rd and 6, and that combo hooked up again, for another first down, this time down to the 18.

It was then that new offensive coordinator Rich Kotite went to his bag of tricks



Keith Byars took the handoff and rolled to his right, which brought up Myron Guyton and allowed Anthony Toney to get behind the defense for an easy 18 yard TD.  The Eagles had stunned the crowd and grabbed a 10-6 lead.

The Giants tried to respond, Meggett returned the ball to the 24 yard line and Hampton would only get a 1 yard gain on first down.  Simms hit Carthon out of the backfield for a first down to the 43.  A short Hampton run and an incompletion to Cross set up a 3rd and long.  Simms actually had Meggett open and behind the defense, but the ball just went through Meggett’s hands, and prevented a 50+ yard TD strike.  Landeta’s punt was downed at the 23 yard line as the Eagles offense came back out.

This time, the Giants defense stiffened, and the Eagles running game was bottled up, resulting n a 3 and out and a Feagles punt to the 30.  The Giants offense though, thanks to a holding penalty on Jumbo, sputtered as well and they too went 3 and out and punted it back to Philly and the ball was muffed by Calvin Williams.  The ball actually bounced into the hands of Reyna Thompson, but he couldn’t control it and the ball went out of bounds, allowing the Eagles to retain possession at the 44.

The Eagles offense continued to struggle, as Randall missed a wide open Quick and Byars dropped a first down, and had to punt back to the Giants, who got the ball at the 12 with 1:55 to go in the half.

The Giants got lucky on first down.  Simms hit Tillman on a screen and a yard loss, but Tillman was hit by Byron Evans and actually fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Seth Joyner and run in for a TD.  The refs ruled, incorrectly, that Tillman was down by contact and the whistle had blown.  The Eagles should have been up 17-6, but the Giants kept the ball.  Tillman ran to the 18 on the next play and from there Simms was under pressure and missed Bavaro on a dump off.  Landeta punted the ball away to the 40 and the half was over, with the Eagles in the lead, 10-6.

The Giants would get the ball to start the 2nd half.  Meggett powered the ball out to the 30 and on first down Simms would be sacked by Eagles DT Mike Pitts for a short loss.  A Hampton draw play went for 5 yards and set up a 3rd down.  Simms would finally have time and was able to hit Turner for 18 yards out to the 47.  It was the Giants first reception by a WR and their first 3rd down conversion in the game.  Hampton would make a nice catch and a good move to juke away from an Eagle defender to get to the 35.  A Tillman sweep for 3 and an incompletion to Cross set up another 3rd down, though this time Simms drilled it in to Lionel Manuel coming over the middle for 19 yards down to the 12 yard line.  Simms first down pass to the end zone was intended for Turner, but was knocked down by Eagles safety Terry Hoage.  On second down though, the Giants would go to their rookie



Simms threw a flare out to Hampton, who caught it, and turned up field where he jumped/ran over CB Eric Allen and stretched the ball over the goal line for a TD and the Giants had retaken the lead, 13-10.

The Giants and the crowd were into the game.  Former Jet first round pick Roger Vick returned the ball out the 16, where he was dropped by Thompson.  Pepper and the rest of the Giants defense swarmed all over Drummond for a 1 yard gain.  Randall hit Toney out of the backfield to the 22 to set up a 3rd and 4.  Cunningham would again go to Shuler deep down field, but the ball was tipped by Perry Williams, and then batted by Shuler, and nearly picked off by Guyton before falling to the ground.  Feagles came on the field and the Giants lead would soon grow larger



Meggett fielded it at the 32, got a huge block by Duerson on former Giants draft pick Sammy Lilly, and with an escort of other blocks, such as the one provided by Walls, allowed Meggett to get to a one on one spot with Feagles.  Once Meggett got around him, it was a 68 yard TD and Giants Stadium was up for grabs.  20-10 Giants.

On the subsequent kickoff, Barnett was blasted by rookie LB Bobby Abrams at the 18.  Toney was gangtackled by 5 Giants and a 1 yard gain.  Randall was then forced to scramble as LT put pressure on him in the pocket and chased him down, forcing a fumble, but it bounced right back to Cunningham.  On 3rd and 7, Randall hit Williams for a first down to the 36, and then the Giants defense put the clamps down



Now this was Giants defense.  LT registering his 3rd sack of the night, Reyna Thompson flying in for the back-to-back sacks, and then on 3rd down, Guyton (who was a very underrated hitter) drilling Williams and forcing another Eagles punt as the Giants Stadium crowd gave their defense a well deserved Standing O.

Meggett fair caught the ball at the 37, however the Eagles defense also made a stand, forcing a 3 and out and a Giants punt, out to the Eagles 21.  Randall started out with a pass to Shuler to the 25.  Toney ripped off a nice run for a first down to the 34.  The Giants defense then locked down again, Johnie Cooks stuffed Toney for 1 yard, a Randall incompletion and a short gain by Drummond brought Feagles out and punted the ball back to the Giants 26 yard line.

Tillman started off with a 6 yard gain around the corner, and follow that with a burst up the middle to the 35 and a first down to end a very productive 3rd quarter for the Giants.  To start the 4th quarter, Tillman was nailed by Simmons for no gain.  Simms dumped the ball off to Carthon, who gained 7 yards, but a late hit out of bounds by Ben Smith tacked 15 more yards on and the Giants got it at the Eagles 41.  After a run for no gain by Tillman, the Giants decided to go up top



Simms was able to get just enough protection, as Reggie White was in his face when he released the ball, and hit a streaking Ingram for a TD.  Dave Meggett was actually running a post pattern of his own and was near the ball too, but he ended up tripping Eric Allen and Ingram went in untouched for a huge 27-10 lead.  The Giants fans wanted blood, and they were getting it so far.

Vick returned the kickoff to the 13 yard line and the Eagles needed 3 scores to get back in the game.  Randall started out by hitting Drummond to the 20 and Toney followed it up with a run to the 27 and a first down.  Cunningham avoided the rush and just got a yard as Pepper was bearing down on him, but passes to Shuler and Toney were good for another first down.  A scramble by Randall and another catch by Shuler had the ball on the 47.  The Eagles kept moving, thanks to a questionable pass interference on Banks and a Randall scramble out to the 22 yard line, where he actually fumbled from a hit from behind by LT and the ball was recovered by Duerson, however an offsides on Pepper kept the ball with Philly.  Another catch by Byers got the ball back to the 21 and 2 plays later a pass to Quick has the ball on the 2 yard line for first and goal.  On first down, Randall ran around the end and tried to leap past Pepper Johnson, but Pepper caught him in mid air and spun him around and slammed him to the ground for a great play, but an Eagles hold put them back at the 12.  Byars made another catch to the 4 yard line which set up a pass to Quick, who was interfered with by Duerson in the end zone and the ball was placed at the 1 yard line.  LT stuffed an sweep to Vick and knocked him out short of the goal line.  On 2nd down, the Eagles would finally break through



Randall jumped over/into the pile for a TD, and despite a delayed reaction by the refs and Cunningham coming out of the fracas and spike the ball, the TD was correctly given to the Eagles.  27-17 Giants in the lead.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the drive took nearly 6 minutes, and they were forced to try an onside, which was recovered by the Giants rookie safety David Whitmore.  From this point, Parcells got very conservative.  Calling 3 straight short runs by Tillman, and forced the Eagles to use 2 time outs and a Landeta punt was nearly downed at the one by Ingram after Thompson batted it back in play, but it rolled into the end zone for a touchback.

With 4:03 to go, Randall’s pass was incomplete to Byars, as Duerson shadowed him and forced him to throw off balance.  Another incompletion set up a big gain to Drummond for a first down near midfield, however an illegal forward lateral to Williams brought the ball back, though they kept the first down.  Randall than evaded several sack attempts by LT and Pepper slipped out for a 5 yard run and a draw to Toney got another first down.  After a Byars drop, Randall hit Williams and Barnett and got the ball to the 30, with an extra 15 added to the play thanks to a personal foul for a headslap on the Eagles OT by LT.  With 2:46 to go, the Eagles had it on the 15 yard line.  An incompletion in the end zone to Shuler and then a near interception by Walls by the goal line set up a 3rd down.  The pass was completed to Byars, but he was short of the first.  With the Eagles needing 2 scores, Buddy Ryan opted for the FG first and Ruzek nailed a 29 yarder to make it 27-20 with 1:56 to go.

The Eagles set up for another onside kick, which was really just a pop up that was caught on a fair catch by Guyton, who was popped by former Giant Rickey Shaw.  After a mild fight, the refs sorted it out and called a penalty on Shaw, giving the ball to the Giants on the Eagles 43.  Parcells continued to stay conservative, slamming Tillman into the line 3 times and forcing the Eagles to use their final time out.  The Giants then took a delay of game and had Landeta on to punt the ball with :13 to go in the game.  The Eagles went for an all out block, no return man, and Landeta got it off and kicked it for a touchback.  With :04 to go in the game, the Eagles had only one shot at a miracle, but Randall’s Hail Mary was picked off by Greg Jackson and the Giants had gotten a hard fought 27-20 win to start the season off the right way, setting the stage for a season which would end with a championship in Super Bowl XXV.

Interesting Tidbits/ Post Mortem

• Hampton’s TD catch was his first in the NFL.  It was one of 2 receiving TDs by Hampton in his rookie season.  He caught his second one, a 27 yarder vs. Dallas in Week 4.
• Ingram’s 41 yard TD catch was his longest catch of the 1990 season.
• Despite holding out of camp, LT registered 3 sacks vs. the Eagles.  LT hounded the Eagles QBs over his career, registering 25 sacks vs. Philly in his career.  The 3 sack game would be the 8th time that he had a multiple sack game against the Eagles.  In fact, his career high in sacks in a game (4) was done against Philly in 1986 (and also against Tampa Bay in 1984).  Interestingly enough though, this game would be the final game in which LT would register a sack vs. Philly.
• Reyna Thompson, a Pro Bowl selection as a special teamer, registered the first sack of his NFL career in the game.  Thompson would only have one more sack in his career, in 1993 as a member of Parcells’ Patriots, when he got a sack in a loss to Seattle.
• Phil Simms’ 20 yard run was his longest of the 1990 season.  It would prove to be the longest run that he would have for the remainder of his career.  His career long run though: 28 yards in a win vs. Washington in 1985.
• Lewis Tillman was the starter in this game and “led” the Giants with 39 yards on 15 carries vs. a very tough Eagles defense.  Hampton was second with 6 carries.  Meanwhile OJ Anderson, coming off a 1000 yard season in 1989 was an afterthought, with 2 carries for 3 yards.  Hardly a workload for a guy who would go on to win the MVP in Super Bowl XXV a few months later.
• Raul Allegre was the kicker for the Giants in this game.  Allegre would be the kicker for the first three games, until an injury forced him out and Matt Bahr, released by the Browns, took over as kicker in Week 4 vs. Dallas.  Bahr would keep the job until 1993, when he was let go by Dan Reeves in order to bring in David Treadwell, his former kicker in Denver.
• Despite ending his holdout before the game, Leonard Marshall did not start the game for the Giants.  Parcells started John Washington instead, and Marshall played sparingly in some pass rush situations.
• Meggett’s punt return TD was technically his second straight game in which he did so.  He returned a punt for a TD in the season finale vs. the Raiders in 1989.
• Byars’ TD pass was the first of 4 he would throw in 1990.  In all, Byars threw 6 TD passes on the halfback option (he did also throw 1 INT).  It was not his first TD pass though, that had happened in his rookie year of 1986, when he threw a 55 yarder to Mike Quick in a win over the Rams, in what would be Buddy Ryan’s first win as coach of the Eagles.
• This was also Rick Kotite’s first game as offensive coordinator for the Eagles.  Kotite would replace Ryan as head coach of the Eagles after the 1990 season, when Ryan had worn out his welcome after a third straight one and done playoff run.
• The game was broadcast on TNT, and it was their first NFL regular season game shown on the network.  TNT would share Sunday Night games (and some Thursday Night as well) with ESPN, as TNT would broadcast games the first half of the season, and ESPN would broadcast the second half.  TNT would broadcast games up through 1997.
• Lastly, since 1981, the Giants opened at home vs. the Eagles 6 times.  They lost to the defending NFC Champion Eagles  in 1981, but then went on to win 5 straight vs. the Eagles after that.  In 1997, Jim Fassel’s first game as head coach was vs. the Eagles, and the Giants won that game 31-17.  The only time since 1981 that the Giants and Eagles opened the season in Philly?  2004, in Tom Coughlin’s first game as head coach of the Giants.  The Giants lost that day 31-17.

One final note. Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films passed away on 9/18/2012 after battling brain cancer. Back when I was a young fan, learning about the NFL and began following the Giants in the 1980s, there was no internet around to gather information. WFAN was very much in its infancy and wasn't really a big football station (it still isn't, it's baseball mostly). So I was able to learn more and more about the game thanks to NFL Films, and HBO's Inside the NFL in particular. The camera work, the narration by Harry Kalas, the music. It all came together in a wonderful package and I wouldn't have been as interested in the game without it. So, with that in mind, in a small tribute, here was the highlights of this Giants/Eagles game from the tape I have from the 1990 season of HBO Inside the NFL.

1981 Giants v Cowboys

Week 16

The Setup

It has been said that the 1981 game between the Giants and Cowboys was the most significant game in Giants Stadium history.  Granted, the Giants did play 11 playoff games there, including 2 NFC Championships, as well as several other big games with the division title on the line (such as 2011 vs. Dallas).  But this 1981 game really signaled the re-birth of the Giants as a franchise.  They had been out of the playoffs for 18 years, and never really got a sniff of success, let alone the playoffs in the time that they moved to play in East Rutherford in 1976.  Look at the records since they moved to the new stadium: 3-11, 5-9, 6-10, 6-10, 4-12.

1981 was a big year for the Giants.  It was Year 3 of the George Young era, which coincided with Year 3 of the Ray Perkins era.  Their first two seasons saw little success, as noted above, a 10-22 record.  The Giants finally started to round into shape in their traditional way, defense.  There was talent to work with on the defensive side of the football, Harry Carson, Brian Kelley, Brad Van Pelt, and George Martin were in place.  Perkins brought back Bill Parcells to the Giants, taking him from New England where he was their LB coach, and promoted him to Defensive Coordinator.  Meanwhile, George Young had a fantastic 1981 draft, bringing in NT Bill Neill and LB Byron Hunt.  And probably the most important draft pick in Giants history (rivaled only by the Eli trade when you think of it), with the Giants were sitting at #2 in the draft order.  The New Orleans Saints decided to pick RB George Rogers with the #1 pick.  The Giants took LB Lawrence Taylor from North Carolina.  Suddenly the Giants had a defensive unit which was hard hitting and dangerous.

As also was the Giants tradition, the defense carried the offense.  Phil Simms hurt his shoulder in an OT loss to the Redskins in Week 11 and the QB duties were turned over to Scott Brunner, who was in his second year.  The Giants best player was a fullback, Rob Carpenter, who was acquired from the Houston Oilers earlier in the 1981 season.  The Giants were having a mediocre season, with a record of 5-6 after the Redskins loss.  But with Brunner at the helm, the Giants defense locked in, and the Giants went into Philly and beat the defending NFC Champs 20-10.  The Giants would win 3 of their next four games, including the Eagles game, with their only loss coming 17-10 at San Francisco to the eventual Super Bowl Champs.

That set up their showdown with Dallas.  The Tom Landry led Cowboys were still filled with big names in 1981, Randy White, Danny White, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Drew Pearson, Tony Dorsett, among others.  They had just clinched their 6th straight NFC East title and were 12-3 entering the game.  In order to gain homefield advantage in the playoffs, the Cowboys needed to win and hope that the 49ers (who blew out Dallas 45-14 earlier in the season) would lose on the road to the hapless New Orleans Saints.

Meanwhile the Giants, now at 8-7, also needed help to get into the playoffs.  The Giants had to win this game and hope that the NY Jets, of all teams, would beat the Packers at Shea Stadium.  The Jets were motivated on their own, as a win would put them in the playoffs.  As the Giants game was on a Saturday, both the Giants and Cowboys wouldn't fully know their fate until the following day.

The Game Highlights

On a cold Saturday afternoon game, with the temperature 26 degrees, but the infamous Giants Stadium winds blowing at 20 mph and a wind chill of 13 degrees, the teams took the field.  The Giants decided to play with their road whites at home, noting that Dallas didn't play as well record wise in their blue uniforms.  The Giants would win the toss and decided to kick off and play with the wind at their back.  The opening kickoff was returned by Dallas to the 35, with the tackle being made by Pro Bowl rookie Lawrence Taylor, playing on kickoff coverage (think this wasn't a big game?).  Tony Dorsett was stuffed on his first two carries of the game and that set up a 3rd down passing situation.  Danny White, the Dallas QB, hadn't been sacked in the 2 previous games and was rarely touched, but on 3rd down, he was sacked by George Martin at the 10 yard line.  White, who also doubled as the Dallas punter, kicked it away to Leon Bright, who returned it to the 46.

The Giants meanwhile, started the game by hammering in with Carpenter, who ran 3 straight times and converted a 3rd and 1 to get the ball to the Dallas 42.  Scott Brunner then completed a pass to rookie TE Dave Young out to the 27.  Two short runs by Carpenter and Leon Perry set up a 3rd down conversion on a pass from Brunner to Earnest Gray to the 6 yard line.  With first and goal, the Giants again try 2 runs with Perry and Carpenter with little success.  Brunner then threw to Johnny Perkins, who was hit in the end zone by a Dallas defender and dropped the ball.  That brought out Joe Danelo, who joined the Giants in 1976 as their kicker and should have known the Giants Stadium winds as well as anyone in the NFL.


Yikes, that was a brutal shank on what should have been a chip shot.  Dallas had dodged a bullet.  They started out by trying to again establish the run.  Dorsett started with a 7 yard burst up the gut, but was stopped for a loss on the next play by Byron Hunt.  On 3rd down, the Giants defense yet again came in waves after Danny White, as White was pressured by Hunt first and then sacked by Martin, forcing yet another punt, which Leon Bright (eschewing a fair catch) returned to the Dallas 37.

On first down, Carpenter played the role of the fullback battering ram, plowing ahead up the middle, bouncing off several Dallas defenders to the 15 yard line.  The drive would stall as Randy White stonewalled Carpenter on the next play, and after an incompletion, Brunner's pass in the end zone to Gray was knocked away by Ron Fellows.  Out trotted Danelo again to make amends for his earlier miss with a 28 yard attempt.


Well, so much for that.  And Danelo even got a second chance after "Too Tall" had jumped offsides.  The Cowboys yet again dodge a bullet and the Giants were blowing their chances with the wind at their backs to take an early lead vs. the high powered Cowboys offense.

Dallas took the ball on the 20, a 3 yard run by Dorsett and a dropped pass by Tony Hill, set up a 3rd and 7 for White, who this time hit Ron Springs for a first down to the 31.  Dorsett would lose 5 on a tackle by Bill Courrier and Mark Haynes, but Dallas would get a first down on a draw up the middle by Springs.  The rest of the drive would sputter for the Cowboys, and after a Giants time out, would be forced to punt one last time into the wind, and the Giants would get the ball on the 12 yard line at the start of the 2nd quarter.

The Giants would go to the ground again, with runs by Carpenter and Perry, and then converted the 3rd down on a Brunner pass to Danny Pittman to the 23 yard line.  Brunner would fumble the snap, and he would recover, and 2 plays later would drill a pass in to Gray out to the 40.  Three more Carpenter runs got it past midfield and Brunner hit Young out to the 37, which was just short of a first down.  Carpenter was stopped short of a first, and rather than give Dallas any new life, Perkins chose to play field position with his defense and brought on Dave Jennings to punt, but Jennings just got the ball past the goalline for a touchback.

Dallas' first play was to go to the air, with White targeting his Pro Bowl TE Doug Cosbie, but LT knocked the ball away (and just missed an INT).  Dorsett was stuffed by Gary Jeter on 2nd down and a false start set Dallas back to 3rd and 14, and the Giants defense went to work again


Gary Jeter registered the Giants 3rd sack of the half vs. the Cowboys.  White, who was not used to being touched, let alone pressured, was under duress thanks to Parcells' defensive schemes.  White again had to punt from his end zone and Bright took it to the Dallas 41.  This time around, the Giants offense would not get very far, as Too Tall knocked down a pass and a dump off pass to Carpenter gained only a few yards, so Jennings came on to punt it back to Dallas, where it was downed at the 10 yard line.

The defenses really began to settle in at this point.  Dallas again failed to establish a running game, and a deep pass was dropped by Hill, setting up yet another White punt.  This time, Bright was drilled by a Dallas player before he could field the punt and had to be carted off.  The 15 yard penalty moved the ball to the Dallas 37 and the Giants seemed to be in business.  Ike Forte got the ball to the 30 and Carpenter powered ahead for more yards at the 2 minute warning.  Just as it seemed the Giants were going to get into scoring position, disaster struck again


The seldom used Forte, who carried the ball a grand total of 17 times on the season for the Giants, was hit by Dennis Thurman and fumbled the ball, where Dallas DT Harvey Martin fell on it at the 22 yard line.  Yet another blown opportunity by the Giants.

Dallas first play was nearly a gift back to the Giants, as Brian Kelley dropped a would be INT-TD.  A drop by Pearson and then a screen to Dorsett was just short of a first down and White prepared to punt.  A slight hesitation in his punt set up worked to White's advantage, who decided to pull it down and run with it for a first down.  With new life, the Cowboys drew a pass interference on Terry Jackson to get the ball to the 41 and a pass to Cosbie put the ball on the Giants 43.  A short pass to Springs got the Cowboys closer, and after a missed deep pass to Hill, Landry sent out Rafael Septien to attempt a 60 yard FG with the wind at his back.  The kick wasn't close and the Giants and Cowboys went into the half tied at 0-0.  Considering that Dallas had been held to 41 total yards, including 2 yards passing along with 3 sacks, the Cowboys were lucky not to be down 9-0, if not 21-0.

The Cowboys got the ball to start the 3rd quarter, and after a touchback, they quietly went 3 and out and punted back to the Giants.  The Giants would get the punt at the 43, though they didn't go much farther and were forced to kick it back to Dallas, where they fielded it on the 7....and promptly punted it back to the Giants who got it at their 37.

Both offenses were sputtering, both punters getting a work out.  Leon Perry got things going though, with a run out to the 45.  Carpenter followed up by getting it into Dallas territory.  Brunner hit Young again, this time down the seam to the 39.  The next play was one of the strangest flea flickers I have ever seen, Carpenter flipped the ball back to Brunner, who was hit on the pass and the ball fluttered to Perry just beyond the line of scrimmage, and he took the ball out to the 23 for a first down.  A Carpenter run got the ball to the 20, and the Giants would finally break through


Brunner to Mullady might not have been a big combination, but you wouldn't know it on a beautiful touch pass by Brunner into double coverage and a great catch by Mullady, who held on despite the hit and just got it across the plain of the goal line for a 20 yard TD.  Danelo barely got the extra point, and the Giants had gotten their 7-0 lead.

The ensuing kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback.  Giants Stadium was a madhouse as the fans were completely into the game, finally able to cheer with a lead.  Dorsett was stopped by Haynes for a short 2 yard gain.  Dallas though, filled with plenty of firepower, started to get moving.  White threw to TE Billy Joe DuPree for a first down to the 32.  After 2 short runs, White hit James Jones to the 43.  2 more short runs by Dallas set up their first real big play on offense, a 43 yard pass to Hill, who had burned Haynes and got the ball to the 11 yard line to end the 3rd quarter.  Two more Dorsett runs got it to the 4 yard line, and the Cowboys would finally answer the Giants score


White was under pressure by LT, and made a nice pass to the 6'6" Cosbie, who did a good job to stay in bounds and tie the score at 7-7.

The crowd was now anxious, and they'd be feeling worse as the Giants botched the return and Beasley Reece fell on it at the 1 yard line.  Carpenter ran it out to the 5 and a Dave Young drop set up a 3rd and 6 for the Giants.


Brunner flung it up down the field to rookie WR John Mistler, but it was picked off by Dallas' Michael Downs at the 43. As Pat Summerall would say, it was essentially as good as a punt, considering that Jennings would have to kick into the 20 mph wind.  Dallas went right to work, with White hitting DuPree to the 31 and then to Crosbie to the 17.  After a fumbled handoff, Dallas took two shots at the end zone, but the balls were knocked away, and that brought on Septien, who did what Danelo could not, and drilled a 37 yard FG to put the Cowboys up 10-7.

All the hopes and dreams were fizzling before the fans eyes.  Leon Bright would get them back into the game, with a big return out to the 45.  Carpenter followed that up with a catch for 8 more yards and then plowed forward for a first down conversion.  The drive would then falter, and a Too Tall sack would bring on Jennings for another punt, in which he buried Dallas at their own 5 yard line.

Dallas' first two runs by Dorsett and Springs were short gains in which LT made the tackles.  On 3rd down, White hit Jones for a conversion out to the 20.  Two more plays to Dorsett set up another 3rd down, which Dallas again converted on a pass to Pearson out near the 45 yard line and the Giants were forced to call at time out with 2:14 to go in the game.  The Giants were in big trouble, but for the first time in 18 years, the fates smiled on the Giants


Amazingly, in looking to run out the clock, the Pro Bowler Dorsett bobbled the pitch back to him and George Martin recovered at the 45.  A hold on first down made it 1st and 20 at the Giants 45.  The two minute warning and 2 incompletions made it 3rd and 20.  Brunner hit Mistler for 7 yards, which would set up a huge 4th down and 13.

In 1986, Phil Simms hit Bobby Johnson to convert a 4th and 17 in Minnesota which lead to Raul Allegre's game winning FG during the Giants championship season.  Well, lost in comparison to that was the Brunner to Mistler pass, who caught the ball and got it down to the 27 for a first down with 1:35 to go, one of the most underrated 4th down conversions in Giants history.  A run by Perry got the ball to the 20 and after another run by Carpenter and a failed deep throw to Gray, Danelo came back on to the field with :35 to go and 40 yards for the tie.


Danelo, who shanked 2 previous field goals and nearly blew an extra point, used the Giants Stadium winds and hooked in the pressure FG to tie the game at 10-10.  Dallas got the kickoff to the 27, and White went to work.  Hitting Hill and Dorsett and got the ball past mid field.  However, Dorsett was tackled in bounds by Carson, and in 1981, only 2 players were designated as being able to call a time out (unlike today) and they couldn't get the official's attention in time and the clock ran out, so the game went to OT.

In the OT, the Cowboys won the toss, but Landry chose to kick off and take the wind.  The Giants offense couldn't keep up the momentum from the end of game drive and went 3 and out, punting back to Dallas, who got the ball at the 45, however a penalty set them back to their own 40.

After an 8 yard run by Springs, Dorsett had his problems holding on the ball again


For the second time, Dorsett couldn't handle the pitch back and as he tried to fall on the ball, LT jumped on him and ripped it away and got up to run it past the 40.  A Carpenter run went for no gain, and on 2nd down, Brunner fooled everyone on a naked bootleg around left end for 23 yards down to the 17 yard line.  A short run by Perry and a dive to the middle by Carpenter set up Danelo for a game winning 33 yard FG.  It was all there for a story book ending


Now this was getting insane.  Danelo, who was down from the 2 misses and then hits the 40 yarder to tie the game, doinks one off the upright and with it a chance to stay alive to clinch a Wild Card berth.  Out trotted the Giants defense again, who was determined to get the ball back to the offense.  After a 2 yard Dorsett run, the defense went into overdrive


Now this is Giants defense and what we as fans have come to love.  On 2nd down, a safety blitz by Courrier hit White and forced a fumble, but it was recovered, somehow, by Dallas.  On the very next play, LT pressured White and forced him to throw the ball, where rookie Byron Hunt, playing in the game due to an injury to the usual starter Brad Van Pelt, stepped in front of the pass to pick it off in OT.  [Full Disclosure- I worked with Byron on a few projects back in the early 2000s and still stay in touch with him to this day.  He's a good guy and it's pretty sweet to go back and see this footage of what was probably the biggest play of his career]

The Giants got the ball on the 24 yard line.  Two Carpenter runs and then a pass to Mistler got the ball to the 17 yard line.  Joe Danelo would come out for his 5th FG attempt of the day, and he'd make this one count.


Danelo came on and this time drilled the 35 yard FG right down the middle and was carried off the field by his teammates.  The Giants and their fans celebrated a huge victory over their rival Cowboys, 13-10 in OT.  The Giants would go to bed that night with a 9-7 record and wait to see what would happen the next day to know what their playoff fate would be.


Post Mortem/Interesting Tidbits

• As it would turn out, the Giants did get that fairy tale that they were hoping for.  The Jets destroyed the Packers the next day, 28-3 and the game was never in doubt.  The Giants would make the most of their new playoff pedigree, going into Philly and jumping all over the defending NFC Champs in the Wild Card taking a 20-0 first quarter lead and winning the game 27-21.  They would lose to the Niners in the divisional round, after holding their own to a 7-7 first quarter tie, the Niners would pull away in the 2nd quarter and eventually beat the Giants 38-24.  
• Which set up the Niners own showdown with Dallas.  The Cowboys easily crushed the Bucs 38-0 in the divisional round and headed to San Francisco in the NFC Championship game.  In what was a textbook changing of the guard moment, the old dynasty of Dallas was facing the up and coming new power on the block in the Bill Walsh/Joe Montana 49ers.  The 49ers won 28-27, highlighted by the immortal "Catch" when Montana hit Dwight Clark over Everson Walls on 3rd and 3 with :51 seconds to play.  The Niners would go on to win the game and beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.
• For as bad as the Giants were, this win was actually their second straight over the Cowboys at Giants Stadium.  In 1980, they beat the Cowboys 38-35 in a game in which the 1-8 Giants faced the 7-2 Cowboys.  George Martin caught a TD pass from Phil Simms in this game.
• Speaking of George Martin, he had a huge game, with 2 sacks and the big fumble recovery, not to mention a number of QB pressures.  However, the NFL didn't recognized the QB sack as an individual statistic until 1982, so his sacks in this game didn't "count" towards his career total.
• Scott Brunner would face the Cowboys 4 times over the course of his career.  This game was the only one he would win.
• Brunner's 23 yard run would be the longest of his career.  In fact, he never totaled more than 17 yards in a game running the ball, let alone on a single carry.
• Bryon Hunt's INT was the first of his career.  He would only have one more interception in his 8 year career, a pick against the Redskins in a loss at Washington in 1984.
• Rob Carpenter's 29 carries would be his career high.  The next highest total carries in a game was 28, which he did twice in 1983 (@ Atlanta and home vs. Green Bay)
• Tom Mullady's TD catch would be his only one in the regular season.  He would follow that up with another TD catch the next week in the playoff victory at Philly.
• Tony Dorsett had a brutal game, 20 carries for 39 yards and 2 critical fumbles lost.  The 1.95 yards per carry would be the 5th lowest of his career in a single game with at least 10 carries.  His lowest overall in his career came in 1987, also vs. the Giants when he carried 14 times for 3 yards (0.21 ypc).  For good measure, his 4th worst of his career also came vs. the Giants in 1980, when he had 15 carries for 26 yards (1.73 ypc).  To give the Hall of Famer some credit, all his games weren't duds vs. the Giants.  He did run for 183 yards in their other matchup of 1980, good for the second highest total of his career (bested only by 206 vs. Philly in 1977)
• This would be the Giants 3rd OT game of 1981.  The previously won in Atlanta in Week 8 on a Danelo 40 yarder.  They would lose at home to the Redskins in Week 11.
• Danelo's game winning FG would be his final game winning OT kick for the Giants.  He'd kick one more season with them and in 1983 moved on to kick for Buffalo, where he did kick one OT game winner, to beat the Dolphins and rookie Dan Marino in the Orange Bowl.
• This was Dallas' only OT game for them in 1981.  They wouldn't face the Giants again in an OT game until the famed 1993 showdown between the 11-4 Giants and the 11-4 Cowboys, with the NFC East and home field advantage on the line.  Emmitt Smith, playing with an injured shoulder, ran for 168 yards on 32 carries (had another 61 receiving) and helped beat the Giants 16-13 on an Eddie Murray 41 yard FG.  I was at that 1993 game and I can say that Emmitt's effort was the best performance by an opponent that I had personally watched against the Giants since I have been going to games in 1987.
• Since that 1993 game, the Giants would face the Cowboys twice more in OT in Giants Stadium, in 2001 (Giants won)  and 2003 (Cowboys won, thanks mainly to a brutal Matt Bryant kickoff out of bounds allowing the Parcells' led Dallas team to tie the game at the end of regulation).  It wasn't until 2005 that they would actually play an OT game in Dallas, which the Cowboys won 16-13 on a Jose Cortez 45 yard FG.
• There was an eerily similar set up in 1994, which matched closely to this 1981 game.  The 1994 season finale was the 12-3 Cowboys vs. the 8-7 Giants.  The Cowboys had clinched the NFC East and were locked in as the #2 seed behind the 49ers, thanks mainly to a head to head win during the season by the Niners.  The Giants had gotten hot late in 1994 and were in the mix for a playoff berth if they had beaten the Cowboys and gotten help from another team who needed to beat the Packers in order to get the Giants into the playoffs.  And like in 1981, it was a low scoring game, which was tied at 10-10 at one point.  The Jimmy Johnson lead Cowboys, unlike the Landry group, decided to rest Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, also pulled Troy Aikman after the half.  A Rodney Peete fumble out of the end zone for a safety and a Daluiso FG helped steer the Giants to a 15-10 win.  Unfortunately for the Giants though, they didn't get help from the Packers' opponent, as the Sam Wyche Tampa Bay Bucs, playing for nothing but pride at home, fell behind 14-0 early and lost 34-19.
• And thanks go out to Giants fan sgm3332 who was able to get me a copy of this game to review.  He's got a a great channel on Youtube with a number of Giants highlights.  Feel free to check it out:   http://www.youtube.com/user/sgm3332