Super Bowl XXI and XXV

It is Super Bowl Sunday, and I will npw recall the two earliest Giants Super Bowl teams, from when I was still just a kid for the first, and a teenager in my junior year in high school for the second, and likely most memorable, one/

I had become a Giants fan when I first got into football, way back in the 1981 season (yes, I realize that I am dating myself here). The Giants made it to the playoffs for the first time in eighteeen seasons then, and even won a playoff game, on the road agains the defending NFC champion Eagles, before losingmto eventual Super Bowl champion San Fransisco. They made it again in 1984 after a two year absence, and they were clearly a team that were getting better. They won another playoff game on the road, this time against the Los Angeles Rams, but lost once again to the San Fransisco 49ers, who would again become Super Bowl champions that season. By 1985, the Giants had shown some consistency, and qualified yet again for the playoffs, and once again met the 49ers. This time, however, it was in Giants Stadium. The other notable difference were the results, which favored the Giants, 17-3. They went to the divisional playoffs once again, but were humbled by the Chicago Bears, who still remain the most dominant team that I have ever seen in the sport (and yes, that includes the 2007 New England Patriots, if you look at it from beginning to end of the season and the list of accomplishments. Those Bears were monsters, and they shut the Giants out, 21-0.

Yet, the loss really was credited for the amazing season the Giants had the following year. Expectations were sky high, and many predicted the Giants to finally have their breakout season. But an opening game loss to the Dallas Cowboys seemed to raie some concerns. They recovered a bit with a five game winning streak, but then lost again in Seattle, and were 5-2, in second place in the division, and hosting the first place Washngton Redskins. The Giants won in a close game, 27-20, to force a three-way tie between them, the Redskins, and the Cowboys. But the Giants would get hotter and hotter as the season wore one. They won the next games, albeit by close margins, and neither team had lost a game since that midseason showdown. So when they faced each other again, this time at Washington, both teams stood at 11-2, with three games remaining on each of their schedule. It was a de facto winner take all in the division situation. The Giants muscled their way to a convicning 24-14 win, and from that point on, the season belonged to the juggernaut Giants. They rolled over their remaining opponents to finish their regular season at 14-2, and had home field advantage throughout the playoffs. To open their postseason run, they faced a familiar opponent in the 49ers, a familiar opponent, this time dismantling them completely, 49-3. Next were the Washington Redskins, and the Giants shut them out, 17-0, to qualify for their first Super Bowl.

After a very exciting and close first half that saw the Denver Broncos enjoying numerous opportunities to seemingly grab the game by the horn, the Giants found themselves down only 10-9 at the halftime, although they had at times been noticably outplayed. A few missed opportunities by the Broncos gave the feel that the Giants were lucky not to be down further, and they were ready to show their full potential. In the second half, they did just that, roaring to life and scoring a Super Bowl record 30 points in the second half, dominating Denver and earning their first Super Bowl title, 39-20. That was a powerful, and favored, team.

Not the case four years later, when the Giants would enter the Super Bowl as underdogs, although they started off the season looking like world beaters, racing out to an undefeated 10-0 start and heading towards a showdown with also undefeated San Fransisco for each of their 12 games. Yet, they both lost the week before, so the highly billed battle of the unbeatens did not happen. The 49ers won the big matchup, and suddenly, the Giants had lost two games in a row. Another loss two weeks later to the powerful Buffalo Bills, and the Giants stood at 11-3, lost their starting quarterback, and were reeling. It looked like a very promising season had crashed and burned, and the enormous potential and opportunity for the team was goin to be squandered. Two 3-point victories against weak opponents in the final two weeks allowed the Giants to finish at 13-3 and with a second seed in the playoffs and a bye to boot, yet these wins did little to allay the concerns that the Giants were struggling entering the playoffs.

The Chicago Bears had been just under the Giants throughout the season, and after a Wild Card win, they came to Giants Stadium hoping to prove that they were the second best team in th NFC. But Giants quarterbakc Jeff Hostetler effectively used his mobility to keep the Bears defense off balance, and New York's offense came alive, while the defense manhandled Chicago. The Giants won easily in a surprisingly convincing victory, 31-3.

Once again, the Giants were going to the west coast to face a familiar playoff opponent, the San Fransisco 49ers. The Giants offense did not explode this time, yet they played very effectively, and the defense bent but did not break. It was a very tight game, filled with intensity and big plays, despite it being a low scoring game. It was, in fact, one of the most intense football contests I have ever witnessed, and the game was close heaing into the 4^th quarter. A Giants fake on 4^th down in the final quarter breathed new life into New York, who managed to convert it into a field goal, to make it a 1-point game.

It remained that close in the final minutes, when trhe 49ers, trying to hang on to the ball and run out the clock, turned the ball over after Eric Howard hit 49er back Roger Craig and forced a fumble that was recovered by Lawrence Taylor, giving the Giants the ball with very little time left. The Giants did not take any chances, holding onto the ball for the rest of the game, and setting themselves up for a field goal to win it with 4 seconds left. The 49ers, the team of the decade and a dynasty making a serious bid for greatest team of all time status, had to watch the field goal attempt relatively helplessly, and their dreams of a “three-peat” ended as the ball sailed through the uprights, giving the Giants a 15-13 victory to get back to the Super Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills were their opponent, and were heavily favored with an explosive offense, coming off a 51-3 blowout victory against Oakland in the AFC Championship Game. Most people figured the Giants did not have a chance, that they would get blown out. The Bills offense looked unstoppable, and everything seemed to be falling into place for them. They were the hot team coming in.

The Giants devised a strategy to hold onto the ball for as long as possible, and for a defense that bent but did not break. They were trying, in effect, to kill the clock from the start, and to keep that dangerous Buffalo offense off the field, and keep them cold.

Still, Buffalo was very hot, and raced out to a 12-3 lead in the first half, and the Giants looked like a beaten team. At some point, the Bills defense sacked Jeff Hostetler for a safety, but at least he managed to tuck it in, rather than giving up a fumble tat could have given the Bills an all too easy touchdown. It proved a great thing that that happened for the Giants.

Hostetler managed to engineer a touchdown drive right before the half, finding Stephen Baker with a perfect spiral in the corner of the end zone, and it was 12-10, Buffalo at halftime. Then, the Giants opened the second half with the then longest drive in Super Bowl history, and topped it off with an OJ Anderson touchdown, for a 17-12 lead.

Before long, the Bills offense responded, managing a touchdown and a 19-17 lead, and a field goal off the foot of Matt Bahr in the 4^th quarter as a response by the Giants made it 20-19. As razor thin a margin as anyone could ask for.

As it turned out, Buffalo was given the opportunity to have the ball with around two minutes left, and Kelly led his team down the field, needing only a field goal to win it. When the Bills got to the 37 yard line, they decided to go for a field goal, with no time left to really do anything if something went wrong.

Famously, the kick was close, but sailed wide right by about two feet, preserving the Giants victory by the sallest of possible margins, 20-19, and giving New York a very surprising Super Bowl Championship!