"The Charbor Chronicles": 27th Anniversary of the "Clash of the Titans" - The 10-1 N.Y. Giants at the 10-1 San Francisco 49ers on MNF

Anniversary of the Giants-49ers MNF game on December 3, 1990:

Yes, it was 27 years ago today that the two hottest teams of the 1990-91 NFL season at the time - the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers, met on Monday Night Football, for one of the most highly anticipated regular season games in history.

For me, the 1990-91 season was the tops. As a Giants fan in particular, although there were so many great aspects about that season, that it stands out for numerous reasons. Let me explain.

Again, it was a terrific seasons for certain teams, and the Giants were among them. They raced off to an undefeated 10-0 start, but they were not alone. The 49ers also got off to a 10-0 start, and the two teams were set to meet in Week 13, for their 12th game (this was the first season to feature playoff byes, as well as that extra sixth seed in the playoff for both conferences). So, this meeting was huge!

Plus, there was that whole East coast-West coast rivalry dynamic to it. For a fan of the Giants, like me, the 49ers were essentially the perfect rivals - the accomplished team that my own team was aspiring to beat. Nobody could match San Francisco's accomplishments, although the Giants were the only team that could boast multiple playoff wins against them in the 1980's. Of course, San Francisco had won the vast majority of the meetings between the two teams, including two playoff wins themselves against New York. So, the rivalry was real, and although most people expected the Niners to be better, it was not exactly unthinkable that the Giants could win.

But the 1990-91 season was exciting for other reasons, as well. The Buffalo Bills started to really take off, and looked like the best and most serious team that the AFC had fielded in a long, long time. They got off to a very hot start themselves, although somehow remained under the radar, because the two unbeaten teams grabbed most of the attention and headlines. The Bengals were supposed to be the most obvious AFC threat to win a title, and indeed, in the beginning of the season, they appeared to be serious. But they fell from grace in a pretty big way that season. They still managed to win their division, but with a pedestrian 9-7 record. And despite winning a wildcard game in a blowout, they were humbled against the Raiders the next week, in a game known more for featuring Bo Jackson getting injured, and never returning back to the NFL as a player.

There were some great games and memories from the 1990-91 season, although it is too early in the morning right now for me to remember more. The main thing that always resonates, however, was the rivalry that the Giants and 49ers had at that point, and how nervous I felt as a New York fan as the big game approached.

The 1990-91 season was the height of this particular rivalry, when these two teams were at their absolute height. The 49ers had won the two previous championships, and it seemed that most experts expected them to win a third straight after this season. The Giants had won Super Bowl XXI four seasons earlier, and were coming closer to rediscovering that championship form, but San Fran still stood in the way. While new York was deemed (correctly) to be the only NFC team with a real chance to beat the Niners, it would be a tall task.

Most expected the 49ers to be the better team. After all, they were coming off back-to-back titles, and had just earned "Team of the Decade" honors after four championships overall in the 1980's, and they were starting off the 1990's perfectly. However, the Giants had won one title themselves years before, and they had shown signs of being strong enough to contend again the year before, finishing 12-4 in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season. Also, these two teams had a strong rivalry going already, with numerous memorable meetings in the seasons prior, including four playoff clashes. San Fran had won the first two, following the 1981 and 1984 regular seasons. But in the mid-eighties, the Giants had taken it up a few notches, and eliminated the Niners in consecutive seasons, following the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Almost everyone assumed that this regular season game was a prelude and a sneak peek to the bigger playoff showdown to come - and that would prove to be right (although that is not the focus of this particular blog entry).

The week before the meeting, both of these teams lost their first games, each to division rivals. New York got trounced by their longtime tormentors, the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-13, while San Francisco fans watched the visiting Los Angeles Rams humble the defending champs, 28-17. Obviously, that was disappointing to the league and to fans, as everyone had been taking it for granted that the two teams would both be 11-0 when they finally met on the nationally televised Monday Night Football game.

Still, a meeting of two 10-1 teams made this a historical game on many levels, and every football fan was excited to see what would happen.

Obviously, that included my brother and me. I remember the anticipation, and we turned on the television a couple of minutes or so before the football broadcast was set to begin. MacGyver was on, and at some point, the actor portraying the title character made a strange face that suggested some unpleasant surprise. My brother made me laugh by saying that MacGyver was making that face because he realized that no one wanted to see his show and wanted it to end, because everyone wanted the big game to start.

Strangely enough - or perhaps it was predictable, in hindsight - the game went nothing like most people expected it to. The first quarter was scoreless, a defensive battle. Both teams finally got on the board in the second quarter. The Giants struck first with a field goal, but the 49ers answered quickly and did the G-Men one better, as Montana found John Taylor for a touchdown. San Francisco took a 7-3 lead into the lockers for halftime.

And after two more quarters of play, that was how the score that would remain. The big showdown was a defensive struggle which wound up being the lowest scoring contest of the season. Again, now what most expected, although given the fact that these two teams featured the two top defenses in the NFC, perhaps it should not have come quite as a surprise.

The Giants had some chances. They could have kicked a field goal in the third quarter to make it a tight, one-point game. But Bill Parcells, the Giants head coach was known for gambling, and he gambled at this point. Instead of a field goal attempt for what would seem to be safe points, he made the team go for it on fourth down, to keep hopes for a touchdown, and a lead, intact.

He lost that gamble, and later in the game, he would pay. The Giants were in scoring position again right at the end of the game, but they needed a touchdown, not a field goal, because of that earlier gamble by Parcells. And fittingly, in keeping with the defensive nature of this game, quarterback Phil Simms was sacked on the final play to end it.

That was it.

Well, actually, no that was not it. At some point very late in the game, 49ers cornerback Ronnie Lott - one of the best defensive players of all-time - got right in the face of Giants quarterback Phil Simms. And after the game officially ended, the two exchanged a few more words yet again. It was broken up before it could turn into a physical confrontation, and it was later discovered that Jim Burt, a former member of the Giants defense, had talked trash to try and get Lott motivated, to make him particularly intense and take the game personally. The story of this clash was huge, and got considerable coverage on Tuesday morning sports broadcasts. Later on, Lott would open up his book by describing exactly what had happened to get these two greats facing off against one another.

Later that season, these two teams would indeed meet in the playoffs, in the NFC Championship Game, much like everyone expected. And it was indeed a higher scoring game, with Parcells opting for the field goals each time that his team was in range. That game featured more points, yet the defenses were still spot on for both teams. It would be the most intense, hard-hitting game that I ever saw, and even after all of these years, it still ranks as probably the best NFL game that I have ever seen.

But that first meeting was huge, and it was one of the best and most memorable regular season clashes that I ever saw. Frankly, it very much had playoff intensity. And even though New York lost, it was such a huge game, and against the best possible opponent, that it continues to resonate particularly strongly with the football fan in me, even after all of these years!