that was just as dominant (if not more) than the Ravens defense at it's best. Watching the greatest Defensive Player ever have his best season.
That defense was so good, it was a shock when other teams made a first down. Where QB's were getting ko'ed on almost a weekly basis. It was brutal, smashmouth football, especially in the NFC East.
The offense was Joe Morris off tackle, and a seam pass to Bavaro.
I loved the playoff run in 2007, but there's no comparison for the whole season. We were the best team in 1986. The only thing that might have topped it was if the 2008 team finished the deal.
You definitely missed out, but for me, 2007-2008 was the best run. That is definitely my favorite SB win, although I know many of my fellow old timers disagree. I expected them to beat Denver, but I didn't think they had more than a 20% chance of beating NE. I wish my father had lived another 8 months to see it.
He wasn't loved until late, that's for sure. The emergence of the suburbanites featuring Brad Benson's cut nose matched the intensity of Rambo/Bavaro and the momentum grew after the Minny game.
After so many awful teams, just unbelievable. Loved defense in those days and our 3-4 was so fun. After watching so much success for the Steelers, Cowboys and others, we finally got our first one. Pure elation.
My office was near DFW. I would drive to the airport to get NY papers to get some Giants news. There was also a newsletter, forget the name now. It was typed and copied.
You just knew that they'd win--all season long. After growing up as a fan during the dark ages, it was just unimaginable.
BUT, nothing will beat that '07 run for me. The surprise of it all. In fact, it was the opposite of '86; each win was a "I'll be damned" kind of thing.
Oddly enough, I divorced my first wife in 2006 and married my second wife in early '07, just after SB 42.
When we went to get my second wife's Green Card in late February 2009, the adjudicator had a signed photo of Brandon Jacobs on his desk. My wife gets all excited and starts talking about the Super Bowl and I am convinced her enthusiasm for the Giants proved our marriage was legit and prompted the adjudicator to stamp my wife's passport on the spot.
The New York Football Giants: my team.
The Giants weren't dominant much of the '86 season.
It wasn't a Bears-'85 romp through the season. There was a lot of concern about the offense, which sputtered a lot. Remember, they started with a loss to Dallas, and then they seemed to be scuffling. But they kept on winning and winning.
Then things really went to another level with the famous Minnesota 4th-and-17 play.
By the time the playoffs came we expected them to win, but it was the Giants, so nobody took anything for granted. On the whole, that season was incredibly satisfying, but it wasn't obvious how good that team was until late, and the playoff run.
It was very different from the Tom Coughlin championship runs. The '07 and '11 teams weren't that great in the regular season, but the '86 team won the division with a great record. The '07 miracle playoff & Super Bowl run was like nothing else I've ever experienced as a Giants fan, but the '86 season was more satisfying end-to-end.
I wouldn't mind having that feeling again.
At the time, I thought the '85 Giants team was better (They gave the Bears more of a fight in the playoffs than anyone else, remember, and who knows what might have happened if Landeta hadn't whiffed on that punt.) but in retrospect, I don't think I can justify that opinion.
Oddly enough, I divorced my first wife in 2006 and married my second wife in early '07, just after SB 42.
When we went to get my second wife's Green Card in late February 2009, the adjudicator had a signed photo of Brandon Jacobs on his desk. My wife gets all excited and starts talking about the Super Bowl and I am convinced her enthusiasm for the Giants proved our marriage was legit and prompted the adjudicator to stamp my wife's passport on the spot.
Season as I was 7 when we won, the '90 and '07 seasons were far more fun to watch for nothing else than the sheer drama. The '86 Giants were absolutely the coast best team.
'90's drama was easily the best (and in my opinion the better team) and '07's was fucking spectacular. I might have a different perspective if I had been around for the terrible teams prior to '85, but 86 was just the best team winning
i bet you 75% of the people here and other amonger Giant fans prob say eli maning sucked because before his 2007 playoff run i think he sucked in 2007 regular season too hahaha 5 interceptions vs minnsesota??
Right? The funny thing is, I had planned on being a life-long bachelor. I had always had too much fun bouncing around from woman to woman. When someone would ask me, "When are you going to get married?" My stock reply was, "When the Giants win the Super Bowl." As a fan since '63 (seven years old) I figured it would never happen.
Next thing I know...
When was the last time the Giants were the best team?
We were10-0 in 1990, and then lost to the 49ers in SF. Simms got hurt and we finished 3-2. I guess we weren't the best team in the NFL going into the playoffs, but for much of the season we were pretty awesome.
1986 was amazing to witness. We'd been okay '84 and pretty good in '85, but I certainly didn't expect to dominate teams defensively the way we did in '86. The funny thing is that the offense was actually pretty mediocre for much of the season: we won consistently, but we didn't exactly blow people out. Then came the playoffs.
For me, though, 2007 was much more satisfying. Beating Dallas in the playoffs would've been enough to make me happy, but then beating GB in an historic Championship game and then handing NE their only loss of the year (and in convincing fashion, IMO) made it truly a dream season.
Into 63 Giants were a upper echelon team. Then 64 to 80 happened. An era where meaningful games pretty much ended by mid Oct. An era when you would see shows o tv about great teams and games of that era and not even be able to imagine the Giants on such a show. An era where season after season you felt like they had no chance against the powers of the league.
Then came 81 and LT a playoff team a play off win. Then came Parcells and 86. Unlike some here the scars of 18 years of lousy football did not allow me to be confident the Gants would win the Super Bowl.
They trailed at half, I wasn t surprised I was use to losing. They dominated the second half, they won, my best moment as a Giants fan, 07 close behind.
In retrospect I see how great that team was But the Super Bowl unto they won, seemed too good to really happen for a Giants fan.
just after I turned 18 and moved in with my dad, a huge Giants fan. We spent the season driving on Sundays down to Pawtucket RI to the Holiday Inn just over the MA RI border to be able to watch games that weren't on TV in Boston. We were in heaven all season.
We still talk about that season and playoffs to this day. Such a great team all around. Loved the smashmouth style of the offence and that punishing D that killed QB's all season.
Such great memories!!
That team was epic! I was 26 years old and I remember being so
hyped pretty much all season after our game 1 loss to Dallas. I remember 4th and 17 vs. Minnesota. Simms could basically do no wrong and Morris was a beast behind that killer OL. Lawrence Taylor was pretty much unstoppable and the D had such a great swagger led by Jim Burt's "wild wild west" walk and crazed smile.
I remember they rushed out a video similar to the Bears 85 Super Bowl Shuffle that I still watch to this day for its campiness....."We are the New York Giants, Don't you know we're Great!....." Mark Collins, Andy Headen, Herb Welsh, etc in coats because it was freezing.
This team became a steamroller at the end of the season and carried it right through the playoffs. It was an amazing time and the sky was the limit for 87 and beyond.....but the strike took the wind out of their sails a bit.
to be a Met's and Giant's fan. Sandwiched between the Mets World Championship and the first Giants Superbowl win, I got married. The ONLY thing that could have made it better would have been the trifecta... the Rangers winning the Cup (unfortunately, that won't happen again in my lifetime).
No Giants fan I know could really believe it until it was all over.
As you can tell from my handle, I preferred '90, because the NFC Championship and the SB25 were the two best "games" in that they played their hearts out, got a few devine breaks to win a championship that could have just as easily gone to either of the other two very good teams.
42 was even more improbable, but it still seems like a fairy tale, and truth be told, we weren't really that good. And 46 was similar, less the David vs Goliath drama.
and this season was discussed at length last night during "A Football Life: Bill Parcells".
One of the things I found totally amazing was that during the fourth game of the season against New Orleans, Mark Bavaro had is jaw broken in the first half. He had it wired shut during in halftime, and as the second half is about to begin he taps Parcells on the shoulder and indicates he ready to go back in. Parcells said he never missed a down during the season.
RE: The Giants weren't dominant much of the '86 season.
(1)t wasn't a Bears-'85 romp through the season. There was a lot of concern about the offense, which sputtered a lot. Remember, they started with a loss to Dallas, and then they seemed to be scuffling. But they kept on winning and winning.
(2)At the time, I thought the '85 Giants team was better (They gave the Bears more of a fight in the playoffs than anyone else, remember, and who knows what might have happened if Landeta hadn't whiffed on that punt.) but in retrospect, I don't think I can justify that opinion.
I'm a bit surprised many don't recall the team's struggles offensively for the better part of 86.
1. Well, against Dallas the 85 showed up. A really good team which made mistakes, took the lead and then lost it late. They blew the lead so often in 85 and in 86 they blew the lead to Dallas opening night, allowed Washington to come back, messed up in Seattle, likely should have lost the 2nd Dallas game and came close to giving up a 90+ yards to Hershal Walker late and blew the lead in Minny. There were a lot of wins but a lot more frustration until the end of the Minny game when it changed.
(2) Yeah, Landeta's muff gets the attention (rightfully so) but Rob Carpenter's fumble was equally as devestating IMO. The Giants offense was moving.
That defense was so good, it was a shock when other teams made a first down. Where QB's were getting ko'ed on almost a weekly basis. It was brutal, smashmouth football, especially in the NFC East.
The offense was Joe Morris off tackle, and a seam pass to Bavaro.
I loved the playoff run in 2007, but there's no comparison for the whole season. We were the best team in 1986. The only thing that might have topped it was if the 2008 team finished the deal.
2007 was a good team that got hot at the right time and defeated far superior teams.
Of the 100,000+ people...80,000 were Giants fans!
There was no Internet then. Totally different times.
And after all those years of misery (30 years of a lot of bad teams since the last GIANTS Championship), it was just incomparable.
He wasn't loved until late, that's for sure. The emergence of the suburbanites featuring Brad Benson's cut nose matched the intensity of Rambo/Bavaro and the momentum grew after the Minny game.
BUT, nothing will beat that '07 run for me. The surprise of it all. In fact, it was the opposite of '86; each win was a "I'll be damned" kind of thing.
Met my first wife at a Giants game that year and the result of that union was two fantastic sons.
I owe a lot to that group of guys.
Oddly enough, I divorced my first wife in 2006 and married my second wife in early '07, just after SB 42.
When we went to get my second wife's Green Card in late February 2009, the adjudicator had a signed photo of Brandon Jacobs on his desk. My wife gets all excited and starts talking about the Super Bowl and I am convinced her enthusiasm for the Giants proved our marriage was legit and prompted the adjudicator to stamp my wife's passport on the spot.
The New York Football Giants: my team.
Then things really went to another level with the famous Minnesota 4th-and-17 play.
By the time the playoffs came we expected them to win, but it was the Giants, so nobody took anything for granted. On the whole, that season was incredibly satisfying, but it wasn't obvious how good that team was until late, and the playoff run.
It was very different from the Tom Coughlin championship runs. The '07 and '11 teams weren't that great in the regular season, but the '86 team won the division with a great record. The '07 miracle playoff & Super Bowl run was like nothing else I've ever experienced as a Giants fan, but the '86 season was more satisfying end-to-end.
I wouldn't mind having that feeling again.
At the time, I thought the '85 Giants team was better (They gave the Bears more of a fight in the playoffs than anyone else, remember, and who knows what might have happened if Landeta hadn't whiffed on that punt.) but in retrospect, I don't think I can justify that opinion.
Oddly enough, I divorced my first wife in 2006 and married my second wife in early '07, just after SB 42.
When we went to get my second wife's Green Card in late February 2009, the adjudicator had a signed photo of Brandon Jacobs on his desk. My wife gets all excited and starts talking about the Super Bowl and I am convinced her enthusiasm for the Giants proved our marriage was legit and prompted the adjudicator to stamp my wife's passport on the spot.
The New York Football Giants: my team.
Man, those are some good stories!
'90's drama was easily the best (and in my opinion the better team) and '07's was fucking spectacular. I might have a different perspective if I had been around for the terrible teams prior to '85, but 86 was just the best team winning
1986 didnt surprise me the NYG won but in 07 i was STUNNED, i will admit i thought eli manning sucked back then but he shut my old ass up a but lol
Right? The funny thing is, I had planned on being a life-long bachelor. I had always had too much fun bouncing around from woman to woman. When someone would ask me, "When are you going to get married?" My stock reply was, "When the Giants win the Super Bowl." As a fan since '63 (seven years old) I figured it would never happen.
Next thing I know...
1986 was amazing to witness. We'd been okay '84 and pretty good in '85, but I certainly didn't expect to dominate teams defensively the way we did in '86. The funny thing is that the offense was actually pretty mediocre for much of the season: we won consistently, but we didn't exactly blow people out. Then came the playoffs.
For me, though, 2007 was much more satisfying. Beating Dallas in the playoffs would've been enough to make me happy, but then beating GB in an historic Championship game and then handing NE their only loss of the year (and in convincing fashion, IMO) made it truly a dream season.
Same age, same feeling.
Then came 81 and LT a playoff team a play off win. Then came Parcells and 86. Unlike some here the scars of 18 years of lousy football did not allow me to be confident the Gants would win the Super Bowl.
They trailed at half, I wasn t surprised I was use to losing. They dominated the second half, they won, my best moment as a Giants fan, 07 close behind.
In retrospect I see how great that team was But the Super Bowl unto they won, seemed too good to really happen for a Giants fan.
We still talk about that season and playoffs to this day. Such a great team all around. Loved the smashmouth style of the offence and that punishing D that killed QB's all season.
Such great memories!!
I remember they rushed out a video similar to the Bears 85 Super Bowl Shuffle that I still watch to this day for its campiness....."We are the New York Giants, Don't you know we're Great!....." Mark Collins, Andy Headen, Herb Welsh, etc in coats because it was freezing.
This team became a steamroller at the end of the season and carried it right through the playoffs. It was an amazing time and the sky was the limit for 87 and beyond.....but the strike took the wind out of their sails a bit.
Ah....good times!
Quote:
During the 86 season?
There was no Internet then. Totally different times.
As you can tell from my handle, I preferred '90, because the NFC Championship and the SB25 were the two best "games" in that they played their hearts out, got a few devine breaks to win a championship that could have just as easily gone to either of the other two very good teams.
42 was even more improbable, but it still seems like a fairy tale, and truth be told, we weren't really that good. And 46 was similar, less the David vs Goliath drama.
One of the things I found totally amazing was that during the fourth game of the season against New Orleans, Mark Bavaro had is jaw broken in the first half. He had it wired shut during in halftime, and as the second half is about to begin he taps Parcells on the shoulder and indicates he ready to go back in. Parcells said he never missed a down during the season.
(1)t wasn't a Bears-'85 romp through the season. There was a lot of concern about the offense, which sputtered a lot. Remember, they started with a loss to Dallas, and then they seemed to be scuffling. But they kept on winning and winning.
(2)At the time, I thought the '85 Giants team was better (They gave the Bears more of a fight in the playoffs than anyone else, remember, and who knows what might have happened if Landeta hadn't whiffed on that punt.) but in retrospect, I don't think I can justify that opinion.
I'm a bit surprised many don't recall the team's struggles offensively for the better part of 86.
1. Well, against Dallas the 85 showed up. A really good team which made mistakes, took the lead and then lost it late. They blew the lead so often in 85 and in 86 they blew the lead to Dallas opening night, allowed Washington to come back, messed up in Seattle, likely should have lost the 2nd Dallas game and came close to giving up a 90+ yards to Hershal Walker late and blew the lead in Minny. There were a lot of wins but a lot more frustration until the end of the Minny game when it changed.
(2) Yeah, Landeta's muff gets the attention (rightfully so) but Rob Carpenter's fumble was equally as devestating IMO. The Giants offense was moving.
What day?
Quote:
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What day?
On the 10th day of April - I blessed this earth