....would Harry Carson have been able to play? I can't recall if we would've gotten him back.
I was watching a replay of the Giants-Philly game when we lost in OT on the blocked FG that was returned for a TD. During the broadcast Sunmeral and Maddren referenced Carson's displeasure with being put on 4 week IR since he thought it would only take a week for him to return from a scope. This obviously ended a Hall of Fame career on a strange and sour note.
In my opinion, the Giants left a ring on the table in 1988. During the broadcast Madden and Summeral referred to the Bears and Saints as being the best teams in the NFL at that point. We would go on to beat the Saints in the Super Dome one week later and San Francisco would ultimately win the Super Bowl after they "laid down like dogs" in their regular season finale against the Rams after we blew ours to the Jets earlier that day.
Reisenberg had replaced Elliott in the starting lineup at RT. He went down during the game and was replaced by Karl Nelson.
The Suburbanites were aging out, so the Giants drafted Moore and Elliott that year. But they didn't stop there. In 1989 they drafted Williams and Kratch to complete the rebuild.
:-)
Even though, we should never have lost to that Jets team. Damn Al Toon and that long TD in the final minutes
When LT blocked that FG the place erupted and as Clyde Simmons ran the ball in for a TD many people were unaware of what had transpired.
I still can't believe we had Tom Flynn one-on-one with Al Toon in the red zone.
I never heard a silence as deafening as the Flipper game though. The other two games had many Eagle & Jet fans present, naturally. The end of that Rams game was so quiet it was surreal.
Even though, we should never have lost to that Jets team. Damn Al Toon and that long TD in the final minutes
Giants have no one to blame but themselves for missing the playoffs in 1988. If you can't beat a .500 team (Jets came into the game 7-7-1) then you just don't deserve it.
And all this talk over the years that the 49ers were partially responsible or that they wanted "no part of the Giants" is silly.
The game was meaningless to them, so they rested their starters, so that they'd have the best chance of success in the playoffs.
Do people not remember the great BBI debate just before final game of 2007?
The game was technically "meaningless" to the Giants and many here (including Eric) suggested that the Giants should rest their starters, so that the team would have a better chance in the playoffs.
TC thankfully did NOT rest his starters, because the game was important to the Pats and to the NFL. But if the Pats were 14-1 coming in, TC sure as hell would have rested some starters.
Why do we think the 1988 49ers should have done what was best for the Giants instead of what was best for THEIR team?
That's pure speculation.
Most NFL teams that are already in the playoffs and are playing a meaningless game 16 rest many of their starters and treat it like an exhibition game.
I guess I've always found it a little annoying that Giants' fans are so quick to blame the 49ers, like that team either owed the Giants something or that they purposely lost that game were afraid of them.
The Giants played a "win and you're in" game 16 against a mediocre opponent and they lost. The blame is 100% on them.
Yeah, that was truly awful.
The 49ers resting their starters didn't bother me per-se but the timing of the games really hurt us that day. If I remember right it was the Saints losing at 1 PM that clinched the division for the Niners so they didn't need the game. Huge break for the Rams who never would've beaten the Niners straight up if SF had to win.
One of the positive things the NFL has done in recent years is change the final weekend schedule so that games with playoff implications kick off at the same time.
Remember, we were just a strike season removed from being the best team in football. Plus, we had an extremely easy schedule as the NFL was still doing the thing where last place teams play each other twice (we played Detroit 2x that season). Everything seemed to favor us.
But the team played below their ability to start the season, LT was suspended for the first four games, and the team generally just seemed to be in a fog. But then they started to put it together as the season went on and at the end of the season looked ready to make a move. Then the Jets game ruined it all.
As far as Carson, the Giants defense as I remember started playing better when he went out.....Carson was a great player but he was at the end of his reign at this point IMO.
Don't think that's how it happened......Simms took the Giants on a late drive to take the lead, then the Jets got a really nice KO return that set them up to score not just a FG, but a TD.
McConkey did fumble a punt that game - which he NEVER did - and it did lead to a score for the Jets earlier in the game if I am remembering correctly.
Quote:
The Giants had the lead late in the game 27-21 and forced the Jets to punt from deep in Jets territory. Phil MConkey fumbled the punt and the Jets drove about 55 yards to win the game.
Don't think that's how it happened......Simms took the Giants on a late drive to take the lead, then the Jets got a really nice KO return that set them up to score not just a FG, but a TD.
McConkey did fumble a punt that game - which he NEVER did - and it did lead to a score for the Jets earlier in the game if I am remembering correctly.
Yes, the McConkey fumble was earlier and put us in a hole. Phil Simms dug us out and we scored to go ahead with about 2 minutes left. Then we kicked off and gave up a 50+ plus yard return. Jets were in game-winning FG position a play or two later. Ended up scoring a TD.
One positive - the special teams debacle that day caused some changes like bringing in Thompson and Meggett. In 1989 and 1990 our ST were probably the best in the league.
The Jets loss still burns me today though... to come back, take a lead, then surrender it to a crappy team was a backbreaker... 2 years in a row that team came up empty in HUGE games at home (Jets-Rams in playoffs) and I think that set the stage for the BIG run in 1990...