29 years ago today: "There'll be no threepeat!"

back to back playoff games (NFCC and XXV) ever, though, 2008 NFCC and XLII were right up there.

Erik Howard...Gary Reasons. “Marshall on Montana.” Three of a bunch of critical plays.

the 7-3 loss in Week 12 still gnaws at me, but that was right up there in great games as well. What a slugfest. The NFL would consider those 2 games in their entirety to be illegal now LOL. Brutally physical games. I really hated SF back then.

Great memories. I remember watching this game with schnitzie in our apartment in Chelsea. Screaming our fool heads off after Matt Bahr’s kick won it. Just the best.

In comment 14786583 Victor in CT said:

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the 7-3 loss in Week 12 still gnaws at me, but that was right up there in great games as well. What a slugfest. The NFL would consider those 2 games in their entirety to be illegal now LOL. Brutally physical games. I really hated SF back then.

Yup, that regular season matchup was an absolute war. Ronnie Lott’s headshot interview Bavaro was in that game if memory serves, would be illegal now...but good old Bavaro bounced right back up from it.

Then Simms getting in Lott’s face after the game. Man I miss when the Giants played with that kind of attitude

with his shoulder pad, not fair to say it was a headshot by Lott, but still a brutal hit

from the bench - EVERYTHING hurts.

I'll probably be in a rest home uttering that over and over again when I'm 95.

In comment 14786688 FatMan in Charlotte said:

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from the bench - EVERYTHING hurts. I'll probably be in a rest home uttering that over and over again when I'm 95.

As if you’ll have any awareness by that age

I was so fucking happy. Throw up happy. I pretty much hyper ventilated. I had a rough few years prior to that, to say the least. My entire family needed that moment.

old man. When I turn 95, you'll be 153, haunting people in Section 108 for shits and giggles.

right around 1987 or so, I had a hard time believing the Giants would ever beat those Niner teams in a big big spot. I honestly felt like the Niners had turned a corner after 1986 while the Giants weren't as dominant a team. Going into this game, I knew it would be close, but I was leery. Liked having the more mobile Hoss behind center, but still leery. Only when LT recovered the fumble did I begin to realize that we had them on the ropes. That last drive there is almost underappreciated. Just a brilliant, tough and magical drive with so many big plays. To me, MArk Bavaro booked his ticket to Canton that last drive. To bad the idiot writers have a thing against two way TEs.

.
No Three Peat - ( New Window )

neither Summerall or Madden say a thing during the actual play until the kick is made.

in all of the 7th grade classes on the 49ers.
Guy was handing out dollar bills the next day out of a wad of singles so large that his parents must have thought he was going to a strip club
Started me on my lifetime as a degenerate gambler.

In comment 14786733 section125 said:

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neither Summerall or Madden say a thing during the actual play until the kick is made.

yep. so refreshing compared to today's announcers who talk as if they were paid by the word.

as the best football game I ever saw. Five field goals. Unbelievable!

And Summerall's call- "the report from the sidelines is it hurts everywhere" on Joe Montana after being trucked by Leonard Marshall.

Yes, even over the Super Bowls! Blasphemy...:). But it was the whole experience for me. Watched that game in a sports bar with some buddies, all Giants fans. Directly across from us was a table of 49er fans. We had a good back and forth going the whole game. But there was this one woman..

She would NOT shut up. Had one of those voices that carried throughout the whole damn place. When Hostetler went out for a series, she started cheering and laughing about his injury. That rubbed me wrong. But he came back after a series. And we all know what happened to Montana after that, and yeah..my most vivid memory is shouting over at her "and HE aint coming back in the damn game!" Thank you Leonard Marshall!

I can still see her in that damn Gold jacket crying after the game. Never ever felt better about a damn win in my life.

.

But I've seen pretty much every Super Bowl era game and this was the greatest game of all time for me.

my favorite game ever.

To win in Candlestick with a backup QB against the greatest QB ever was just as good as it gets.

And we scored ZERO TDs!

In comment 14786583 Victor in CT said:

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the 7-3 loss in Week 12 still gnaws at me, but that was right up there in great games as well. What a slugfest. The NFL would consider those 2 games in their entirety to be illegal now LOL. Brutally physical games. I really hated SF back then.

The crazy thing, is I look back at games like that and really don't see dirty hits. More physical? Yes. But, also mostly clean hits in terms of textbook form.

In comment 14787165 Matt M. said:

Quote:

In comment 14786583 Victor in CT said: Quote: the 7-3 loss in Week 12 still gnaws at me, but that was right up there in great games as well. What a slugfest. The NFL would consider those 2 games in their entirety to be illegal now LOL. Brutally physical games. I really hated SF back then. The crazy thing, is I look back at games like that and really don't see dirty hits. More physical? Yes. But, also mostly clean hits in terms of textbook form.

To be clear, not every hit falls under the textbook category. But, most do. Obviously, the headshot to Bavaro, for example, is a penalty now. But, most hits were below the neck neck and not led with the helmet.

Where have they gone? Makes me feel so old.

My belly. LT recovers Erick Howard's forced fumble. Even us fans were effected physically. What a game.

In comment 14786677 mfsd said:

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with his shoulder pad, not fair to say it was a headshot by Lott, but still a brutal hit

And the Marshall hit was the cleanest annihilation hit ever, right? No intent to end a man's career there, for sure. LOL.

I love how there will be zero Giants' fans who will ever consider it was anything but a clean hit, but will nitpick Ronnie Lott's hits on tight ends and wide receivers in 1980s style high stakes football.

that made it one of the best

- Dave Meggett hit an open Mo Carthon for what would have been at TD, but Mo lost it in the sun and dropped it.

- There was a bullshit play that if replay was around would never have happened for the Niners. On their 2 minute drive at the end of the half, Montana threw a pass to John Taylor where he was hit and the ball clearly hit the ground. But it appeared to be a trap from the ref's angle. However, no replay was allowed because he was ruled down and the whistle blew. BBI and twitter would have exploded. The Niners kicked a field goal to tie the game

- On the lone TD, Everson Walls gambled for a pick and went after a pass for Taylor, but he mis read it and set up Taylor to take off down the sidelines for a TD as he just outraced Myron Guyton

- LT actually kicked Montana in the knee on the drive before the Marshall hit. Montana was gimpy after that hit. And then Burt hurt Hoss, which pissed off the Giants defense and that's when Marshall ended Montana.

- On the Montana hit by Marshall, he actually ruptured his spleen and broke his pinky finger on his right hand. If the Niners had won, he would have been out of the Super Bowl vs. the Bills.

- On Gary Reasons' fake punt, the Niners only had 10 men on the field. The Giants saw that and were scrambling to snap it for the fake because they knew it was going to work.

- Erik Howard's hit forcing the fumble by Roger Craig happened when he broke through a double team to knock the ball out. John Madden called it the best play he had ever seen by a nose tackle in his life.

And from a personal standpoint, I was in high school at the time. It was pretty well known that I was a huge Giants fan (shocking, I know). My AP Math teacher also was a huge Giants fan. If you recall, the Super Bowl in 1990 was played just 1 week after the championship games. There was no week in between the games. And this game happened during midterms in high school. Anyway, the Algebra midterm was the Monday after the Super Bowl. My teacher knew full well there was no way that I'd study for it. So after class he called me over (and another kid who was a big fan), and he said "I know you guys won't study and I don't blame you. I'll make you a deal. You come to class on Monday of the test. I will hand you a blank paper and you pretend like you are taking the test and don't make a big deal of it. You fake taking the test and I'll give you an extra day to study and you take it after school on Tuesday. But if you say this to anyone, I'm failing you." We had a deal. Mr. Merckling kicked ass.

In comment 14787220 Steve in ATL said:

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Where have they gone? Makes me feel so old.

One of my earliest memories as a Giants fan

my father was actually at Candlestick with 49er fan colleagues who had an extra season ticket for that day! I just remember watching that kick and running outside and just screaming running around the neighborhood. I'm sure I pissed off a ton of 49er fans!

Traveled with the group with Mike and the Mad Dog. Was the best football game I witnessed live in my life and I was at the Super Bowl the next week. Just thinking about those two games back to back, 7 days apart makes a heart race.

In comment 14787672 Marty866b said:

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Traveled with the group with Mike and the Mad Dog. Was the best football game I witnessed live in my life and I was at the Super Bowl the next week. Just thinking about those two games back to back, 7 days apart makes a heart race.

Those were the two most intense back to back games ever as a Giants fan. A FG to win the NFC championship and a missed FG to win the SB...

In comment 14787421 Matt in SGS said:

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that made it one of the best - Dave Meggett hit an open Mo Carthon for what would have been at TD, but Mo lost it in the sun and dropped it. - There was a bullshit play that if replay was around would never have happened for the Niners. On their 2 minute drive at the end of the half, Montana threw a pass to John Taylor where he was hit and the ball clearly hit the ground. But it appeared to be a trap from the ref's angle. However, no replay was allowed because he was ruled down and the whistle blew. BBI and twitter would have exploded. The Niners kicked a field goal to tie the game - On the lone TD, Everson Walls gambled for a pick and went after a pass for Taylor, but he mis read it and set up Taylor to take off down the sidelines for a TD as he just outraced Myron Guyton - LT actually kicked Montana in the knee on the drive before the Marshall hit. Montana was gimpy after that hit. And then Burt hurt Hoss, which pissed off the Giants defense and that's when Marshall ended Montana. - On the Montana hit by Marshall, he actually ruptured his spleen and broke his pinky finger on his right hand. If the Niners had won, he would have been out of the Super Bowl vs. the Bills. - On Gary Reasons' fake punt, the Niners only had 10 men on the field. The Giants saw that and were scrambling to snap it for the fake because they knew it was going to work. - Erik Howard's hit forcing the fumble by Roger Craig happened when he broke through a double team to knock the ball out. John Madden called it the best play he had ever seen by a nose tackle in his life. And from a personal standpoint, I was in high school at the time. It was pretty well known that I was a huge Giants fan (shocking, I know). My AP Math teacher also was a huge Giants fan. If you recall, the Super Bowl in 1990 was played just 1 week after the championship games. There was no week in between the games. And this game happened during midterms in high school. Anyway, the Algebra midterm was the Monday after the Super Bowl. My teacher knew full well there was no way that I'd study for it. So after class he called me over (and another kid who was a big fan), and he said "I know you guys won't study and I don't blame you. I'll make you a deal. You come to class on Monday of the test. I will hand you a blank paper and you pretend like you are taking the test and don't make a big deal of it. You fake taking the test and I'll give you an extra day to study and you take it after school on Tuesday. But if you say this to anyone, I'm failing you." We had a deal. Mr. Merckling kicked ass.

Great recap. And thanks the football gods Burt's hit on Hoss didn't take him out of that game. Was Cavanaugh the next man up?

"down inside the 25.. First down and much, much more"

a few years back and he called that plane ride from San Fran to Tampa, the SB site, the best plane ride ever. And the best game he's ever coached in...

In comment 14787704 bw in dc said:

Quote:

In comment 14787421 Matt in SGS said: Quote: that made it one of the best - Dave Meggett hit an open Mo Carthon for what would have been at TD, but Mo lost it in the sun and dropped it. - There was a bullshit play that if replay was around would never have happened for the Niners. On their 2 minute drive at the end of the half, Montana threw a pass to John Taylor where he was hit and the ball clearly hit the ground. But it appeared to be a trap from the ref's angle. However, no replay was allowed because he was ruled down and the whistle blew. BBI and twitter would have exploded. The Niners kicked a field goal to tie the game - On the lone TD, Everson Walls gambled for a pick and went after a pass for Taylor, but he mis read it and set up Taylor to take off down the sidelines for a TD as he just outraced Myron Guyton - LT actually kicked Montana in the knee on the drive before the Marshall hit. Montana was gimpy after that hit. And then Burt hurt Hoss, which pissed off the Giants defense and that's when Marshall ended Montana. - On the Montana hit by Marshall, he actually ruptured his spleen and broke his pinky finger on his right hand. If the Niners had won, he would have been out of the Super Bowl vs. the Bills. - On Gary Reasons' fake punt, the Niners only had 10 men on the field. The Giants saw that and were scrambling to snap it for the fake because they knew it was going to work. - Erik Howard's hit forcing the fumble by Roger Craig happened when he broke through a double team to knock the ball out. John Madden called it the best play he had ever seen by a nose tackle in his life. And from a personal standpoint, I was in high school at the time. It was pretty well known that I was a huge Giants fan (shocking, I know). My AP Math teacher also was a huge Giants fan. If you recall, the Super Bowl in 1990 was played just 1 week after the championship games. There was no week in between the games. And this game happened during midterms in high school. Anyway, the Algebra midterm was the Monday after the Super Bowl. My teacher knew full well there was no way that I'd study for it. So after class he called me over (and another kid who was a big fan), and he said "I know you guys won't study and I don't blame you. I'll make you a deal. You come to class on Monday of the test. I will hand you a blank paper and you pretend like you are taking the test and don't make a big deal of it. You fake taking the test and I'll give you an extra day to study and you take it after school on Tuesday. But if you say this to anyone, I'm failing you." We had a deal. Mr. Merckling kicked ass. Great recap. And thanks the football gods Burt's hit on Hoss didn't take him out of that game. Was Cavanaugh the next man up?

Yes, Cavanaugh came in and threw a pass as he was getting hit, and it fell incomplete.

And on the Marshall hit, if you watch the replay, he actually makes such a fast inside move and spin back outside that he turns the Niners OT, Bubba Paris completely around. But his momentum get him off balance and Tom Rathman shoves him to the ground. Paris, who was known as a guy who like to jump on guys on the ground and was a dirty bastard, loses his balance completely and falls next to Marshall. Marshall pops up and takes off and hits Montana, who has to hold up from LT charging at him and sets up the hit.

But the most frustrating part of that play was that Mark Collins had the easiest recovery of the fumble and totally whiffs on it, and Wallace of the Niners got it. However, CBS cameras didn't even show the pile, they showed Montana on the ground as I was screaming "who has the ball!!!?" They never actually showed the recovery in real time, only a replay and we had to go with Summerall saying "I hear red ball, which means 49ers ball".

And I have the postgame on my old VCR tape of this game (which I need to dig up) when Madden and Summerall were recapping the game. What was funny was listening to their conversations with Belichick during the week and how insulted Belichick was during the game week and the narrative after the 7-3 game. They were saying that the message from the Niners camp and in the media was that the Niners went conservative in that Monday Night game. Belichick said "Conservative? That's baloney. What are they talking about, they weren't running dives". Belichick was pissed off and he knew that his defense had completely knocked the Niners off their timing and messed up the way they played offense and they were going to do it again to them in the NFC Championship Game.

Quote:

- On the Montana hit by Marshall, he actually ruptured his spleen and broke his pinky finger on his right hand. If the Niners had won, he would have been out of the Super Bowl vs. the Bills.

I bet Steve Young was the most heartbroken of all the Niners leaving the field that day. He would've had a golden opportunity to secure a three-peat for the Niners after languishing as Montana's back-up. Wound up waiting a few more years and enduring a few tough playoff losses before getting the monkey off his back.

was when Cavanaugh overthrew his first pass by like 10 yards. Summerall deadpanned, "That...was a rusty hinge..."

I remember players telling stories of that game during one of the recent anniversary celebrations. When the 49ers called timeout before the game-winning kick, DeOssie went up to Bahr and said, "You're a veteran, why are they trying to ice you? Bahr responded, "They're not trying to ice ME, they know YOU have to snap it." DeOssie said he almost passed out.

Also amazing to think of the talent on the field and the sidelines that day. Montana, Rice, Lott and LT, all arguably the greatest ever at their positions. Parcells, Belichick, Coughlin on the Giants sideline, Holmgren and a very young Jon Gruden on the 49ers staff. Unfortunately Bill Walsh had retired by then.

In comment 14788075 Matt in SGS said:

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Yes, Cavanaugh came in and threw a pass as he was getting hit, and it fell incomplete. And on the Marshall hit, if you watch the replay, he actually makes such a fast inside move and spin back outside that he turns the Niners OT, Bubba Paris completely around. But his momentum get him off balance and Tom Rathman shoves him to the ground. Paris, who was known as a guy who like to jump on guys on the ground and was a dirty bastard, loses his balance completely and falls next to Marshall. Marshall pops up and takes off and hits Montana, who has to hold up from LT charging at him and sets up the hit. But the most frustrating part of that play was that Mark Collins had the easiest recovery of the fumble and totally whiffs on it, and Wallace of the Niners got it. However, CBS cameras didn't even show the pile, they showed Montana on the ground as I was screaming "who has the ball!!!?" They never actually showed the recovery in real time, only a replay and we had to go with Summerall saying "I hear red ball, which means 49ers ball".

Totally forgot about the Cavanaugh pass. Just saw the box score and he was indeed 0 for 1.

The sack by Marshall was an incredible hustle play. He absolutely annihilated Montana. I don't know if a QB ever looked as bad after being hit as Montana looked after that hit and in '86 when Burt gave Montana his pilot's license...

and Hoss came right back in.

I'd love to sit down and talk football with Hostetler for a half hour. The guy got absolutely destroyed against SF and Buffalo and hung in there - a backup QB knocking off two of the best teams ever assembled (I know Buffalo gets roasted, but still...four straight Super Bowls). It'd be great to hear his reflections on that month or so of his life.

In comment 14787819 LTIsTheGreatest said:

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"down inside the 25.. First down and much, much more"

Oh man, what a great call - I can hear Summerall's voice while reading that. Not to be THAT guy, but I always wondered why Reasons didn't veer toward the sidelines to avoid Taylor - he just ran in a straight line right towards him.

In comment 14788075 Matt in SGS said:

Quote:

In comment 14787704 bw in dc said: Quote: In comment 14787421 Matt in SGS said: Quote: that made it one of the best - Dave Meggett hit an open Mo Carthon for what would have been at TD, but Mo lost it in the sun and dropped it. - There was a bullshit play that if replay was around would never have happened for the Niners. On their 2 minute drive at the end of the half, Montana threw a pass to John Taylor where he was hit and the ball clearly hit the ground. But it appeared to be a trap from the ref's angle. However, no replay was allowed because he was ruled down and the whistle blew. BBI and twitter would have exploded. The Niners kicked a field goal to tie the game - On the lone TD, Everson Walls gambled for a pick and went after a pass for Taylor, but he mis read it and set up Taylor to take off down the sidelines for a TD as he just outraced Myron Guyton - LT actually kicked Montana in the knee on the drive before the Marshall hit. Montana was gimpy after that hit. And then Burt hurt Hoss, which pissed off the Giants defense and that's when Marshall ended Montana. - On the Montana hit by Marshall, he actually ruptured his spleen and broke his pinky finger on his right hand. If the Niners had won, he would have been out of the Super Bowl vs. the Bills. - On Gary Reasons' fake punt, the Niners only had 10 men on the field. The Giants saw that and were scrambling to snap it for the fake because they knew it was going to work. - Erik Howard's hit forcing the fumble by Roger Craig happened when he broke through a double team to knock the ball out. John Madden called it the best play he had ever seen by a nose tackle in his life. And from a personal standpoint, I was in high school at the time. It was pretty well known that I was a huge Giants fan (shocking, I know). My AP Math teacher also was a huge Giants fan. If you recall, the Super Bowl in 1990 was played just 1 week after the championship games. There was no week in between the games. And this game happened during midterms in high school. Anyway, the Algebra midterm was the Monday after the Super Bowl. My teacher knew full well there was no way that I'd study for it. So after class he called me over (and another kid who was a big fan), and he said "I know you guys won't study and I don't blame you. I'll make you a deal. You come to class on Monday of the test. I will hand you a blank paper and you pretend like you are taking the test and don't make a big deal of it. You fake taking the test and I'll give you an extra day to study and you take it after school on Tuesday. But if you say this to anyone, I'm failing you." We had a deal. Mr. Merckling kicked ass. Great recap. And thanks the football gods Burt's hit on Hoss didn't take him out of that game. Was Cavanaugh the next man up? Yes, Cavanaugh came in and threw a pass as he was getting hit, and it fell incomplete. And on the Marshall hit, if you watch the replay, he actually makes such a fast inside move and spin back outside that he turns the Niners OT, Bubba Paris completely around. But his momentum get him off balance and Tom Rathman shoves him to the ground. Paris, who was known as a guy who like to jump on guys on the ground and was a dirty bastard, loses his balance completely and falls next to Marshall. Marshall pops up and takes off and hits Montana, who has to hold up from LT charging at him and sets up the hit. But the most frustrating part of that play was that Mark Collins had the easiest recovery of the fumble and totally whiffs on it, and Wallace of the Niners got it. However, CBS cameras didn't even show the pile, they showed Montana on the ground as I was screaming "who has the ball!!!?" They never actually showed the recovery in real time, only a replay and we had to go with Summerall saying "I hear red ball, which means 49ers ball". And I have the postgame on my old VCR tape of this game (which I need to dig up) when Madden and Summerall were recapping the game. What was funny was listening to their conversations with Belichick during the week and how insulted Belichick was during the game week and the narrative after the 7-3 game. They were saying that the message from the Niners camp and in the media was that the Niners went conservative in that Monday Night game. Belichick said "Conservative? That's baloney. What are they talking about, they weren't running dives". Belichick was pissed off and he knew that his defense had completely knocked the Niners off their timing and messed up the way they played offense and they were going to do it again to them in the NFC Championship Game.

I remember watching Inside the NFL on HBO the week leading up to that game. When they made their predictions at the end of the show I remember Len Dawson smiling and saying, "The Giants defense stifled Joe Montana in that first game. They ARE NOT GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!. I'm going with the San Francisco 49ers". LOL Did I laugh at that one

In comment 14788096 bw in dc said:

Quote:

In comment 14788075 Matt in SGS said: Quote: Yes, Cavanaugh came in and threw a pass as he was getting hit, and it fell incomplete. And on the Marshall hit, if you watch the replay, he actually makes such a fast inside move and spin back outside that he turns the Niners OT, Bubba Paris completely around. But his momentum get him off balance and Tom Rathman shoves him to the ground. Paris, who was known as a guy who like to jump on guys on the ground and was a dirty bastard, loses his balance completely and falls next to Marshall. Marshall pops up and takes off and hits Montana, who has to hold up from LT charging at him and sets up the hit. But the most frustrating part of that play was that Mark Collins had the easiest recovery of the fumble and totally whiffs on it, and Wallace of the Niners got it. However, CBS cameras didn't even show the pile, they showed Montana on the ground as I was screaming "who has the ball!!!?" They never actually showed the recovery in real time, only a replay and we had to go with Summerall saying "I hear red ball, which means 49ers ball". Totally forgot about the Cavanaugh pass. Just saw the box score and he was indeed 0 for 1. The sack by Marshall was an incredible hustle play. He absolutely annihilated Montana. I don't know if a QB ever looked as bad after being hit as Montana looked after that hit and in '86 when Burt gave Montana his pilot's license...

You should be grateful for Marshall's hustle, because the way Montana was loading up to throw it was very likely to be a TD bomb to Rice or Taylor that would have surely won that game.

That a 49er fan feels the need to spoil a thread of one of the greater moments in the giants history on a nyg forum