Eric's thread on Erik Howard got me to watching the 4th quarter of this game for like the 423742740th time...
After Craig gets 6 yards on 3rd & 4 to get to our 41 or 42 with around 3 minutes left, what were you thinking? This was the play right before the fumble. I was young, but I vividly remember thinking it looked bleak. We had all 3 timeouts left & the 2 minute warning, but I think that we probably lose if we don't force a fumble there. SF would have just bled the clock-forcing us to use our timeouts-& pin us deep if they had to punt.
Thankfully Howard made that play, the offense made some plays, & Bahr made that kick.
'THERE WILL BE NO THREEPEAT!'
I was just thinking what if Craig doesn’t fumble and the 9ers hold on to win. Would Montana have played in the Super Bowl? I know he had a very bad concussion, but didn’t he have a few broken bones as a result of that hit also? Young would turn out to be a great QB in his own right, but up to that point, he was only the backup. Do you think they could have beaten the Bills without their star QB, and only a week to prepare? I don’t think so.
I remember running around the first floor with my lab chasing after me, my Dad shocked by the final minutes, my Mom telling us dinner was ready and my brother in tears. Great memories.
granted he picked up the ball, but Howard made the play. Stacked the line cut through AND knocked the ball out. One of the best examples of excellent NT play ever.
I was just thinking what if Craig doesn’t fumble and the 9ers hold on to win. Would Montana have played in the Super Bowl? I know he had a very bad concussion, but didn’t he have a few broken bones as a result of that hit also? Young would turn out to be a great QB in his own right, but up to that point, he was only the backup. Do you think they could have beaten the Bills without their star QB, and only a week to prepare? I don’t think so.
Not a chance Montana would have played in SB XXV had the 49ers advanced. That Marshall hit put him into semi-retirement. The good thing is we never had to find out
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LT had something to do with it as well.
granted he picked up the ball, but Howard made the play. Stacked the line cut through AND knocked the ball out. One of the best examples of excellent NT play ever.
Yeah, and those 49er interior OL were no slouches. Guy McIntyre, Jesse Sapolu and Harris Barton were all pro-bowl level players
The game was over. 49'ers were working the clock, in scoring position. Dagger poised over Giants heart.
One of those *ARE YOU FEKKING KIDDING ME?!?!* moments for sure, that game was over, 9ers slowly swallowing the Giants like a snake eating a rabbit, Roger Craig as sure a ballcarrier as any and on a safe play up the gut, impossibly LT suddenly has the ball and it couldn't be real, there's a penalty flag or something, right??
Even AFTER the fumble, it took the crazy fake punt to Reasons of all players to get into FG range - Giant offense could do little.
A GREAT game. An AMAZING finish.
The game was over. 49'ers were working the clock, in scoring position. Dagger poised over Giants heart.
One of those *ARE YOU FEKKING KIDDING ME?!?!* moments for sure, that game was over, 9ers slowly swallowing the Giants like a snake eating a rabbit, Roger Craig as sure a ballcarrier as any and on a safe play up the gut, impossibly LT suddenly has the ball and it couldn't be real, there's a penalty flag or something, right??
Even AFTER the fumble, it took the crazy fake punt to Reasons of all players to get into FG range - Giant offense could do little.
A GREAT game. An AMAZING finish.
You're mixing things up. The Reasons fake punt took place during the previous possession.
This post is why all the Flipper Anderson regrets are annoying. 1989 49ers were a good level better offensively than the 1990 team, which actually was better defensively.
The low point dog fights benefited the Giants. In theory they could have won in 1989, but the Niners could have won 7 or 8 super bowls as well (and a more likely conclusion).
With the hindsight of nearly 30 years now, the Giants were going to be a much tougher out than any spreads suggested back then. Some here claim the 49ers were a 7 point favorite, but that really sounds off to me when they only won by 4 points prior.
There's never been a 3 peat in the Super Bowl era and likely never will be. That was the closest we've ever seen (the Cowboys/49ers a few years later kinda proves that it just can't happen), and again, a younger Young in that Super Bowl is interesting. We're using hindsight again to assume the Bills would lose because they lost 4 in a row, but had they won the first one maybe a lot of that changes.
Buffalo beat SF in '92 with a better version of Young in a no punt game. They lost a close one a few years later. Definitely not guaranteed.
As for the Giants, on that day they were destined to win no matter what. Bahr missed a field goal and Carthon dropped a TD, but the list of things that had to happen in opportune times that did were significant.
No win without the fake punt, assuming it's a slugfest the rest of the way out, that was a huge 3 point possession.
And in case you are curious, I don't know a Niner fan that thought the win was automatic on that last drive. Based on how the game ended, you could say the Niners would have won with just 1 or 2 decent runs and a punt.
But that's not how any of this works. Back then the football gods decided these things. Now the league office decides....
Agreed. That game was also the culmination of a great decade long rivalry between two teams with contrasting philosophies.
- Carthon dropped a TD on the throw from Meggett because he lost it in the sun
- In the first half Mike Sherrard caught a pass and clearly dropped it but since Instant Replay was so screwed up, they said they couldn't review it because the whistle blew. That set up a Niner FG before the half.
- Everson Walls gambled on the only TD of the game. If he plays it safe, John Taylor is tackled and the Niners couldn't get a sustained drive all day so getting a TD there was less likely than maybe a FG.
- I will go to my grave not knowing how Mark Collins missed the fumble on the play that Marshall killed Montana.
- Craig actually fumbled earlier on that final drive by the Niners and the Niners got it back. The Giants would have had the ball around the 30 with all that time left. Assume a Bahr FG, the Niners might have had one more shot at a win late.
I was watching the game with a co-worker who was a 49ers fan. When he dropped that TD pass I threw a tray table across the room. I really freaked him out.
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I don’t think I ever truly believed we’d beat the niners that year. I knew the games would be close, but I was very scared of those niners teams. Then you have the lack of any nyg tds two games running now, and it just didn’t seem like it was meant to be. By the the niners reached across mid field with first down I thought we were cooked. One more first down and it is over. Nope sorry fuck off SF. Not today.
This post is why all the Flipper Anderson regrets are annoying. 1989 49ers were a good level better offensively than the 1990 team, which actually was better defensively.
The low point dog fights benefited the Giants. In theory they could have won in 1989, but the Niners could have won 7 or 8 super bowls as well (and a more likely conclusion).
With the hindsight of nearly 30 years now, the Giants were going to be a much tougher out than any spreads suggested back then. Some here claim the 49ers were a 7 point favorite, but that really sounds off to me when they only won by 4 points prior.
There's never been a 3 peat in the Super Bowl era and likely never will be. That was the closest we've ever seen (the Cowboys/49ers a few years later kinda proves that it just can't happen), and again, a younger Young in that Super Bowl is interesting. We're using hindsight again to assume the Bills would lose because they lost 4 in a row, but had they won the first one maybe a lot of that changes.
Buffalo beat SF in '92 with a better version of Young in a no punt game. They lost a close one a few years later. Definitely not guaranteed.
As for the Giants, on that day they were destined to win no matter what. Bahr missed a field goal and Carthon dropped a TD, but the list of things that had to happen in opportune times that did were significant.
No win without the fake punt, assuming it's a slugfest the rest of the way out, that was a huge 3 point possession.
And in case you are curious, I don't know a Niner fan that thought the win was automatic on that last drive. Based on how the game ended, you could say the Niners would have won with just 1 or 2 decent runs and a punt.
But that's not how any of this works. Back then the football gods decided these things. Now the league office decides....
49ers were an 8 point favorite going in. I think the line started at something like SF -9.5 and money went the Giants way pushing it to 49ers -8
Pro football reference - ( New Window )
Right, that's a good point.
Hindsight makes it seem like it didn't matter, but Hostetler was unproven in a big game as he never played in one until then.
NYG SFO
First Downs 20 13
Rush-Yds-TDs 36-152-0 11-39-0
Cmp-Att-Yd-TD-INT 15-29-176-0-0 19-27-215-1-0
Sacked-Yards 3-17 3-14
Net Pass Yards 159 201
Total Yards 311 240
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Turnovers 0 1
Penalties-Yards 5-45 9-63
Time of Possession 38:59 21:01
Look at that TOP and rushing yard difference.
Niners barely had many more passing yards.
The rush differential was the biggest in favor of NYG since probably 1986.
The MNF game two months prior:
Giants rushed 29 for 75 yards, while the Niners rushed 29 for 88 yards.
Simms threw for 153, Montana 152. 146 net passing yards NYG, 152 for SF.
Turnovers: Giants 1, 49ers 0
TOP: Giants 32:58 , SF 27:02
1989 MNF:
Giants rushed 14 for 52 yards
49ers rushed 32 for 96 yards
Simms: 25-48, 326, 2 TD, 3 INT
Montana: 27-34, 292, 3 TD, 0 INT
Turnovers: Giants 5, 49ers 3
TOP: 26:38 NYG, 33:22 SF
These stats tell the story of all 3 games. Turnovers, rushing yards, TOP...
Lastly, 1988, week 2:
Rushing:
NYG : 29-112
SF: 33-181 (Steve Young 5 for 48)
Passing:
Simms: 21-37, 227 yards, 2 TD 0 INT
Young (first half): 11-18, 115 yards, 0 TD 0 INT
Montana (second half): 10-18, 148 yards, 1 TD 0 INT
Turnovers: NYG 2, SF 0
TOP: 49ers 30:46, NYG 29:14
- Carthon dropped a TD on the throw from Meggett because he lost it in the sun
- In the first half Mike Sherrard caught a pass and clearly dropped it but since Instant Replay was so screwed up, they said they couldn't review it because the whistle blew. That set up a Niner FG before the half.
- Everson Walls gambled on the only TD of the game. If he plays it safe, John Taylor is tackled and the Niners couldn't get a sustained drive all day so getting a TD there was less likely than maybe a FG.
- I will go to my grave not knowing how Mark Collins missed the fumble on the play that Marshall killed Montana.
- Craig actually fumbled earlier on that final drive by the Niners and the Niners got it back. The Giants would have had the ball around the 30 with all that time left. Assume a Bahr FG, the Niners might have had one more shot at a win late.
The Refs said that the whistle blew I believe Matt on that first Craig fumble. I think Marshall got the ball loose from Craig's arms with his helmet. The pass up the seam by Young to Brent Jones was a tough pill to swallow shortly thereafter.
Exact,y, but they would have had to go the length of the field to do it with not much time left (2 minutes or thereabouts from inside their own 20) and without any timeouts.
- Carthon dropped a TD on the throw from Meggett because he lost it in the sun
- In the first half Mike Sherrard caught a pass and clearly dropped it but since Instant Replay was so screwed up, they said they couldn't review it because the whistle blew. That set up a Niner FG before the half.
- Everson Walls gambled on the only TD of the game. If he plays it safe, John Taylor is tackled and the Niners couldn't get a sustained drive all day so getting a TD there was less likely than maybe a FG.
- I will go to my grave not knowing how Mark Collins missed the fumble on the play that Marshall killed Montana.
- Craig actually fumbled earlier on that final drive by the Niners and the Niners got it back. The Giants would have had the ball around the 30 with all that time left. Assume a Bahr FG, the Niners might have had one more shot at a win late.
I believe it was John Taylor who dropped the pass they said he caught. It was an awful call.
exactly. To me this moment is one part the Knicks beating Jordan, Bird and Magic, one part rangers beating Mario and Gretzky and one part fantasy. It just wasn't supposed to happen. I still say this is the greatest pure football moment in NYG history, but then super bowl 42 had to come along...kind of a different animal.
I don't think any other pro franchise can equal the incredible championship moments the Giants have authored over the years. We don't have the most, but man we sure as hell have the best.
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big plays and near misses it was crazy. I'll post a few more highlights of it coming up but, as NINEster noted it was such a close game between the 2.
- Carthon dropped a TD on the throw from Meggett because he lost it in the sun
- In the first half Mike Sherrard caught a pass and clearly dropped it but since Instant Replay was so screwed up, they said they couldn't review it because the whistle blew. That set up a Niner FG before the half.
- Everson Walls gambled on the only TD of the game. If he plays it safe, John Taylor is tackled and the Niners couldn't get a sustained drive all day so getting a TD there was less likely than maybe a FG.
- I will go to my grave not knowing how Mark Collins missed the fumble on the play that Marshall killed Montana.
- Craig actually fumbled earlier on that final drive by the Niners and the Niners got it back. The Giants would have had the ball around the 30 with all that time left. Assume a Bahr FG, the Niners might have had one more shot at a win late.
I believe it was John Taylor who dropped the pass they said he caught. It was an awful call.
Yes, it was Taylor. You are right.
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even with the Super Bowl wins thrown in and stopping New England's 18-0. Giants fans under age 30 don't have a real appreciation of how dominant the 49ers were back then. Everyone assumed the three-peat was going to happen and the 49ers were just going to mow down anyone in their path
exactly. To me this moment is one part the Knicks beating Jordan, Bird and Magic, one part rangers beating Mario and Gretzky and one part fantasy. It just wasn't supposed to happen. I still say this is the greatest pure football moment in NYG history, but then super bowl 42 had to come along...kind of a different animal.
I don't think any other pro franchise can equal the incredible championship moments the Giants have authored over the years. We don't have the most, but man we sure as hell have the best.
I think that was the best single game I ever saw. Definitely the most intense. And well played, I think just 1 penalty. Too many people today don't think a low scoring game can be exciting.
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made a couple of real nice plays on that last drive, evading pass rush and hitting receivers downfield to get us into FG range. Then OJ with a couple of great 2-3 yard power runs when SF had 11 up on the line of scrimmage. That made it a 42 yarder instead of a 47 yarder. I'm not sure Bahr hits from 47. He was very reliable but didn't have great range. As it was his kick was just inside the left upright.
Power wins football games. I think Parcells is credited with saying that?
Yes, he is.
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In comment 14925931 bluepepper said:
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made a couple of real nice plays on that last drive, evading pass rush and hitting receivers downfield to get us into FG range. Then OJ with a couple of great 2-3 yard power runs when SF had 11 up on the line of scrimmage. That made it a 42 yarder instead of a 47 yarder. I'm not sure Bahr hits from 47. He was very reliable but didn't have great range. As it was his kick was just inside the left upright.
Power wins football games. I think Parcells is credited with saying that?
Yes, he is.
I like this one too: The term "West Coast Offense", as it is now commonly used, derives from a remark made by then-New York Giants coach Bill Parcells after the Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers 17-3 in the 1985 playoffs. Parcells, a believer in tough defense over finesse-oriented offense, scornfully derided the 49ers' offense with the statement, "What do you think of that West Coast Offense now?"[
But that's football.
Giants were the third best team that year (Buffalo/San Fran). But the best team doesn't always win and it's why you play. I'd rather be the best rather than the best on paper.
Yeah I mean I could be splitting hairs. I don't think the Giants on offense played particularly well in those games. And this team was slumping to some degree down the stretch.
They had become way too predictable on play calling and teams were on to it.
We don't win the Super Bowl if Simms doesn't get hurt IMO. It changed the offense, forced the coordinators to be a bit more creative, and I also think it inspired the entire team to lift itself to a higher level.
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They did lose to both SF and Buffalo in the regular season, but both of those were very close games, and they won in the playoffs with a backup quarterback.
Yeah I mean I could be splitting hairs. I don't think the Giants on offense played particularly well in those games. And this team was slumping to some degree down the stretch.
They had become way too predictable on play calling and teams were on to it.
We don't win the Super Bowl if Simms doesn't get hurt IMO. It changed the offense, forced the coordinators to be a bit more creative, and I also think it inspired the entire team to lift itself to a higher level.
This is a common refrain that I completely disagree with. I think they beat Buffalo more easily with Simms. He could pass on them. Hostetler couldn't and they knew it. That the Giants could still run at will they way they did was amazing feat.
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In comment 14925942 SGMen said:
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In comment 14925931 bluepepper said:
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made a couple of real nice plays on that last drive, evading pass rush and hitting receivers downfield to get us into FG range. Then OJ with a couple of great 2-3 yard power runs when SF had 11 up on the line of scrimmage. That made it a 42 yarder instead of a 47 yarder. I'm not sure Bahr hits from 47. He was very reliable but didn't have great range. As it was his kick was just inside the left upright.
Power wins football games. I think Parcells is credited with saying that?
Yes, he is.
I like this one too: The term "West Coast Offense", as it is now commonly used, derives from a remark made by then-New York Giants coach Bill Parcells after the Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers 17-3 in the 1985 playoffs. Parcells, a believer in tough defense over finesse-oriented offense, scornfully derided the 49ers' offense with the statement, "What do you think of that West Coast Offense now?"[
Funny looking back how many BBIers thought Harbaugh was a prick when Parcells was at least twice that, LOL.
you could feel a bit of unease yet appreciation watching.
it made the game feel bigger in a weird way.
also recall LT pregame psa to the troops.
Howard in that two gap NT position was trained to take a knee when he senses a double team, to get beneath it and then fire through the gap with his helmet. He did sense the double team coming (and knew it was a run/trap, I believe Guy McIntyre tipped his hat to him, observing the weight on his down hand). Watch the play again (see link) as Erik takes a knee.
SF ran a trap play, which exposed Craig's midsection perfectly. Years later George Siefert admitted he still thinks about the play and regrets running a trap there, as it exposes the back more than a zone block run.
Excellent execution by an experienced, well coached Howard at exactly the right time.
Roger Craig fumble 1990 NFC Championship - ( New Window )
Howard in that two gap NT position was trained to take a knee when he senses a double team, to get beneath it and then fire through the gap with his helmet. He did sense the double team coming (and knew it was a run/trap, I believe Guy McIntyre tipped his hat to him, observing the weight on his down hand). Watch the play again (see link) as Erik takes a knee.
SF ran a trap play, which exposed Craig's midsection perfectly. Years later George Siefert admitted he still thinks about the play and regrets running a trap there, as it exposes the back more than a zone block run.
Excellent execution by an experienced, well coached Howard at exactly the right time.
Roger Craig fumble 1990 NFC Championship - ( New Window )
Excellent execution indeed but Craig does take some fault for the fumble as well.
Fumbling with 2:34 to go?
I've got no issue with Craig for life....but should have done better there.