The Talkin' Giants guys did a video on the five best and worst Giants regular season wins and losses since 2000 yesterday.
That got me thinking about my own list, although I'll remove the time limit. I couldn't stick to five for each either and did 10.
Gave more credit to games that meant something either in regards to playoffs (win or in, seeding) or other misc. factors (Wellington Mara game, Eli breakthrough, etc.).
Best:
1. 1958 NYG vs. CLE: Summerall 49-yard FG in the snow to force division tiebreaker game vs. Browns, which Giants won.
2. 1986 NYG vs. WSH: De-facto NFC East title game, if Giants lose, I'm not sure they're going to the Super Bowl.
3. 2007 NYG vs. NE: Giants' performance gave them confidence to do well in playoffs.
4. 2011 NYG vs. NYJ: Cruz 99-yard TD, Giants tell Rex Ryan where to stick it after his antics leading up to game.
5. 2011 NYG vs. DAL: First Dallas game, 37-34 to keep season alive. JPP with the blocked FG.
6. 1981 NYG vs. DAL: Giants beat favored Cowboys to make playoffs, amazing defense, Danelo FG wins it.
7. 2002 NYG vs. PHI: Win-and-in game against hated Eagles. Shockey TD, Barber fumbles, egregious officiating.
8. 2005 NYG vs. DEN: Eli's big day, late TD to seal 13-point comeback over Denver.
9. 2005 NYG vs. WSH: Wellington Mara game, sheer dominance over Washington, 36-0.
10. 2008 NYG vs. CAR: Derrick Ward goes off, Kasay missed late FG, Giants get game-winning TD for 1 seed.
Worst:
1. 1988 NYG vs. NYJ: Giants outplayed but comeback late before Jets' GW TD. No playoffs after 49ers lay down like dogs.
2. 2010 NYG vs. PHI: Miracle at Meadowlands 2. Inexplicable 28 point outburst in fourth quarter capped by Jackson TD.
3. 1993 NYG vs. DAL: Great game but (a) losing to Dallas always stinks + (b) Giants had a chance to get 1 seed.
4. 2005 NYG vs. SEA: Jay Feely game, three missed FG, if Giants win, they get 1 seed in playoffs. SNL makes fun of it.
5. 2009 NYG vs. CAR: Horrible sendoff to the old Giants Stadium, 41-9 loss to underdog Panthers, season over.
6. 1978 NYG vs. PHI: Miracle at the Meadowlands 1. Brutal at the time, although this did usher in the George Young era.
7. 1991 NYG vs. CIN: THE Ray Handley Era game IMHO. Giants at 7-5 still have chance at playoffs but lose to 1-11 Bengals.
8. 2017 LAR vs. NYG: My personal bias here but I was never more embarrassed for the team than after this game. 3rd + 33.
9. 1966 WSH vs. NYG: Terrible team and meaningless game but giving up 72 points is never fun.
10. 2006 NYG vs. TEN: Titans score 24 straight in fourth quarter after doing nothing for 50 minutes. Kiwanuka game.
Best/Worst Games - (
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That was the Squib kick out of bounds.
Wasn't there another terrible loss to Dallas where Eli and Coughlin mis-managed the clock near the goal line around 2014 or 15? Tough to remember but something is sticking out there.
Other than that, good list from the era I can remember (2001 on).
I think they were eliminated if they lost that game. Eli down 12 with what 3 minutes left? Unbelievable...
There's no argument. That was a season saving play by JPP. Eli and JPP basically put the entire team on their backs that night and kept the dream alive.
The 2008 win over the Ravens is definitely in my Top 10 since 2000. After that game, the New York Giants were hands down the best team in football and it was just so damn satisfying after some people called the '07 Giants a fluky Champion.
1989 at Denver was a great win.
Last minute comeback versus Denver to end their undefeated season. Kent Graham to Amani Toomer.
Worst: Losing to the freaking Jets 10-6 in the last game of the damn season in 1988 which resulted in missing the playoffs.
I believe we were up 31-10 with something like 10 minutes left. A thousand things had to go wrong for us to lose & a thousand things did. Just a painful, painful loss that would still linger were it not for 2011.
That was the Squib kick out of bounds.
Wasn't there another terrible loss to Dallas where Eli and Coughlin mis-managed the clock near the goal line around 2014 or 15? Tough to remember but something is sticking out there.
Other than that, good list from the era I can remember (2001 on).
If I did top 20 I would have included the 03 Cowboys-Giants game and the Brian Westbrook game from the same year. 03 was brutal. I had to look back...Billy Cundiff had 7 field goals, including one from 52 after the squib kick and then Quincy Carter's 26-yard pass to Antonio Bryant.
You might be thinking of the 2015 game, Week 1, when the Giants had the ball 1st and goal at the 4 with under 2 minutes left. Instead of going for the jugular, two Jennings runs went nowhere followed by incomplete pass. Dallas had two timeouts so they got the ball back with a minute and change left and drove down field for GW TD.
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in 2011 of a Dallas FG attempt sealing a win was a huge factor in making our playoff run towards our SB title
I think they were eliminated if they lost that game. Eli down 12 with what 3 minutes left? Unbelievable...
Yes...season would have been over.
We all have a couple personal best or worst I’m sure, wouldn’t argue that mine belong on a top ten list, but of games I’ve been to live over the years:
Best:
Dec 2000 Giants 28 Jax 25:
Giants beat a tough Coughlin-coached Jags team to clinch NFC East and #1 seed. Signature play was Shaun Williams blowing up Jimmy Smith over the middle on the first drive of the game to set the tone.
Williams would probably be not only thrown out of the game, but arrested for a hit like that now, but at the time is was a beauty, and the stadium exploded
Oct 2005 Giants 36 Skins 0:
The “Duke” game, 1st home game after Wellington passed away. Tiki in his prime, broke a 60 yarder on the opening drive, on his was to a 200+ yard rushing day. Giants rolled, stadium rocked. Emotional game and great win
Worst:
Sept 1998 Dallas 31 NYG 7
College friend invites me to join her for Monday night football, and we had great seats to sit back and suffer through Deion Sanders make the Giants look like they were running in quicksand. Deion returned a punt and INT for long TDs, and caught a 50 yard pass on offense from some guy named Jason Garrett playing QB for the Cowboys. After each big play Deion preened like he was the queen of England or something. God I hate the f**king Cowboys
Oct 2017 Chargers 27 NYG 22
OBJ broken ankle game. The promise of 2016 had already worn off with an 0-4 start in 2017, but the Giants were game in this one, and took the lead on a long Eli-OBJ TD early in the 4th Q. Giants were driving late in the game and still had a 22-20 lead, when OBJ leaps, comes down wrong, and the inevitable happens as the Giants blow it late. 3-13, here we come
What's sad is that outside of the 1 and only playoff game vs the Falcons in 2011, it's the most memorable game i've seen in Metlife Stadium, which has mostly seen losing football.
What's sad is that outside of the 1 and only playoff game vs the Falcons in 2011, it's the most memorable game i've seen in Metlife Stadium, which has mostly seen losing football.
I'll never forget how quiet the stadium was after the game. If I recall correctly a bunch of fans left when the team was up 31-10 so it wasn't a packed house. I remember seeing fans telling others that they'd see them for the playoffs in a few weeks. And then the comeback happened and it was a funeral setting real quick.
Joe Morris rumbles for over 200 yards and 3 TDs, defense dominates, classic 80s era Giants win
We all have a couple personal best or worst I’m sure, wouldn’t argue that mine belong on a top ten list, but of games I’ve been to live over the years:
Best:
Dec 2000 Giants 28 Jax 25:
Giants beat a tough Coughlin-coached Jags team to clinch NFC East and #1 seed. Signature play was Shaun Williams blowing up Jimmy Smith over the middle on the first drive of the game to set the tone.
Williams would probably be not only thrown out of the game, but arrested for a hit like that now, but at the time is was a beauty, and the stadium exploded
Oct 2005 Giants 36 Skins 0:
The “Duke” game, 1st home game after Wellington passed away. Tiki in his prime, broke a 60 yarder on the opening drive, on his was to a 200+ yard rushing day. Giants rolled, stadium rocked. Emotional game and great win
Worst:
Sept 1998 Dallas 31 NYG 7
College friend invites me to join her for Monday night football, and we had great seats to sit back and suffer through Deion Sanders make the Giants look like they were running in quicksand. Deion returned a punt and INT for long TDs, and caught a 50 yard pass on offense from some guy named Jason Garrett playing QB for the Cowboys. After each big play Deion preened like he was the queen of England or something. God I hate the f**king Cowboys
Oct 2017 Chargers 27 NYG 22
OBJ broken ankle game. The promise of 2016 had already worn off with an 0-4 start in 2017, but the Giants were game in this one, and took the lead on a long Eli-OBJ TD early in the 4th Q. Giants were driving late in the game and still had a 22-20 lead, when OBJ leaps, comes down wrong, and the inevitable happens as the Giants blow it late. 3-13, here we come
JAX-NYG would be 11 on my list. Great game.
I believe the 2008 Giants are the only team in NFL history to have beaten all four conference championship participants in the same season. That makes that year even more frustrating and disappointing.
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We went into Cleveland 4-0 and got slapped around by their 1-3 team. After that game, we went on a roll, stood at 11-1..And then there was Plax
I believe the 2008 Giants are the only team in NFL history to have beaten all four conference championship participants in the same season. That makes that year even more frustrating and disappointing.
As a sidenote, I went to see the Giants when they played in Az and as many will recall, Warner et al gave us fits, though we won out at the end.
I remember talking to some Cards’ fans afterwards and remarked that they (the Cards) will be a force in the playoffs. Little did I know (or expect) that THEY would go to the SB and we’d stay home.
Eli was really fucking good in 2010 also, it's just that there was an unbelievably bizarrely high number of INTs that bounced off of our WRs hands that year. You think Engram was bad this year?
There's a montage of Eli's INTs in 2010, I think one day I went through and counted how many bounced off WRs hands and it was like 50%.
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but that was the worst loss for me.
What's sad is that outside of the 1 and only playoff game vs the Falcons in 2011, it's the most memorable game i've seen in Metlife Stadium, which has mostly seen losing football.
I'll never forget how quiet the stadium was after the game. If I recall correctly a bunch of fans left when the team was up 31-10 so it wasn't a packed house. I remember seeing fans telling others that they'd see them for the playoffs in a few weeks. And then the comeback happened and it was a funeral setting real quick.
I remember you could hear a pindrop in the tunnel walking back to the parking lot... except for the distant E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES chants that pierced the silence with an unimaginable and incomprehensible level of pain..
Still haunts me.