Quite honestly, even with LT on that 1989 team, and the 41-0 game the 2000 team had, I have to go with the 2008 team. Before Plax shot himself, that team was just running their opponents off the field. It was the most dominant stretch of Giants football I had ever seen.
I'd say the 1989 Giants beat the 2000 Giants though.
Interesting to think about.
The only consistent thing about that season was Burress not playing well.
He had one good game all year. But because Jim Johnson made a generic comment about him, everyone forgets everything.
Plax and OSI not going down and that SB is ours!!!
1989, niners and rams were pretty good
The 2008 team had two 1,000 yard RBs, that offensive line was excellent.
The Niners were putting it all together as that season ended.
THe Giants had a playoff-caliber team but 2 crushing losses to Eagles and that debacle final game vs Jets was ridiculous.
We get it already
So what you're getting at is ...
The Plaxico shooting incident had an impact on the 2008 New York Football Giants season?
They went is appropriate. They just forgot to play...
After the Minnesota win, I thought they had a better shot against Baltimore.
I thought Super Bowl 35 would have a final of 14-10 or something in that neighborhood, going either way.
Boy, was I wrong?
I mean the 9-7 Cardinals led by Kurt Warner nearly defeated the Steelers in that game. The Giants with that running game and a healthy Burress would have won that game by at least 10 in my opinion.
Christian, I get it Burress was not having a great statistical season that year, but his presence forced opposing defenses to account for him. He was the ultimate decoy that year which allowed the running game to thrive.
From a team talent perspective I’ll take 1989 all day, but from a situational perspective, the 2008 team had a clear path to the Lombardi. The competition in 1989 was stronger.
People put too much weight on Plax shooting. The other big factor was the DL being gassed by seasons end. I feel like Osi being lost for the season to the hip flexor in pre season led to the DL floundering at seasons ends.
But still, those GMEN pulled it together against the Delhome led Panthers to win the one seed throughout. And that game was absolutely amazing. Derek Ward turning into Adrian Peterson for one game was quite amazing. And I’ll never forget the camera shaking as the fans went berserk during that heavy weight bout. What a game. Was very proud of the fans that night. And the team for pulling it out.
But as I said, the DL was gassed and without them we had no shot at finishing the run. Even with a healthy Plax. Damn shame.
I'll pull a christian and say the same thing over and over about the past.
No way that Giants team doesn't go into the Linc and has their way with the Eagles in the 2002 NFL play-offs. I'm still UNHINGED by that one.
For what? What the fuck did those 49ers do anyway after their comeback? Got blown away by Tampa Bay.
That's the NFL I miss, man. 20 years later it's just plain old butt cheese.
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They were on fire, one of the most exciting giants offenses. The collapse vs. San Francisco takes the cake for me as the most brutal Giants loss.
I'll pull a christian and say the same thing over and over about the past.
No way that Giants team doesn't go into the Linc and has their way with the Eagles in the 2002 NFL play-offs. I'm still UNHINGED by that one.
For what? What the fuck did those 49ers do anyway after their comeback? Got blown away by Tampa Bay.
That's the NFL I miss, man. 20 years later it's just plain old butt cheese.
I get angry all over again too when I think about that game but I don't know why so many of us here just assume that we would have beaten Tampa Bay in the playoffs. Kerry Collins did not play well under a heavy pass rush and Tampa Bay would have been in his face all game making him panic throw and fall apart like a cheap bike as he tended to do in these situations.
But yeah...its been 20 years and if I think about that game longer than 2 minutes I start to get physically angry and worked up all over again LOL
1988 third (see 1989)
2000 team overachieved so not in the category of 88, 89, 08.
2002 is a weird one in that we were really peaking and playing so well. I just don't think we would have a real shot to beat Tampa or Philly. I mean we barely beat philly the last week of the season at home when they had very little to play for and we had everything to play for.
2008 was the type of team TC envisioned when he started. OSI was a huge preseason injury but they had two other key ones. Robbins and Pierce if I am recalling correctly. Just wore down and did not have quite the depth.
Some keep slamming Plax's stats. That team was number one in rushing at about 160 yards per game. Plax was a big part of that as he was a devastating blocker and he how defenses lined up accounting for him played in what call Eli would make. It was a pick your poison offense and a really good one imv.
But some injuries and the Plax situation caught up with some at some point, and they started to lose some momentum and looked vunerable on Offense (or moreso than earlier in year). Particularly with the teams that knew them better like the Eagles and Cowboys I seem to recall.
Not sure 2008 is a definite "lost ring" year, but it's not like there was some dominating group amongst the rest of the playoff teams that the NYG couldn't have gotten through it.
1988 and 1989 Giants had a lot of talent (some flaws). But it was jsut simply difficult to get through the NFC back then. So many very strong teams.
Haha, following a 7-9 season with a previously down-and-out QB. Big disappointment.
What makes you say that? The 2008 team was absolutely a dominating team. That late Oct Pitt game? That was one of the hardest fought, hardest hitting games I can remember watching. The problem was they wore down, especially the defense at the latter part of the season. Losing Plax coupled with that killed that team at the end.
All you need to know is what Eli said recently -- He put Burress on his all Giants team - first selection
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Easy. That team had Parcells and Belichick. They also had a solid OL and the best player in NFL history in LT on it.
The 2008 team had two 1,000 yard RBs, that offensive line was excellent.
The 1989 team had LT.
I share this view. I'm not sure that '89 team gets by the great 49ers team that year, but not getting a crack at it is haunting. We played them very tough that year in Candlestick and tied it at 24 all heading into the 4th QTR. But the turnovers were a killer.
Even in the win vs. Carolina, you just knew we were in trouble. No pass rush, no downfield threat, and by all accounts the wheels were coming off that team.
HOWEVER... that stretch between two specific plays:
- Bradshaw 88 yard TD run against Buffalo, 12/23/2007
- Domenik Hixon drop againt Philadelphia, 12/7/2008
was the greatest 12 months of Giants football I have ever seen. 12-2 in regular season, 4-0 in playoffs, and SB XLII. 1986 was a wonderful ride from start to finish, but 2007-8 was pretty f'ing exhilarating.
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Easy. That team had Parcells and Belichick. They also had a solid OL and the best player in NFL history in LT on it.
I share this view. I'm not sure that '89 team gets by the great 49ers team that year, but not getting a crack at it is haunting. We played them very tough that year in Candlestick and tied it at 24 all heading into the 4th QTR. But the turnovers were a killer.
Cofer missed a 51 yarder with the score tied at 24. The effing officials called Reyna Thompson for being in the neutral zone, if my memory serves me correctly. They showed a replay if that on MNF and Al, Frank, and Dan thought it was a bogus call. Of course, Cofer got to re-kick it, this time from 46 yards out (5 less yards due to the penalty), and made it this time. Cofer had a career year that year, but once he initially missed that kick the Giants had all the momentum. They had already come back from 24-7 down. What a missed chance that was :-(
I'm not saying they would have beaten the niners again that year had they played them in the NFC Title game in Frisco, but if that game was played at Giants Stadium between those two teams, I'd take my chances against them. Having said all that, the Niners were a superb team in '89 and definitely deserved to win the SB that year. The Giants were their kryptonite though, even moreso than the Rams.
Too bad Bavaro was gone because of fucking Vencie Glenn (I'll never forgive him for that '89 game in SD even though he eventually played for the NYG). The 2008 team ran out of steam and was missing Osi and PLax at the end. The '90 team was missing Bavaro, but still was a threat against anyone they played. The worst case scenario for both teams happened to take place though. I'd take the '89 Giants' worst case scenario (losing to Lambs in OT at home) again over the 2008 Giants' worst case scenario again (losing to the Eagles in embarrassing fashion at home) though if there were replays of those final games, if that makes any sense.
The '90 team was missing Bavaro, but still was a threat against anyone they played.
Correction:
I meant to type the '89 team was missing Bavaro, not the '90 team.
Atlanta (number 6 team) beating Green Bay in the Saturday game guaranteed the Falcons would be playing the (number 1 team) Eagles in the divisional round.
No. I don't think the Giants could have beaten the Bucs but I had my target on Philly prior to the playoffs starting.
Sloppy Giants Hold On - By Frank Litsky, Special To the New York Times - Oct. 23, 1989 - ( New Window )
Plax and OSI not going down and that SB is ours!!!
1989, niners and rams were pretty good
Yeah, the roads to the SB were quite different in '89/'00/'08.
'89 definitely had the toughest road. Philly/Rams/49ers that year....ouch.
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In comment 15732681 Optimus-NY said:
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Easy. That team had Parcells and Belichick. They also had a solid OL and the best player in NFL history in LT on it.
I share this view. I'm not sure that '89 team gets by the great 49ers team that year, but not getting a crack at it is haunting. We played them very tough that year in Candlestick and tied it at 24 all heading into the 4th QTR. But the turnovers were a killer.
Cofer missed a 51 yarder with the score tied at 24. The effing officials called Reyna Thompson for being in the neutral zone, if my memory serves me correctly. They showed a replay if that on MNF and Al, Frank, and Dan thought it was a bogus call. Of course, Cofer got to re-kick it, this time from 46 yards out (5 less yards due to the penalty), and made it this time. Cofer had a career year that year, but once he initially missed that kick the Giants had all the momentum. They had already come back from 24-7 down. What a missed chance that was :-(
I'm not saying they would have beaten the niners again that year had they played them in the NFC Title game in Frisco, but if that game was played at Giants Stadium between those two teams, I'd take my chances against them. Having said all that, the Niners were a superb team in '89 and definitely deserved to win the SB that year. The Giants were their kryptonite though, even moreso than the Rams.
Too bad Bavaro was gone because of fucking Vencie Glenn (I'll never forgive him for that '89 game in SD even though he eventually played for the NYG). The 2008 team ran out of steam and was missing Osi and PLax at the end. The '90 team was missing Bavaro, but still was a threat against anyone they played. The worst case scenario for both teams happened to take place though. I'd take the '89 Giants' worst case scenario (losing to Lambs in OT at home) again over the 2008 Giants' worst case scenario again (losing to the Eagles in embarrassing fashion at home) though if there were replays of those final games, if that makes any sense.
If there's any solace, IMO, the 1980s played out the way a neutral fan would've expected it to.
Any Given Sunday always applied to a particular game, but usually the best team won the SB each season.
Even the '87 Redskins, haha.
Yup. Knew you'd mention that Greg, lol. A Bob McKittrick special if there ever was one. Dirty muhfugger that he was.
2008 by 2008 rules
They were unbeatable for that duration and, at the time, I thought they were a lock to repeat.
The only consistent thing about that season was Burress not playing well.
He had one good game all year. But because Jim Johnson made a generic comment about him, everyone forgets everything.
It doesn't matter how many good games he had, what matters was how defenses had to account for him. Regardless of what Jim Johnson said, the evidence was on the tape, defenses played us differently after Plax went down.
To answer the OP's question, the '89 team wins.
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He missed half of the game in SF and, though he didn't miss any other games, he wasn't 100% the rest of the season.
Yup. Knew you'd mention that Greg, lol. A Bob McKittrick special if there ever was one. Dirty muhfugger that he was.
So true. The "master" of the crackback blocking scheme. And Alex Gibbs wasn't too far behind, either...
2008 was an excellent team, but I think 1989 negates their strength in the rushing game. Offense was pretty damned good all year but sputtered a bit late in year (Carolina game notwithstanding)
I think 2000 was a good team that took advantage of fortunate circumstances.
But keep in mind -- Burress played like a series against the Cards -- and the Giants offense was dominant. Burress didn't play against Carolina, and the run game was dominant. Burress was suspended earlier in the year against Seattle and the Giants went bananas on offense.
Burress was banged up, ineffective, or out in some of the most productive games the offense had.
Why didn't the Giants need the mythical decoy of Burress against a pretty good Panthers defense late in the year? Because they had a damn good run game with or without Burress.
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The 08 team started great and ran out of gas.
The only consistent thing about that season was Burress not playing well.
He had one good game all year. But because Jim Johnson made a generic comment about him, everyone forgets everything.
It doesn't matter how many good games he had, what matters was how defenses had to account for him. Regardless of what Jim Johnson said, the evidence was on the tape, defenses played us differently after Plax went down.
Really, how?
In the first 11 games of the year (before Burress shot himself) the Offense averaged about 30 points per game.
In the last 5 games (after shooting), the Offense averaged under 18 points a game. And even in the playoff loss against the Eagles, the Offense only scored 9 points.
The loss of Plax may not have meant everything but it clearly meant something. Because the Offense wasn't producing touchdowns and points like they were before...
I definitely think attention to Burress helped the Giants create room in the running game. And a healthy Burress made defenses pick a least bad option. Gilbride said that.
My view is simply it's more complicated than Burress ruined the season.
Fact is Burress was hurt and Jacobs was also banged up.
Take out the meaningless game against Minnesota, and without/limited Burress the Giants scored 37 against AZ, 23 against Washington, and 34 against Carolina.
The Giants struggled against Dallas and Philly the 2nd and 3rd time they faced them on the season.
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The loss of Plax may not have meant everything but it clearly meant something. Because the Offense wasn't producing touchdowns and points like they were before...
I definitely think attention to Burress helped the Giants create room in the running game. And a healthy Burress made defenses pick a least bad option. Gilbride said that.
My view is simply it's more complicated than Burress ruined the season.
Fact is Burress was hurt and Jacobs was also banged up.
Take out the meaningless game against Minnesota, and without/limited Burress the Giants scored 37 against AZ, 23 against Washington, and 34 against Carolina.
The Giants struggled against Dallas and Philly the 2nd and 3rd time they faced them on the season.
As I already said, it wasn't everything but it was clearly something to not have Burress.
I don't care if it was other teams rolling coverages to his side and freeing up other guys to make plays when he played or when he was out it added another guy to play run defense or free lance a bit in the secondary...it affected the NYG scoring and ability for Eli to get them into the end zone.
Dallas and Philly took advantage since they knew the Giants offense the best and knew how to change their defenses the most...
Nah. '86. They won 12 straight to close the season. Their last five they won by a collective score of 187-54. The games before that included beating an excellent Redskins team in RFK to take control of the division, the comeback in San Francisco, and 4th and 17. Beat the Niners twice, the Broncos twice, and the Skins twice.
By the time that divisional game against Philly rolled around, I remember being concerned a bit on which Giants team would show up. Would it be the one who shrugged off the Burress thing and beat Washington Carolina?
Or would it be the Giants who no-showed vs Philly and Dallas?
Note: I thought that Eagle playoff game was one of the worst Eli Manning performances pre-2016. Hate to sound like a casual fan, but something was "off" about him that day.
1989 Divisional Playoff - L.A. Rams at N.Y. Giants - ( New Window )
I went back and looked at. It was Sheldon. Tried to wipe it from my mind. Madden thought the call was wrong. He said to let em play. See the timestamp below (2:22:00).
1989 Divisional Playoff Game - Rams at Giants (Jan. '90) - 2:22:00 mark - ( New Window )