I'm trying to think about what would be the worst loss in team history - with the condition that the loss can't have had a clear 2nd order effect leading to a positive outcome.
So in other words, I'm taking Miracle in the Meadowlands 1 & 2 off the table, along with the '03 Meltdown at San Francisco. All three (while each miserable, bleak affairs) ultimately set the stage for future greatness - at least in my mind.
Super Bowl XXXV is perhaps the easy choice, but I'm curious if anyone has an honorable mention or some long buried sports trauma they'd like to dredge up as we head into the weekend?
But there are many contenders... the 1997 Vikings playoff loss. The two regular-season losses to Dallas in 1985. Etc., etc.
The one after that would be the SF meltdown in 2002. Then the SB vs the Ravens. Also the one game vs the Eagles where the last minute hook and ladder to Tiki and I think Ron Dixon almost worked if Joe Jurevicius could've held on that block down the sideline.
That one still stings.
Flipper is what I was referring to.
That team had a stretch where they went 25-5 in a 30 game stretch after the 0-2 start in 2007. There was nothing flukey about 2007 and 2011, that was a great stretch of NYG football.
That team had a stretch where they went 25-5 in a 30 game stretch after the 0-2 start in 2007. There was nothing flukey about 2007 and 2011, that was a great stretch of NYG football.
You could feel that 2008 team running out of steam.
That more haunting loss to the Eagles to me were the ones to Buddy Ryan between the Super Bowls plus that huge lead we surrendered to them punctuated by the Matt Dodge punt.
That team had a stretch where they went 25-5 in a 30 game stretch after the 0-2 start in 2007. There was nothing flukey about 2007 and 2011, that was a great stretch of NYG football.
This is easy #1 for me. There were far more dramatic losses, but 2008 was the most meaningful. We were good and we should have gone back to the Super Bowl. That is easily the biggest missed opportunity since the Parcells era.
FWIW, 2011 was a little flukey. 2007 wasn't though. 07-08, we were a top team.
That era of the Giants was always very dangerous and capable. 2008 could have been another ring.
But the misery of allowing the comeback, and of having to witness the impotence of the offense as well as ineptitude of the defense at crunch time – the experience made me feel hollow, or even stupid, like Charlie Brown believing that THIS TIME Lucy wouldn't pull the ball away...
DeSean Jackson's TD on Matt Dodge's punt - ( New Window )
This is always the image (and game) that immediately comes to mind for me whenever the question of the 'worst loss for the Giants' is raised. Parcells had Mark Collins trying to cover Flipper on a bum ankle. That worked out well (not)
True but he took that one off the table in the OP. That loss and that 97 Vikings loss were both under Fassel and was why I couldn't wait for the Giants to can him. Probably unfair, but I certainly was happy to get Coughlin. That Vikings losss was BRUTAL. We were up by 16 at the half, and I think by 9 with 2 minutes left. Phillipi Sparks and Conrad Hamilton almost came to blows on the field. Vikings had to score, recover an onsides kick, get a PI, and then kick the winning FG with like 8 seconds left. I almost threw my TV out the window... lol
Your not off. That game took a year off my life. Trey Junkin and that collapse.
The "we would have won if the official called pass interference when our wide open and eligible o-lineman was tackled in the endzone before he could make the game winning TD catch after a botched fg snap" game
The "don't punt it to Desean" game.
The "submission formations" game.
Not real happy with Flipper, Sikahema, Joe Horn, Randy Moss, nearly every eagles player ever...
Every time the Giants have a bad loss, I think
These
But there are many contenders... the 1997 Vikings playoff loss. The two regular-season losses to Dallas in 1985. Etc., etc.
Nothing else comes close to the SF game! I remember just standing out on my deck(in a tee shirt & shorts) with snow coming down, just screaming into the night(now alcohol certainly played a role,but...) for over a half an hour & not being cold at all. My(ex)wife trying to convince me to come in & finally giving up. She knew how crazy I was when it came to the Giants.(I threw her sister out of our house at the start of the 4th quarter of SB 25 & still believe to this day,if she had stayed,Norwood makes the FG!)
Giants up 21-0 with 10 minutes left.Titans score 24 unanswered points and Giants lose.
Most memorable play was Mathias Kiwanuka sacking Vince Young and then inexplicably letting him go becuse he thought he heard a whistle (and Coughlin grabbing him by the facemask as he came off the field)
2014 in Jacksonville
Giants blow 21-3 halftime lead against Jags. In 4th quarter Aaron Colvin returns a fumble for a 50 yard TD and Josh Scobee hits a 43 yarder with 25 seconds left and Giants lose 25-24.
December 2004 in Baltimore
Eli's rookie year and drops a 0.0 QB rating game (4-18 with 2 picks) against a great Raven defense. I was embarrassed for him. How he ever recovered from that game, I'll never know.
lol, and for record, based on my top 20 losses, #1 was The Flipper Game.
An insane loss that was all but forgotten. Thanks.
Totally agree.
The Eagle loss collapse in 2010 not too far behind.
But the misery of allowing the comeback, and of having to witness the impotence of the offense as well as ineptitude of the defense at crunch time – the experience made me feel hollow, or even stupid, like Charlie Brown believing that THIS TIME Lucy wouldn't pull the ball away...
DeSean Jackson's TD on Matt Dodge's punt - ( New Window )
This one is etched in my mind as well. First game that affected me physically. I was so mad I had to lay down and I remember thinking “I really shouldn’t care this much. This is not healthy.”
Yes. A win and we're in.
So many others besides those already noted.
1963 championship game against the Bears. Shofner drops a pass in the end zone.
1993 regular season finale where Mark Jackson drops key passes and Emmitt carries the Cowboys with a separated shoulder to the division title, leaving our guys to get crushed the following week against the 49ers in Simms and LT's last game.
1963 probably was a high water mark for the Giants as they entered the Wilderness Years and my waning teenage years. We didn’t know that at the time, although everyone knew the Giants dominance in the Eastern Conference couldn’t last forever.
But the one that REALLY rubs me the wrong way, was the Dodge punt game, where Desean Jackson, stuck it right in our face with the way he ran parallel to the goal line before going in.
Still pisses me off.
But there are many contenders... the 1997 Vikings playoff loss. The two regular-season losses to Dallas in 1985. Etc., etc.
+1
But the one that REALLY rubs me the wrong way, was the Dodge punt game, where Desean Jackson, stuck it right in our face with the way he ran parallel to the goal line before going in.
Still pisses me off.
Yeah, that was definitely a bad one as well. I can still picture in slow motion Marcellus Rivers and his cement shoes as the last line of defense running (like he was underwater) after Jackson on a horrible angle as I was yelling "Nooooooo!!!" lol
Ugh yeah the Jackson one was maybe worse, but they were both awful back breaking game winners for Philly.
The Desean punt game, didn't bring any franchise altering changes if I recall. The team was basically the same team that won the SB the next year.
If anything, that loss prevented them from making the playoffs in 2010 (who knows if they would have gone anywhere).
So that's the worst one in my opinion.
Miracle in the Meadowlands 1 = Coaching - handing off the ball instead of taking a knee.
Miracle in the Meadowlands 2 = It was NOT Matt Dodge. The game was lost before he kicked that ball. Coughlin put the team in the dreaded "prevent" mode. We did not move the ball on offense for an entire quarter and the defense was playing the bend and break scheme. Dodge was the scapegoat and by the way someone could have tackled Jackson. Even if we kicked it out of bounds, the game was being dominated by the Eagles at that point and the momentum was on their side.
49ers playoff game - Fassel shut down the offense once we had a large lead. The defense also completely folded. I have to also blame leadership on that defense including Strahan who let the guys on the field lose their cool.
Superbowl vs Ravens - This is on Fassel. The team was not prepared at all. Not saying we should have won but it was a complete embarrassment and we could not do anything except return one kick. We were so bad that on the next play we let the Ravens return one too.
The Desean punt game, didn't bring any franchise altering changes if I recall. The team was basically the same team that won the SB the next year.
So that's the worst one in my opinion.
I think it forced a mindset for the following season. "Finish" was the theme of the year - that game is what put it in play.
For a road game, it's just individuals swearing at their TVs.
But in that same season - did no one mention the Jay Feely 3 miss game in 06? That hurt me the most outside the obvious ones stated. Had a chance to peove we could enter Seattle and win regardless of the noise etc.