View Part 1 of our Top 10 New York Giants Games list here.
Criteria
- Was the game a championship, or did it lead to a championship?
- How exciting was the game at the time?
- How significant was the game in team history?
Only wins were considered, and no more than two games from any one season were selected.
5. 2019 Week 15 vs Miami Dolphins (Eli Manning’s final start)
Date: 12/15/19
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
Score: Giants 36, Dolphins 20
The 2019 season was a miserable one for the Giants. They finished 4-12 and fired Head Coach Pat Shurmur almost immediately after the year ended.
It was, however, the year the Daniel Jones era officially began in New York. Jones unceremoniously replaced Manning as the starter just two weeks into the season after Manning went 26-for-45 in a game against Buffalo. Despite Manning’s obvious regression, it felt like a cheap way to end the career of the Giants legend.
So MetLife Stadium was ecstatic when Manning got to make one final home start in Week 15 with Jones sidelined by an ankle injury. His two touchdown passes, including a 51-yard strike to Golden Tate to tie the score in the third quarter, offset his three interceptions and helped the Giants snap a nine-game losing streak.
Chants of “Eli! Eli!” began in the first quarter and lasted throughout the standing ovation Manning received when he exited the game with 1:50 remaining.
Though the win had little impact on New York’s season, its emotional nature makes it one of the top 10 New York Giants games of the last 21 years.
4. 2011 NFC Divisional Round at Green Bay Packers
Date: 1/15/12
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay
Score: Giants 37, Packers 20
It was difficult to choose between this game and New York’s thrilling overtime victory against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, but this win over the Packers is included in our list of the top 10 New York Giants games for just how unexpected it was.
New York shocked the Packers in their last playoff meeting four years earlier, but this Green Bay team was a different beast entirely. Aaron Rodgers was having the best season of his career and would be named league MVP two weeks later. The Packers were 15-1 and favored by nine points.
Yet the 9-7 Giants took an early lead on a 66-yard Hakeem Nicks touchdown catch that they would never surrender. Manning threw for a playoff career-high 330 yards, and Michael Boley and Osi Umenyiora each sacked Rodgers twice.
It was the first time a fifteen-win team lost their first playoff game, and it reminded the league just how dangerous New York was in the postseason.
3. 2007 NFC Championship Game at Green Bay Packers
Date: 12/15/19
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay
Score: Giants 23, Packers 20 (OT)
Everything was set up for a Packers storybook ending. Overtime at Lambeau Field in what would be Brett Favre’s last game in Green Bay. Negative 1 degrees Fahrenheit. The Packers won the coin toss — all they needed was one more touchdown pass, of which Favre had recently set the career record.
Corey Webster had other plans. On the Packers’ second play, he intercepted Favre to set up Lawrence Tynes’ third field goal of the night. The 47-yarder sailed through the uprights and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XLII to face the undefeated Patriots.
It was the perfect exclamation point to a back-and-forth affair that Bleacher Report later named the fifth-best conference championship game ever. Plaxico Burress set a franchise playoff record with 151 receiving yards.
2. Super Bowl XLVI vs New England Patriots
Date: 2/5/12
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Score: Giants 21, Patriots 17
This was the game where the Manning-led Giants changed from scrappy upstarts to true football powerhouses. After besting the Packers and 49ers in the playoffs — teams with a combined four losses — New York upset Tom Brady and the 13-3 Patriots to win the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl.
Like in Super Bowl XLII four years earlier, everything rested on a miraculous Giants catch. New York had the ball on its own 12-yard line with four minutes to play and one timeout. On the very first play, Manning threw a perfect 38-yard pass to Mario Manningham in double coverage. Manningham tiptoed along the sideline and somehow held on to the ball to set up Ahmad Bradshaw’s game-winning touchdown a few plays later.
The pass helped earn Manning’s second Super Bowl MVP award and made the Giants the first and only 9-7 team to win a championship.
Justin Tuck, who nearly retired before the season began, led the Giants defense with two sacks. The Patriots had been held to less than 20 points only once that season.
1. Super Bowl XLII vs New England Patriots
Date: 2/3/08
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Arizona
Score: Giants 17, Patriots 14
There are few superlatives left to give this game. It has already been called the most shocking upset in sports history and the most exciting Super Bowl ever. The Patriots, after all, were the first-ever 16-0 team and were favored by 12 points.
But in the moment — when Manning broke several tackles to complete a 32-yard pass to David Tyree, who pinned the ball to his helmet to maintain possession — all of those superlatives felt insufficient. The shock of what was happening as Burress caught the game-winning touchdown a few plays later did not wear off until Manning hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. New England’s perfect season was over.
Though the ‘Helmet Catch’ will always be the defining moment of this game, New York’s pass rushers were the true stars. New England averaged 36.8 points per game in the regular season, the best mark in over 50 years. The Giants sacked Brady five times to hold the Patriots to just two touchdowns and 274 total yards.
Featured image courtesy of John David Mercer/USA Today Sports
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