Love the great matchup tonight. Lol
My greatest memory of this once great rivalry was when the 49ers were poised advance to Super Bowl for only 3-peat in Super Bowl era. 49ers had ball and needed to run out clock. They were celebrating on sideline. A couple plays later Giants force fumble and have chance to win. Kicker nails it and 49ers are stunned.
One of the best defensive battles I have ever watched. Hopefully it’s a good one tonight.
Good call. That 1990 NFC Championship Game is one of my favorite games ever not involving the Dolphins. I had wagers plus I didn't want any team winning 3 straight Super Bowls especially such a pass happy team as the 49ers became in 1990. Seifert was still running the ball a lot when he took over for Walsh in 1989, including 44 rushes apiece in the conference championship game and Super Bowl. But once it turned to 1990 that team became increasingly lazy and dependent on the passing game. I was mentioning it all the time on Las Vegas radio.
Then in that Giants playoff game the trend reached the extreme, which is common. We have our own examples. The 1984 Dolphins ran the ball only 9 times in the Super Bowl defeat to the 49ers, and only 8 times in the playoff defeat to San Diego in 1994 despite leading by wide margin most of the game.
I was going nuts while watching the game because San Francisco refused to run the ball. They ended up with 11 rushes which I believe is the all time low for a Montana team. Granted, they seldom had the ball but it wasn't like the passing game was dominant. Far from it.
Then it was fitting that instead of running the ball and relying on the defense, the 49ers again refused to run and Montana ended up being belted from behind for the pivotal late fumble. Then on the subsequent field goal I was incredibly nervous. I had wagers attached, specifically the money line on the Giants who were 8 point underdog, I was so relieved but semi stunned that the Giants actually pulled it out. The Giants won the rushing attempts 36-11 and deserved to win. Then I knew I would wager on them again against the Bills in the Super Bowl. That was the era the NFC was physically dominant so I didn't care who was representing each side. I wish it were that clear cut today.
BTW, ESPN tonight also devoted a lengthy segment to the earlier meeting between the Giants and 49ers, on Monday Night when both were 10-1. That was also a memorable defensive battle, when Phil Simms was still healthy. The 49ers won 7-3 in the 3rd lowest Monday Night game ever. Steelers/Dolphins 2007 is lowest at 3-0.
The 49ers were favored by 3.5 points in that regular season game. I was watching in a sportsbook where everyone was sweating a late drive when the Giants drove deep inside the 5 then decided to go for the touchdown on 4th down instead of a field goal, which was still available given several minutes remaining. If they had kicked the field goal they would have covered.
