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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:09:24 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:09:40 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:09:56 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:10:10 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:10:26 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:10:57 GMT 10
 Linebacker Pepper Johnson #52, tackle William Roberts #66 and safety Myron Guyton #29 of the New York Giants celebrate after defeating the San Francisco 49ers. |
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 18:11:27 GMT 10
 San Francisco running back Roger Craig (33) tries to run through New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor (56). |
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 20, 2023 10:25:30 GMT 10
January 20, 1991: The San Francisco 49ers were denied a chance to become the first NFL team to three-peat when the New York Giants stunned them on a last-second field goal to win the 1990 NFC Championship, 15-13.
The two-time defending Super Bowl champion 49ers were 14-2 in the regular season, including a 7-3 win over the Giants (13-3) a month before to set up homefield advantage for the championship. It was an epic matchup that featured several Hall of Famers on both teams.
The game lived up to the hype. After being tied 6-6 at halftime, less than five minutes into the third quarter 49ers quarterback Joe Montana threw a 61-yard touchdown to John Taylor to give the 49ers a 13–6 lead. New York would cut it to 13-9 to close the third quarter. Then with 9:42 left in the game, Giants defensive lineman KOd Montana with a brutal hit that left him writhing in pain on the field. Montana suffered a bruised sternum, bruised stomach, cracked ribs and a broken hand.
But even with Montana out, the 49ers clang to a 13-12 lead late in the game and were relying on the legs of running back Roger Craig. With San Francisco trying to run out the clock, and a fresh set of downs on the Giants side of the field, it appeared the 49ers were heading to a third straight Super Bowl, but nose tackle Erik Howard split the defense and got his helmet on the ball. Craig fumbled, and linebacker Lawrence Taylor recovered.
The Giants drove to the 49ers 25-yard line and kicker Matt Bahr forever haunted 49ers fan with a field goal as time expired.
The Giants would go on to be the beneficiaries of a last-second missed field goal to win Super Bowl XXV, 20-19, over the Buffalo Bills. The 49ers would go on to wonder what if, and the franchise was forever changed as Montana would only play one more game with the team over a year later after recovering from all his injuries.
The 1990 NFC championship forever changed two franchises and the balance of power in the NFC. Here's to you New York Giants and your win.
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 20, 2023 10:26:06 GMT 10
So the Giants have broken 49ers fans’ hearts twice on this list. And the first time they did so, the Giants ensured the Niners wouldn’t be the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
After all, San Francisco was the back-to-back reigning Super Bowl champions entering the 1991 NFC Championship game.
Even though touchdowns were hard to come by in the game — the only one being a 61-yard pass from quarterback Joe Montana to wide receiver John Taylor — the 49ers had this bout in the books. They were up 13-12 late in the fourth quarter.
Sure, the lead might have been bigger had Montana not taken a huge hit by the Giants’ Leonard Marshall. But San Francisco was still winning.
And in New York territory, too, with 2:42 remaining.
That’s when running back Roger Craig fumbled. That fumble will haunt 49ers fans’ dreams for years.
The Giants marched down the field and took a 15-13 lead as time expired, thanks to kicker Matt Bahr’s 42-yard field goal. And New York would march on to a Super Bowl victory over the Buffalo Bills.
“It haunts me to this day,” then-head coach George Seifert said, via Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News in 2016. “I don’t know that ownership has ever forgiven me for losing that game.”
We forgive you, George. And we forgive you too, Roger.
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 20, 2023 10:26:27 GMT 10
Unfortunately for San Francisco fans, the Giants are one of those teams sending the SF 49ers to offseason heartbreak more than once during both teams’ elongated histories.
While the 2012 defeat at the hands of the G-Men was painful, the 1991 NFC Championship game loss was much more devastating. And just like that turnover-prone game from Kyle Williams, the 1991 version featured yet another costly fumble that turned the tide of the outcome away from the Niners.
Only that time, it was a San Francisco legend, running back Roger Craig, who coughed up the most infamous fumble in franchise history with mere minutes remaining in regulation and the SF 49ers holding firm to a 13-12 lead.
It was a hard-fought game up to that point, with the Niners being the only team to find the end zone that pitiful January afternoon. But despite the defensive showdown, San Francisco had the game won. The Giants weren’t able to get the SF 49ers off the field, and all Craig needed to do was secure possession to chew up the clock.
His fumble led to New York’s game-winning field goal, and the Giants would go on to win in the Super Bowl much like they did in 2012.
But what makes this even more painful is the loss cost San Francisco its chance at NFL history to become the first team ever to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.
It also marked the end of the SF 49ers dynasty from the previous decade.
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