A little history curtesy of Dave Klien

[MightyGiants]

He has this trip down memory lane (at least some people's memories) in his latest online offering.

In 1961, the Giants were being led by a new head coach, Allie Sherman. They had a great season, led as they were by a newly-obtained veteran quarterback named Y.A. Tittle and a newly-obtained veteran wide receiver, Del Shofner.

The running game was ordinary at best, featuring aging Alex Webster, younger but equally plodding Phil King and a little-used future star named Joe Morrison.

The Giants approached the final game of the season with a 10-3 record (they only played 14 games in those years), tied with the Philadelphia Eagles, a situation that seems to have always been in place, you know?

The nightmare was that "Big Red" (Webster) and "The Chief" (King) both came up hurt for the final game against the Cleveland Browns in Yankee Stadium. What to do? What to do?

Sherman had to sell his idea to his assistant coaches, but ultimately they agreed. He was going to use the short pass instead of the run; sideline passes, mostly, three and four yards downfield. It didn't matter much if any additional yardage was gained. The completion would set up a second-and-seven, second-and-six, and suddenly the Giants were in a passing mode.

It worked. The game ended in a 7-7 deadlock -- "a tie for Christmas," as one of the local newspapers so cleverly headlined -- while the Eagles lost and finished at 10-4 to the Giants' 10-3-1.

It was on to the NFL championship game, a 37-0 horror show against the Packers in Green Bay, but a championship game nonetheless.

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[bighitterdalama]

Richie,

A nice story, but I believe that M. Klein exercised a bit of historical licence. Enterng the final game of the 1961 season, the Giants record was 10-3;  the defending NFL Champion Eagles were 9-4. A Giant "non-loss" or an Eagle "non-win" would give the Giants a title. A Giant loss plus an Eagle win would have necessitated a one game playoff to determine the NFL East Champions.

As stated, the Giants' tied the Browns, 7-7,  a "non-loss," which gave the Giants a 10-3-1 record. This tie made the Eagles' 27-24 win over a very strong Lions squad a meaningless victory.

Two weeks later (December 31, 1961), the Giants faced the Packers in Green Bay. The game, played at City Stadium (later renamed Lambeau Field), featured typical Green Bay winter weather. An injury-riddled Giant backfield negated any effective running game. This allowed the Packer defense to concentrate on the potent Giant passing attack. The Giants' offense sputtered, while the Packer running attack, led by Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung, dominated the game. Game MVP Hornung scored 19 points (one TD, three field goals, four PATs), while Packer QB Bart Starr threw for three touchdowns. Final: Packers 37, Giants 0.

One week later, the Eagles played a rematch against the Lions in a historical oddity called the Playoff Bowl. A ten year experiment (1960-1969), the Playoff Bowl was a feature game between NFL's second place finishers. Curiously, until the Super Bowl was established in 1966, the Playoff Bowl was played AFTER the NFL Championship. In the 1961 Playoff Bowl (played on January 07, 1962), the Lions trounced the Eagles, 38-10.

BigHitterDalama