Copr. NJ.com 2008
Let’s be honest, we as Giants fans are currently in a state of spiraling depression (aside from the seasonal variety). Two out of our three most hated rivals will be competing against each other next weekend for the right to play in Super Bowl LXIX while the G-men have been sipping Long Island Iced Teas in Cancun since the day after week 18 wrapped up. It’s hard to remember that we’ve still had some notable success since the clock struck midnight for the final time in 1999. One of the main cornerstones of the Giants culture is our ability to excel in the David role whenever we’ve gone up against any type of Goliath in the postseason. So to spread a little serotonin in these barren winter months, we at Giants Fare have developed our list of the top five Giants playoff victories of the 21st century:
HM. 2022 NFC Wild Card vs. Minnesota Vikings
Copr. PFF 2023
Call it recency bias, but we really needed this one as a franchise. Quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley each had one of their last great moments in a Giants uniform. Jones put on a clinic in what is currently his only postseason dub, becoming the first QB ever with 300 passing yards and at least 70 rushing yards in the same game in playoff history; leading us to our first win in mid January in 11 years. Sadly, the turning of the tides since that night, which began the very next weekend in Philadelphia, keep this gem off the list.
5. 2011 NFC Divisional @ Green Bay Packers
Copr. Giants.com 2012
Spoiler: our victory over the Cowboys in the 2007 Divisional won’t be featured on this list. That game, while etched in Giants lore and considered a sizeable upset, didn’t have quite the shock factor that this contest generated. Simply put, quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ 2011 MVP season was one of the greatest ever put up by any signal caller in history, with 45 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and an NFL record 122.5 passer rating in only 15 games played to lead his Packers to an NFL-best 15-1 record.
That being said, it must’ve been pretty deflating for cheeseheads everywhere when New York wide receiver Hakeem Nicks caught that Eli Manning beauty of a Hail Mary to put the Giants up 20-10 at halftime. Manning’s three touchdowns, along with New York’s ‘NASCAR’ package defense, kept the Packers out of the end zone in multiple crunch time drives in the second half until it was already too late for Green Bay, soundly defeating the defending Super Bowl champions 37-20 as 8-point underdogs.
4. 2011 NFC Championship Game vs. San Fransisco 49ers
Copr. The New York Times 2012
Despite riding high off the previous week’s upset against the Pack, the Giants remained razor-focused against a San Fransisco 49ers team that was in the first year of the short-lived but exciting Jim Harbaugh era. San Fran themselves had a classic victory in the divisional round, knocking off the bountygate New Orleans Saints 36-32 with ‘The Catch III’ to tight end Vernon Davis to seal the victory.
Despite Davis adding another two touchdowns to his postseason run, Eli Manning proved why he was the Giants Iron Man throughout his career. The future Hall of Famer was clobbered on 12 of his dropbacks in this one, with six of those hits being sacks. Nonetheless, Eli never failed to get back to his feet, going 32-58 with two touchdowns. That, combined with two costly muffed punts by 49ers receiver Kyle Williams, helped the Giants retake the lead in the 4th quarter and later assisted in Lawrence Tynes’ game winning field goal in overtime to send the Giants to the Super Bowl for the second time in 5 years in a manner eerily similar to another NFC title game yet to be mentioned on this list.
3. Super Bowl XLVI vs. New England Patriots
Copr. Youtube 2012
To cap off our 2011 trilogy, we look back at this highly anticipated rematch of 4 years prior. Tom Brady had been chomping at the bit to avenge his 2007 defeat at the hands of another underdog Giants team.
Eli Manning would respond to the challenge by crafting the statistically superior Super Bowl out of his two appearances, finishing 30-40 with 290 yards passing and a touchdown pass in the first quarter to New York folk hero Victor Cruz after a Patriots safety to take an early 9-0 lead. Brady would then conjur 17 unanswered points to go up 17-9 early in the third quarter. After two Lawrence Tynes field goals, the Giants were forced to start deep in their own territory late in the fourth quarter, trailing 15-17. It was then that Manning continued his string of masterclasses in the clutch, throwing one of the most pinpoint passes in NFL history right into the hands of a waiting Manningham for a 35 yard gain to kick off the drive. After orchestrating their way down the field, the Giants were in prime position to run out the clock for a game deciding Lawrence Tynes chip shot FG attempt when New England purposefully opened up a gap on a run play for Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who’s momentum carried the lower half of his body over the goal line to give the Giants a 21-17 lead with a little under a minute remaining. A final New England Hail Mary attempt would fail however, and the Giants would secure their fourth and most recent Lombardi Trophy as Manning cemented his legacy as Tom Brady’s kryptonite.
2. 2007 NFC Championship vs. Green Bay Packers
Copr. Sports Illustrated 2008
Like 2011, no one expected the postseason charity case New York Giants to win a playoff game against the mighty Packers, especially not on a frigid full moon night at Lambeau Field with temperatures sitting below zero at kickoff alone.
If you ever wanted to see a man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere than he was at that moment, look no further than Giants head coach Tom Coughlin that night. The red-faced play caller still managed to lead his team to one of the most shocking Super Bowl berths of the last 25 years. RB’s Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs shined in this gritty battle of wills, each running for over 60 yards and a touchdown on a day where a young Eli was struggling to complete passes in the Wisconsin tundra.
Packers QB Brett Favre was unable to cap off a resurgent year as he threw a costly interception on what would turn out to be his last ever pass in a Packer uniform to cornerback Corey Webster to set up the game winning field goal for Lawrence Tynes in overtime after he had missed two previous attempts in the fourth quarter that each would have put the Giants in the lead.
1. Super Bowl XLII vs New England Patriots
Copr. Sports Illustrated 2008
You all knew it was this, it couldn’t be anything but this. It sure as hell wasn’t supposed to be. Newspapers across the world already had “19-0” ready to print for their Monday editions as the Patriots had just completed the first and still only 16-0 regular season in league history as well as winning their two conference playoff games somewhat handily. When Giants receiver Plaxico Burress predicted early in the week leading up to the game that the Giants would win by a score of 21-17, Tom Brady simply smiled and said “okay” in a tone reeking of arrogance. Burress’s only mistake was giving New England too much credit.
The Giants opened the clash by embarking on a 10 minute drive which resulted in a Lawrence Tynes field goal to put New York up 3-0. The Pats would quickly respond with their own 5 minute drive culminating in a Laurence Maroney TD on the first play of the second quarter to give the Pats a 7-3 lead. For the next 30 minutes, both teams failed to score despite long drives ending in failure until one of the greatest 4th quarters that football itself has ever known.
You all know the story, the exchange of fourth quarter TD’s to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead late in the fourth, and one of the greatest drives in sports history orchestrated by Manning and the Giants. New York would go on a 12-play, 83 yard drive highlighted by two plays that any self respecting Giants fan has at least watched a replay of. Manning, on 3rd and 10 close to midfield, was rushed heavily by 3 Patriots defenders and somehow escaped to find wide receiver David Tyree for the famous ‘helmet catch,’ the greatest play in league history (to sum it up, a lot of history occurred in two minutes) and four plays later Manning would throw a lob pass to Burress in the corner of the end zone to put the Giants up 17-14 to complete one of the greatest real-life Cinderella stories of all-time.
-Jack Barber
Works Cited
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201201150gnb.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201201220sfo.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201202050nwe.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200801200gnb.htm#all_vis_drives
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200802030nwe.htm#all_vis_drives
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202301150min.htm
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