Giants versus 49ers: December 29, 1984

In advance of the Giants and 49ers playing their 37th game all-time against each other, GmenHq will be highlighting some of the posts from the week leading up to the NFC Championship game last year. This post details the Giants versus 49ers from December 29, 1984. This post originally appeared on Gmenhq on Jan 16, 2012 at 5:45pm

In anticipation of the New York Giants versus the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday for the NFC Championship, GmenHq will be reliving the Giants versus 49ers playoff history. Each day this week (Monday-Saturday will feature a new game).

New York Giants at San Francsisco 49ers, December 29, 1984, Candlestick Park

After missing the play-offs in the 1982-1983 and 1983-1984  seasons the Giants returned the play-offs in the 1984-1985 season. In Wild-Card weekend the Giants beat the LA Rams 16-13 to set up a cross country trip to face the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round for the second time in four postseasons. The Giants entered the game with a 9-7 regular season (10-7 overall) record. The 49ers came into the game with a 15-1 record and had a first round bye in the play-offs.

The game did not get off to a good start for the New York Giants. They were down 14-0  in the first quarter and trailed 21-10 at half-time. Both teams were shut out offensively during the second half. The 49ers won the game 21-10.

Phil Simms paced the Giants with 244 yards passing. However, unlike the Simms that most Giants fans knew, Phil had a rough game. He threw two interceptions and only completed 25 passes out of 44 attempts. Joe Morris led the Giants rushing attack with 46 yards on 17 carries. The leading wide-out for the Giants was Zeke Mowatt who had five catches for 49 yards. To say the least the Giants offense was inept.

Joe Montana led the 49ers with three touchdown passes and 309 yards passing. Joe was intercepted three times and one of those interceptions was returned for a TD by Harry Carson. In fact that would be the only touchdown the Giants would score in the entire game. Roger Craig and Wendell Tyler led the 49ers with a combined 69 yards rushing. Just like in 1982, Dwight Clark burned the Giants for 9 catches, 112 yards, and a touchdown.

Gary Reasons had two inceptions off Montana and Harry Carson had an interception that he returned for a touchdown. Although L.T. did not intercept Montana, he did sack him twice during the game. This was the start of the Giants using the four linebacker set: Carson, Reasons, Taylor, and Banks.

All-Time Play-Off Series: 49ers 2-0

Giants versus 49ers: January 22, 2012