Best New York Giants Offense in History?
By Joe Tufaro
I heard the question asked last week, so I thought I would do a little research. Is this the best Giants offense in the history of the team?
For a team that has always been known for its defense, and will always want to play good tough defense, the question if this is the best offense took a little research. We have had great players on offense for many years, and we can all name them. Tiki, Toomer, Simms, Collins, Burress, Morris, Bavaro, Tittle, Conerly, Gifford, and Homer Jones to name a few. The 2012 team is nowhere near it’s completion, but let’s take a look back to what others have accomplished.
According to www.pro-football-reference.com it seems that the best offense the Giants ever put on the field was in 1963 when they went 11-3 for the season. Led by Y.A. Tittle, Phil King, and Del Schofner they scored 448 points, the most by any team in Giants history. That alone is a pretty good stat to determine the best offense, but here are some other stats. Phil King, known as The Chief, had a total of 990 yards from scrimmage in 14 games. Tittle, while completing 60% of his passes had 36 T.D.’s and threw for over 3100 yards. Schofner had 64 catches for 9 T.D.’s and 1181 yards. Those are numbers that translate as great for any era of the game. That team also had a point differential of 168 points, which was first in the league that year. One more odd stat from that year that makes their offense look even better, they lost game 2 that year to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31-0. Tittle did not play in that game.
The game has changed since 1963, but averaging 5.5 yards per play while gaining over 5000 yards for the season certainly translates across the eras. If you projected the 2012 team across 14 games this season where would they be? They are projected to score 410 points. Bradshaw would have 1200 yards from scrimmage, Eli would complete 64% of his passes for 24 T.D.’s, and throw for 4200 yards. Victor Cruz would have 100 catches for 1200 yards and 14 T.D.’s….but we all know projections really never work out that way.
So, is this the number one offense in team history? They certainly seem to have more talent at more positions than recent memory, and perhaps the best QB in the league, as they did in 1963.