Giants Defeat Cardinals Clinching NFC EAST: 25 years ago This Week
By Joe Tufaro
The New York Giants (12-2) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals ( Yes..St. Louis) 27-7 to clinch the NFC EAST for the first time in history. In front of the usual 75,000 plus fans Joe Morris ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of those true Giants days in that the offense gained 252 of their 313 yards on the ground. Northeast Football at it’s Best! The defense controlled the game in their usual fashion. The Cardinals on their first four possessions suffered third down sacks on all of them. The defense set a franchise record that day recording nine sacks. The Giants also continued their impressive run of lowering their penalty total per game. They committed only two penalties for a total of ten yards on this day.
This machine was well oiled, running on most, if not all cylinders, and was poised for their historic playoff run. One more tune-up against the outmanned Packers and it was home field advantage throughout the Playoffs. An advantage that was very key to the Giants because of their ability to control a game in any weather.