Giants versus 49ers: December 29, 1985

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, 1985. This post originally appeared on Gmenhq on Jan 17, 2012 at 8:00am

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).

San Francsisco 49ers at New York Giants, December 29, 1985, Giants Stadium

The 49ers made their first Play-Off trip to Giants stadium to face the Giants on a cool Wild-Card weekend in December. The 49ers entered the game with a 10-6 record. The Giants also entered the game with a 10-6 record, they had won the NFC East during the regular season. This was the second consecutive time and third time in five years that the Giants and 49ers had met in the Play-Offs. It was their first time meeting in Wild-Card weekend and Giants Stadium.

The Giants dominated the 49ers, beating the 49ers by a score of 17-3. It would represent the Giants first victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the Play-Offs. The Giants led 10-3 in a defensive battle at the half and extended their lead to 17-3 with a Simms to Hasselback TD pass.

Phil Simms paced the Giants with 181 yards and two touchdowns. He only completed 48% of his passes though. Mark Barvo was Phil’s number one target catching five passes for 67 yards and one touchdown. However, the game ball went to Joe Morris who ran all over the 49ers defense. Little Joe rushed for 141 yards on 28 carries.

Joe Montana, facing the Giants for the third time in the Play-Offs had a decent game. He passed for 296 yards but the Giants defense intercepted him once and held him without a touchdown pass. Tyler and Craig combined for 84 yards on 19 carries but they were unable to reach the end-zone. For the third consecutive year, Dwight Clark dominated the Giants in the post-season. Clark caught eight balls for 120 yards. However, like the entire 49ers team, he was unable to reach the end-zone.

The Giants defense sacked Joe Montana four times, intercepted him once, and forced one additional turnover. L.T. recorded one of those sacks and had recorded 3.0 sacks in the last two post-season games against the 49ers. Bryon Hunt replaced Carl Banks at one of the LB positions in the 3-4 formation. The other LB’s were Taylor, Reasons, and Carson.

All time Play-Off series: 49ers 2-1

Giants versus 49ers: January 22, 2012