Giants versus 49ers: January 3, 1982
By Tom Brant
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 Giants versus 49ers from January 3, 1982. This post originally appeared on Gmenhq on Jan 16, 2012 at 2:30pm
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, January 3, 1982, Candlestick Park.
The Giants went into a cool day in San Francisco and lost to the 49ers in the Divisional round by a score of 38-24. The Giants trailed 24-10 at halftime and were never able to recover. The 49ers outscored the Giants 14-0 in the fourth quarter to put the game away. The Giants were led offensively by starting QB Scott Brunner who threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was picked two times. The Giants leading rusher was Rob Carpenter who had 61 yards on 13 attempts.
The 49ers were led by future hall-of-fame QB Joe Montana. Joe thew for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Earl Cooper paced the 49ers with 52 yards rushing on seven carries. Bill Ring and Ricky Patton each had rushing touchdowns for the 49ers. The Giants were unable to control Freddie Solomon or Dwight Clark who each had 100 yards receiving.
The Giants had a young and up and coming defense. George Martin started at DE, Brian Kelley at LB, Harry Carson at LB, and L.T. at LB. Of note, Dave Jennings had four punts and averaged 43.8 yards. Jennings went on to have a storied announcing career with the Giants.
Ronnie Lott had a pick six that all but sealed the game in the fourth quarter. For many Ny Giants this was only their second meaningful playoff game. It was the start to a historic playoff match-up.
All time Play-Off series: 49ers 1-0
Giants versus 49ers: January 22, 2012 at 6:00pm