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NY Giants Schedule: Top-10 season openers of all-time

By Connor McJunkin

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 08: The reflection of the New York Giants practice facility is seen on the helmet of Matt Dodge #6 of the New York Giants during practice at New Meadowlands Sports Complex on August 8, 2011 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 08: The reflection of the New York Giants practice facility is seen on the helmet of Matt Dodge #6 of the New York Giants during practice at New Meadowlands Sports Complex on August 8, 2011 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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Text: Jerry Rice gains 27 yards on a pass play from Joe Montana (Image via Cincinnati) /

9.  September 2, 1991 – San Francisco 49ers 14, NY Giants 16

There were few rivalries in the NFL greater than the NY Giants and 49ers throughout the 80s and 90s. The finesse and firepower of the west coast, Bill Walsh-lead 49ers clashing with the physical, blue collar playing style of the east coast, Bill Parcells-lead Giants was must-watch TV for close to a decade.

While both Walsh and Parcells were no longer roaming the sidelines for their respective teams at the time of this matchup, it was still a huge game nonetheless. The 49ers were coming off two Super Bowls in the previous three seasons and the Giants were the defending World Champions.

Of course – to become the World Champions, Leonard Marshall and Big Blue literally knocked out Joe Montana and the 49ers in the NFC Championship game the year prior. To say this rivalry still had some energy behind it would be an understatement.

The other notable storyline of this game was due to an elbow injury sustained in preseason by Joe Montana, this was the start of the Steve Young era. Montana wouldn’t play again until the final game of the 1992 season and by then, Young had more than entrenched himself as the starter.

In what was the theme for most of the rivalry’s matchup, the game was a defensive slugfest. San Francisco only managed 258 yards of offense, with Young accounting for 207 of those yards and both touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 passing). New York’s defense only managed one sack but did bring down one interception and force three fumbles.

The Giants put up 331 yards of offense, with 130 of those coming on the ground. Jeff Hostetler was efficient, going 17-31 for 228 yards and adding 45 yards on the ground. Ottis Anderson scored the lone TD for Big Blue as the offense controlled most of the contest, going 10-18 on 3rd down and winning the time of possession battle by over five minutes.

Matt Bahr was the hero of the game, knocking through 3 field goals including the 35-yarder to win the game as time expired.

It was a great way to kickoff the Super Bowl defense tour and overall was a huge win for the Giants over a tough rival in San Francisco.

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