History on Packers Side vs. Giants
Green Bay Holds 4-1 Lead Against New York in Postseason Meetings
Packers face New York in NFC Championship contest. Historic rivals have combined for 18 NFL titles but haven't faced each other in playoffs since 1962 at Yankee Stadium.
The Green Bay Packers and New York Giants are two of the four oldest and most storied franchises in NFL history. Green Bay has earned 12 league championships, while New York has won the crown six times.
Amazingly, despite their pedigree and success, they haven’t faced each other in the postseason since 1962.
That drought ends Sunday when the Packers and Giants tangle in the NFC Championship showdown at Lambeau Field.
The Packers hold a 25-21-2 edge during their regular-season matchups that started in 1928, outscoring the Giants by only 10 points, 817-807.
However, when it comes to the playoffs, Green Bay has won four consecutive contests since dropping their first such showdown in 1938. Green Bay limited New York to 7 points twice and shut the Giants out the other two times.
That bodes well for the Packers, who have never lost a championship level game at home and are a 7-point favorite to advance to Super Bowl XLII.
Here are a few highlights from their previous postseason encounters.
1938 at New York
New York’s Hank Soar, who later became a Major League umpire, converted a fourth-and-1 situation by inches at the Green Bay 44 and hauled in a 25-yard touchdown toss from Ed Danowski for the deciding score in the Giants 23-17 victory at the Polo Grounds. Green Bay’s only score in the second half, Tiny Engebretsen’s 15-yard field goal, had given the Packers a 17-16 lead. New York, which blocked punts to set up its first two TDs, then stopped Green Bay and quarterback Arnie Herber’s three passes into the end zone to preserve the win.
1939 at Milwaukee
Curly Lambeau’s Packers avenged the previous year’s setback, getting touchdown passes from Herber and Cecil Isbell at windy State Fair Park. Herber’s toss to Milt Gantenbein gave Green Bay a 7-0 halftime lead, while Isbell’s pass to Joe Laws made it 17-0 in the third quarter as the hosts dominated for a 27-0 triumph.
1944 at New York
Don Hutson caught only one pass all day, but the league’s top playmaker took much of New York’s attention away from Green Bay’s other weapons. Ted Fritsch scored from 2 yards out for a 7-0 Packers lead, and then just before the half, most of the Giants secondary followed Hutson. However, Fritsch snuck down the left sideline and hauled in Irv Comp’s pass for a 26-yard score and a 14-0 advantage. New York scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 14-7, but that’s how it ended as Paul Duhart intercepted Herber, whom the Giants had brought out of retirement, to end the hosts’ shot at a tie.
1961 at Green Bay
The Packers had won a regular-season meeting, 20-17, in Milwaukee, so it was assumed that this would be another close encounter. However, Green Bay’s defense manhandled quarterback Y.A. Tittle and New York’s offense to the tune of a 37-0 shellacking, including a 24-point second quarter. Packers halfback Paul Hornung scored a then playoff record 19 points on a touchdown, four extra points and three field goals in the first championship game played in Titletown. Bart Starr threw three TD passes, two to tight end Ron Kramer. Tittle finished 6 of 20 for 65 yards and four interceptions as Vince Lombardi won the first of his five championships in seven years in Green Bay after serving as a New York assistant.
1962 at New York
Considered by many to be Lombardi’s best team, the Packers finished 13-1 after leading the league in scoring with 415 points and allowing the fewest (148). Gale-force winds neutralized both passing attacks, especially Tittle, in this contest at Yankee Stadium. Green Bay built a 10-0 cushion at the intermission, but Jim Collier recovered a blocked punt to shave the Giants deficit to 10-7. Packers guard Jerry Kramer, who was also their place-kicker that day, nailed his second and third field goals as the visitors held on for a 16-7 decision. Green Bay fullback Jim Taylor battered for 85 yards on 31 carries, while Tittle completed 18 of 41 for 197 yards. Packers middle linebacker Ray Nitschke was named the game’s MVP after recovering two fumbles and deflecting a pass that Dan Currie intercepted.
References
Izenberg, Jerry. Championship: The Complete NFL Title Story and the Super Bowl. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1968.
Lea, Bud. Magnificent Seven: The Championship Games That Built the Lombardi Dynasty. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2002.
