60 years ago today,the Giants lost to the Bears,14-10,at Wrigley Field for the NFL Championship.
The game started at 12 CST,1 PM here in the East due to Wrigley Field being 25 years away from having lights.
For some reason,there seemed to be more hype surrounding this game than any other previous title game in which the Giants had played.
Perhaps it was people looking for something to care about,something to cheer in the aftermath of the assassination.
In any event,the game's start had all of the signs of a Giants' blowout.They moved downfield midway through the first quarter,scoring on a 14 yard pass from Y.A.Tittle to Frank Gifford.
Near the end of the quarter,the Giants were in the same spot but Del Shofner dropped a perfect pass in the end zone.On the next play,Tittle was picked off on a screen pass by Larry Morris,who returned the errant throw to the Giants' 6 yd.line.QB Bill Wade scored on a sneak,tying the game at 7-7.At the time,it was being speculated that Tittle was hurting due to an earlier helmet to knee hit by Morris.
Still,Tittle remained in the game,even moving the team downfield for a Don Chandler FG.
However,Giants' coach Allie Sherman had to insert rookie QB Glynn Griffing,hoping to get Tittle ready to play the second half.Sherman showed no confidence in Griffing,even punting on third down.I remember telling my brother-in-law that the Giants should not have dumped back up QB Ralph Guglielmi early in the season.Hell,he could have been the 1963 version of Tommy De Vito.
Tittle returned for the second half,but was forced to throw off of his back foot which led to a total of 5 passes being intercepted.
One of those passes was picked off late in the third quarter by defensive end Ed O'Bradovich,who returned it deep into Giants' territory leading to another Wade sneak,the final scoring play of the game.
On the game last play,Tittle was picked off in the end zone by Richie Petitbon.
The Bears winning with such a inadequate offense led to speculation in some quarters that the San Diego Chargers,winners of the AFL title the following week would be able to give the Bears a game.We'll never know.
The Giants were to collapse the following year,not again reaching the post season until 1981.
Despite adding iconic players Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus,the Bears' fate wasn't much better.
A snapshot in time,60 years ago today.
The game started at 12 CST,1 PM here in the East due to Wrigley Field being 25 years away from having lights.
For some reason,there seemed to be more hype surrounding this game than any other previous title game in which the Giants had played.
Perhaps it was people looking for something to care about,something to cheer in the aftermath of the assassination.
In any event,the game's start had all of the signs of a Giants' blowout.They moved downfield midway through the first quarter,scoring on a 14 yard pass from Y.A.Tittle to Frank Gifford.
Near the end of the quarter,the Giants were in the same spot but Del Shofner dropped a perfect pass in the end zone.On the next play,Tittle was picked off on a screen pass by Larry Morris,who returned the errant throw to the Giants' 6 yd.line.QB Bill Wade scored on a sneak,tying the game at 7-7.At the time,it was being speculated that Tittle was hurting due to an earlier helmet to knee hit by Morris.
Still,Tittle remained in the game,even moving the team downfield for a Don Chandler FG.
However,Giants' coach Allie Sherman had to insert rookie QB Glynn Griffing,hoping to get Tittle ready to play the second half.Sherman showed no confidence in Griffing,even punting on third down.I remember telling my brother-in-law that the Giants should not have dumped back up QB Ralph Guglielmi early in the season.Hell,he could have been the 1963 version of Tommy De Vito.
Tittle returned for the second half,but was forced to throw off of his back foot which led to a total of 5 passes being intercepted.
One of those passes was picked off late in the third quarter by defensive end Ed O'Bradovich,who returned it deep into Giants' territory leading to another Wade sneak,the final scoring play of the game.
On the game last play,Tittle was picked off in the end zone by Richie Petitbon.
The Bears winning with such a inadequate offense led to speculation in some quarters that the San Diego Chargers,winners of the AFL title the following week would be able to give the Bears a game.We'll never know.
The Giants were to collapse the following year,not again reaching the post season until 1981.
Despite adding iconic players Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus,the Bears' fate wasn't much better.
A snapshot in time,60 years ago today.
