1961 New York Giants season

The 1961 New York Giants season was the franchise's 37th season in the National Football League. After relinquishing the NFL East title the previous season, the Giants reclaimed the title with a 10–3–1 record, a half-game ahead of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.[1]

1961 New York Giants season
OwnerJack Mara
Wellington Mara
Head coachAllie Sherman
Home fieldYankee Stadium
Results
Record10–3–1
Division place1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finishLost NFL Championship
(at Packers) 0–37

New York traveled to Wisconsin for the NFL Championship Game and were shut out 37–0 by the Vince Lombardi-coached Green Bay Packers.[2][3][4]

Roster

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1961 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 17 St. Louis Cardinals L 10–21 0–1 58,059
2 September 24 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–14 1–1 35,587
3 October 1 at Washington Redskins W 24–21 2–1 36,767
4 October 8 at St. Louis Cardinals W 24–9 3–1 23,713
5 October 15 at Dallas Cowboys W 31–10 4–1 41,500
6 October 22 Los Angeles Rams W 24–14 5–1 63,053
7 October 29 Dallas Cowboys L 16–17 5–2 60,254
8 November 5 Washington Redskins W 53–0 6–2 56,077
9 November 12 Philadelphia Eagles W 38–21 7–2 62,800
10 November 19 Pittsburgh Steelers W 42–21 8–2 62,592
11 November 26 at Cleveland Browns W 37–21 9–2 80,455
12 December 3 at Green Bay Packers L 17–20 9–3 47,012
13 December 10 at Philadelphia Eagles W 28–24 10–3 60,671
14 December 17 Cleveland Browns T 7–7 10–3–1 61,804

Game summaries

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Week 2

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1 234Total
• Giants 0 7100 17
Steelers 7 070 14

[5]

Standings

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NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
New York Giants 10 3 1 .769 9–2–1 368 220 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 10 4 0 .714 8–4 361 297 W1
Cleveland Browns 8 5 1 .615 8–3–1 319 270 T1
St. Louis Cardinals 7 7 0 .500 7–5 279 267 W3
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 8 0 .429 5–7 295 287 L1
Dallas Cowboys 4 9 1 .308 2–9–1 236 380 L4
Washington Redskins 1 12 1 .077 1–10–1 174 392 W1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

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Round Date Opponent Time TV Result Game Site Attendance Recap
NFL Championship December 31 at Green Bay Packers 2:00 p.m. EST NBC L 0–37 City Stadium 39,029 Recap
Source:[2][3][4]

Playoff Game Officials

Playoff
Round Opponent Referee Umpire Head Linesman Back Judge Field Judge
NFL Championship Game at Green Bay (#52) George Rennix (#17) James Beiersdorfer (#48) John Highberger (#22) Charles Sweeney (#14) Frank Luzar

Playoff game summaries

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1961 NFL Championship Game (Sunday, December 31, 1961): at Green Bay Packers

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1961 NFL Championship Game: New York Giants at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 0 000
Packers 0 24 10337

at City StadiumGreen Bay, Wisconsin

  • Date: December 31
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 17 °F (−8 °C), relative humidity 82%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h), wind chill 6 °F (−14 °C)
  • Game attendance: 39,029
  • Referee: George Rennix
  • TV announcers (NBC): Lindsey Nelson and Chris Schenkel
  • [6]
Team Category Player Statistics
NYG Passing
Rushing
Receiving
GB Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Giants Game Statistics Packers
6 First downs 19
14–31 Rushes–yards 44–181
119 Passing yards 164
10–29–4 Passes 10–19–0
2–20 Sacked–yards 0–0
99 Net passing yards 164
130 Total yards 345
129 Return yards 58
5–39.2 Punts 5–42.0
5–1 Fumbles–lost 1–0
4–38 Penalties–yards 4–16
Time of possession

Individual stats

Giants Passing
C/ATT1 Yds TD INT Sk Yds LG3 Rate
Tittle 6/20 65 0 4 2 15 19 1.0
Conerly 4/8 54 0 0 1 5 35 71.9
Gaiters 0/1 0 0 0 0 0 0 39.6
Giants Rushing
Car2 Yds TD LG3
Giants Receiving
Rec4 Yds TD LG3
Giants Kickoff Returns
Ret Yds Y/Rt TD Lng
Giants Punt Returns
Ret Yds Y/Rt TD Lng
Giants Punting
Pnt Yds Y/P Lng Blck

Starting Lineups

Position Starting Lineups at Green Bay (1961 NFL Championship Game)
Offense
FL #44 Kyle Rote
LT #79 Rosey Brown
LG #62 Darrell Dess
C #55 Ray Wietecha
RG #66 Jack Stroud
RT #53 Greg Larson
TE #80 Joe Walton
SE #85 Del Shofner
QB #14 Y. A. Tittle
FB #29 Alex Webster
LH #28 Joel Wells
Defense
LDE
LDT
RDT
RDE
LLB
MLB
RLB
LCB
RCB
SS
FS

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Giants tie Browns, 7-7, capture title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 18, 1961. p. 28.
  2. ^ a b Lea, Bud (January 1, 1962). "Packers World Champions!". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1M.
  3. ^ a b "'Soldier' Hornung leads driving Packers to 37–0 humiliation of New York Giants". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1962. p. 14.
  4. ^ a b Maule, Tex (January 8, 1962). "Day of devastation". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ^ Pro Football Reference; 1961 NFL Championship Game – New York Giants at Green Bay Packers – December 31, 1961
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