1961 New York Giants season
NFL team season
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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 | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Jack Mara Wellington Mara |
| Head coach | Allie Sherman |
| Home stadium | Yankee Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–3–1 |
| Division place | 1st NFL Eastern |
| Playoffs | Lost 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]
This was the first season that the now famous lowercase "ny" logo appeared on the helmets.
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 (ST)
|
Practice squad
Reserve
|
- Source:
Regular season
Schedule
| 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
Week 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Giants | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
- Date: September 24
- Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C), wind 5 mph (8 km/h)
| 1 | PIT | John Henry Johnson 1 yard run (Tom Tracy kick) | Steelers 7–0 | |
| 2 | NYG | Del Shofner 16 yard pass from Charlie Conerly (Pat Summerall kick) | Tie 7–7 | |
| 3 | NYG | Pat Summerall 19 yard field goal | Giants 10–7 | |
| 3 | NYG | Joe Morrison 5 yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Pat Summerall kick) | Giants 17–7 | |
| 3 | PIT | Buddy Dial 4 yard pass from Bobby Layne (Tom Tracy kick) | Giants 17–14 | |
Standings
| 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.
| NFL Western Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Green Bay Packers | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 9–3 | 391 | 223 | W1 | |
| Detroit Lions | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 7–4–1 | 270 | 258 | L1 | |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 7–5 | 326 | 302 | W2 | |
| Baltimore Colts | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 6–6 | 302 | 307 | W1 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 6–5–1 | 346 | 272 | L1 | |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–9 | 263 | 333 | L1 | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 3–9 | 285 | 407 | L2 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Playoffs
| 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 |
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
1961 NFL Championship Game (Sunday, December 31, 1961): at Green Bay Packers
1961 NFL Championship Game: New York Giants at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Packers | 0 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 37 |
at City Stadium • Green 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 |
| Scoring summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Point spread: Giants +3½
- Time of game:
| 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 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 | |
