New York Giants
Eight playoff meetings and a famous jab at the West Coast offense.
The 49ers-Giants rivalry is an inter-division NFL rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. The teams do not meet every season, but since 1982 they have met eight times in the playoffs, including two NFC Championship Games, and each side has won four. CBS Sports ranked it the top NFL rivalry of the 1980s.
Quick Facts
- Overall series
- 49ers lead 23-21
- Playoff meetings
- 8 (4-4)
Lore & Background
The 49ers lead the overall series 23-21. Only the 49ers-Packers matchup has produced more playoff meetings between two teams since 1982.
Reader's Guide
Decades later Parcells alleged that Bill Walsh had sabotaged his own team's headsets in the 1985 playoff game, which under NFL rules would have forced the Giants to switch theirs off. The teams also met in the 2011 NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park, which the Giants won 20-17 in overtime.
San Francisco won the 1981 and 1984 divisional games on the way to Super Bowls XVI and XIX. The Giants won the 1985 wild card game 17-3, after which Bill Parcells famously asked, "What do you think of that West Coast offense now?", giving the offense its name. In the 1986 divisional game the Giants routed San Francisco 49-3, and a hit by Jim Burt sent Joe Montana to hospital with a concussion as Lawrence Taylor returned the interception for a touchdown.
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