Chicago Bear Versus the New York Giants Rivalry History
Published by Bryan Dietzler on October 3, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
There may be some people that don’t realize this but the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants have played a lot of games over their long history in the NFL. Some people may remember some of the grudge matches that these two teams had back in the 40’s, as well as some of the games they played in the 80’s and 90’s. They have a long and storied history with one another, and have had several exciting games.
The following is a look at a few games in this rivalry’s history, which should stand out for some but may not be so well known for others.
On December 9th, 1934, the Bears and the Giants played in the NFL Championship game at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The field had been covered with freezing rain, leaving it slippery and difficult to maneuver on. The players (and their footwear) were not prepared for the field conditions.
After getting a suggestion that sneakers might work well on this type of field, the Giants head coach Steve Owen asked his equipment manager, Abe Cohen, to go find and buy sneakers. After being unable to find shoes to purchase, Cohen went over to Manhattan College and borrowed nine pairs of sneakers. He was able to get back to his team by halftime.
When he arrived, he saw that his team was down 10-3. The Giants’ players got the cleats on and got to work. The Bears extended their lead to 13-3 before the Giants didn’t allow the Bears another score on their way to a 30-13 win. Several players claimed that the shoes made the difference.
The Bears and the Giants met in the 1941 NFL Championship game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on December 21st. This game came just 14 days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Bears would win this game in a big way, defeating the Giants 37-9.
After Bears head coach and owner George Halas made it back from World War II, the Bears, once again, met the Giants in the 1946 NFL Championship game and once again this game was played at the Polo Grounds. Held on December 15th, 1946, the Bears went on to win this game 24-14 and this would be their last championship game for a while.
The 1956 NFL Championship, played on December 30th featured the Bears and the Giants playing their game in Yankee Stadium. Like the sneakers game, this game was played on an icy field as well and just like they did in that game, the Giants used the fancy footwear to gain traction and stay upright. The Giants were the better team on this day and they beat the Bears in a rout 47-7.
On December 29th, 1963 the Bears and the Giants met once again at Wrigley Field in Chicago for the NFL Championship game. This game was played in frigid conditions (the temperature was around 10 degrees at kickoff) and there wouldn’t be a magic sneaker trick for the Giants this time. The Bears Monsters of the Midway defense, including Ed O’Bradovich, Stan Jones, and Bill George (among others) was able to help keep the game close as the lead went back and forth. In the end, the Bears won this game 14-10.
Any list of Bears versus Giants games wouldn’t be complete without discussing the Bears win against the Giants on their way to the Super Bowl in 1985-86. The Bears, as any fan will know, were on a real roll towards the playoffs and standing in their way were the New York Giants. It appeared as if the Giants would present a little bit of a problem to this team, and some even felt that the Giants could knock the Bears off course on their way to the Super Bowl.
That wasn’t going to happen. On what was to be a very cold day, the Bears kept the Giants’ offense out of the end zone and rolled to a 21-0 victory en route to the 46-10 win in the Super Bowl just a few weeks later. In fact, the Bears only allowed 10 points overall in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
The Bears would find themselves in the Giants shoes in the 1990 playoffs. In the division round, the Bears met the Giants and were blasted 31-3 as the Giants were on a Super Bowl road themselves. The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl at the end of that season.
Let’s talk about a much more recent game in this series’ history. Going back to the 2006 season, much like 1985, the Bears were headed towards the Super Bowl and playing excellent football. The two teams met in New York for this game and during, kick return specialist Devin Hester took a missed field goal and returned it for a touchdown. This remains one of the most exciting kick returns of his career.
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