| NY GIANTS HISTORY 1980 - 1989 | | | | 1980 | ●A porous defense allowed opponents to score 425 points, the second-highest total in the NFL. The Giants fell to 4-12.
●A highlight was a 38-35 defeat of Dallas that ended an eight-game losing streak.
●Dave Jennings led NFL punters with a 44.8-yard average.
| 1981
| ●With the second selection in the draft. New York chose Lawrence Taylor, a linebacker from North Carolina.
●The Giants started slowly, going 2-3, before obtaining running back Rob Carpenter from Houston. Carpenter (see photo below left)sparked a three-game winning streak. The Giants lost three straight to drop to 5-6.
●Second-year quarterback Scott Brunner replaced an injured Phil Simms and the team responded with four victories in the final five weeks, including a 13-10 overtime defeat of Dallas in the season finale that sent them into the playoffs.
●On December 27, the Giants defeated the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles 27-21 in the NFC wild card game. It would be thier first playoff victory since 1958.
The season ended for New York on January 3 when it was defeated
by the eventual Super Bowl champion 49ers 38-24.
This will be the first of 6 playoff battles between the GiantGiants and 49ers between 1981 and 1993.  Each winning 3 | 1982
| ●A wild and turbulent year in which the NFL players’ strike shortened the season to just nine games. The final game played before the strike pitted the Giants and Packers on a Monday night from Giants Stadium in which a power failure caused a blackout during the game. Rob Carpenter was a holdout until late November, returning to play in just the final five games.
●On December 15, head coach Ray Perkins resigned to accept the head coaching job at Alabama, with defensive coordinator Bill Parcells being named to replace him in 1983. The Giants then lost two straight after the Perkins’ announcement, and missed the playoffs on the final day of the season with a 4-5 record.
●Despite the adversity, four Giants – Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Mark Haynes and Dave Jennings – were named to the Pro Bowl.
| 1983
| ●After breaking even in their first four games for a 2-2 record, the Giants were decimated by injuries during the rest of the year, with a total of 25 players appearing on the injured reserve list at one time or another. With players such as Harry Carson, Phil Simms and Rob Carpenter missing most of the season, and with the club leading the entire NFL in turnovers with 58 on 31 interceptions and 27 lost fumbles, the record tumbled to 3-12-1.
●The year was also marred by the tragic deaths of assistant coach Bob Ledbetter and former star running back Doug Kotar.
●Four players were nonetheless named to the Pro Bowl again—Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Mark Haynes and rookie place-kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh who set an NFL record with 35 field goals.
| 1984
| ●With Phil Simms enjoying his first full season at quarterback, the Giants earned the NFC wild card playoff berth, finishing with a 9-7 mark and second place in the NFC East. Simms set three single-season club records with 286 completions in 533 attempts for 4,044 yards.
●The Giants knocked off the Los Angeles Rams 16-13 in that wild card game, then bowed to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 21-10 in the divisional playoff.
●Taylor, Carson and Haynes were again named to the Pro Bowl, while head coach Bill Parcells was named NFC East Coach of the Year and five rookies—Karl Nelson, Gary Reasons, Carl Banks, Perry Williams and Bobby Johnson–were named to the All-NFL Rookie team.
| 1985
| ●With a final 10-6 mark, the Giants put back-to-back winning seasons on the board for the first time in 22 years, won another trip to the playoffs and had their first home playoff game since 1962, winning 17-3 over the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers.
●Again, the club lost in the divisional playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion team, the Chicago Bears, 21-0.
●Five players—Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Phil Simms, Joe Morris and Leonard Marshall—were named to the Pro Bowl.
●There were 12 team records set by this club, and 16 individual club records. Morris set a team records with 1,336 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. Simms set club marks with 40 completions and 513 passing yards in a game. Marshall added another club mark with 15 1/2 QB sacks in a season, while rookie TE Mark Bavaro, an All-NFL Rookie team choice set a club mark with 12 receptions in one game.
| | 1986 |
●The turning point of the regular season was in week 11 in Minnesota. Down 20-19 with a minute and twelve on the clock, the Giants faced a 4th and 17. Phil Simms connects with Bobby Johnson down the sideline for a first down. Raul Allegre would eventually convert a game winning FG as the Giants win 22-20. Simms commented years later, "It's my favorite game in my career, because it's everything I always wanted to be as a player. I wanted to be tough, making big throws, immune to pressure, not worried about outcomes. It was truly like standing on the tee box in golf and there's trees on each side and water and you just go 'Man, I'm gonna rip it down the middle.' And no other thought crosses your mind.
●The club’s first Super Bowl championship, an all-time final record of 17-2, as well as a club record 12 straight victories, made this year the greatest in team history. The Giants also set a record for all-time composite margin of victory in the playoffs, outscoring three opponents 105-23, for an 82-point domination, the most ever in NFL playoff history.
●Phil Simms was the MVP of the 39-20 Super Bowl victory over Denver after completing a playoff record 88% of his passes (22-25).
●Lawrence Taylor was named the league’s MVP, Joe Morris broke his own club rushing record with 1,516 yards, and eight players—Taylor, Morris, Harry Carson, Leonard Marshall, Jim Burt, Brad Benson, Mark Bavaro and Sean Landeta, were named to the Pro Bowl.
●Coach Bill Parcells was a unanimous NFL Coach of the Year in all the national polls, the Giants were 10-0 at home, including regular season and the two playoff games, and the team set attendance records at home and on the road.
| | 1987 | ●After winning the Super Bowl, the Giants dropped to a 6-9 record, thanks to an 0-5 start in a season that included a players strike and three games with replacement players. In addition, injuries sidelined 11 starters. While the Giants finished with six wins in its final ten games, it was a case of too little, too late.
●Despite the final record, four players—Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Harry Carson and Mark Bavaro—were selected to the Pro Bowl and all four also were named to various All-NFL teams.
| | 1988 | ●The Giants bounced back and after splitting the first six games, engineered a 7-2 run which had them all alone in first-place in the NFC East with a 10-5 record heading into the final weekend of the season. But an upset loss to the Jets not only knocked the Giants out of first-place, but also cost them a playoff berth. The Giants 10-6 record gave them a five-year mark of 54-32 (.628), including post-season play. Those 54 victories were the most in club history for any five-year span.
●Joe Morris set a club record with his third 1,000-plus rushing season and Lionel Manuel had his first 1,000-yard receiving year. Morris also surpassed Alex Webster as the Giants’ career rushing leader, moving past the 5,000-yard plateau.
●Lawrence Taylor was named to his eighth straight Pro Bowl and All-NFL designation and safety Terry Kinard was selected for his first Pro Bowl appearance.
| | 1989 | ●Despite the loss of several starters due to injuries, the Giants won their second NFC East championship in four years with a 12-4 record. Ottis Anderson rushed for 1,023 yards at the age of 32 as the replacement for the injured Joe Morris and rookie David Meggett set club marks with 582 punt return yards and a 12.7 average, while also accounting for 1,807 all-purpose yards.
● Linebacker Lawrence Taylor equaled an NFL record by being named to his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl, and also ran his league record sack total to 104.
●Meggett also went to the Pro Bowl and scored a TD.
The L.A. Rams upset the Giants at home in the playoffs, being the only home playoff loss by
Bill Parcells as Giants head coach.
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