A Look Back at Giants vs. Broncos (Week 15, 1998) - Undefeated Patriots Beware?

18 Vote

by Pean

The Denver Broncos came into the 1998 NFL Season fresh off of a Super Bowl win against the heavily favored Green Bay Packers. In that championship season of '97, they had won their last regular season game, as well as 4 straight playoff games. Keeping the same core of players together the following season, the team was able to start exactly where they left off by running out to a 13-0 record. The offense featured extremely talented players at all skill positions. Some guy named John Elway quarterbacked his last season of his Hall of Fame Career. He had multiple weapons surrounding him, including running Terrell Davis (in the midst of his dominating few seasons in the NFL / 2,008 yards, 21 TD), wide receivers Rod Smith (1,222 yards, 6 TD) and Ed McCaffrey (1,053 yards, 10 TD) , and tight end Shannon Sharpe (768 yards, 10 TD). While Denver's pass defense was ranked in the bottom of the league (giving up almost 4,000 yards), they were particularly stingy against the run (ranked 3rd in rushing yards against). Linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive back Steve Atwater ended up representing the Broncos defense in the Pro-Bowl that year.

Records and Milestones

Every week seemed to bring on a new record opportunity or milestone for the Broncos. Elway hit some amazing milestones, becoming the 2nd QB in the history of the NFL to throw for 50,000 yards (Dan Marino, with Brett Favre also accomplishing this after Elway), and the 3rd QB to throw for 300 touchdowns (Marino, and Fran Tarkenton, with Brett Favre also reaching 300 after Elway).

On October 25, 1998, Jason Elam tied the NFL record for longest field goal when he nailed a 63-yarder to end the half against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He tied Tom Dempsey's famous 28 year-old record, in which he kicked the FG with no toes!

After their 13-0 start, the Broncos fell one game short of an NFL record with 18 straight wins dating back to last season.

Everyone was eagerly awaiting another record. The Broncos had to travel to Miami for a key Monday Night Football showdown against the Dolphins in Week 16. It was fitting that Denver had to go through Miami and their legacy of an undefeated season, in order to accomplish the feat themselves. However, they had to first go to Giants Stadium in Week 15.

The 1998 New York Giants

If the Denver Broncos were looking ahead to the Miami game, you could hardly blame them. The 1998 Giants were hardly a force to be reckoned with. Coach Jim Fassel was in his second year as the Giants coach, coming off a disastrous 1997 playoff loss against the Minnesota Vikings. They blew a 19-3 halftime lead, and some teammates infamously fought with each other on the sidelines. The 1998 team started off much worse. Danny Kannel started the season at quarterback, and put up a stellar 3-7 record. On offense, the Giants had some decent, but not dominant offensive players. Tiki Barber was on the team, but not as the featured running back. He played the season with several nagging injuries, and ended up catching 42 passes for a total of 348 yards. The Giants rushing attack was lead by Gary Brown (1,063 yards, 5TD) and Charles Way (432 yards, 3TD). The passing game was spread around to Ike Hilliard (715 yards, 2 TD), Chris Calloway (812 yards, 6TD), Barber, and Amani Toomer (360 yards, 5 TD).

With the season seemingly lost, they decided to hand over the starting QB job to Kent Graham. Graham actually began his career with the Giants in 1992, but later saw some time with the Cardinals and Lions in '95 and '96. He returned to the Big Blue for the '98 season to be Kanell's backup. Taking over the team, Graham was able to help the Giants win 2 of the their next 3 games, setting up their matchup against the 13-0 Denver Broncos.

December 13th, 1998: Week 15

The New York Giants came into the game at 5-8. They had scored 7 or fewer points 5 times during the season. Their team defense was in the middle of the pack, but they were particulary vulnerable against the run.

Here is what SI.com had to say in a preview of the game.

Key Stat: Broncos' Terrell Davis must average 115 rushing yards over final three games to reach 2,000 for season.

Key Matchup: Broncos offense (66 points in last two games) vs. Giants lackthereof (59 points in last five games).

Player to Watch: Davis needs six touchdowns in final three games to break Emmitt Smith's record of 25 rushing TDs.

So what happened during the game? The Giants took a 10-6 halftime lead, behind a Tiki Barber 21 yard TD reception. Jason Elam picked up his 3rd FG of the game as the only score in the 3rd quarter, to cut the lead to 10-9. Brad Daluiso extended the New York lead with a field goal early in the 4th quarter. With 5 minutes to go in the game, The Broncos seemingly crushed the Giants' hope of an upset with a 76 yard drive, capped by a 27 yard TD run by Terrell Davis (who was ill and almost didn't suit up, but still carried 28 times for 147 yards). Denver was now up 16-13, and on their way to 14-0 and legendary game against the Dolphins. However, the Giants still had one more drive with about 2 minutes to go. Kent Graham stepped up, and lead the Giants down the field 86 yards in 6 plays to throw the go ahead touchdown. Amani Toomer was able to beat Tito Paul, the 26-year-old defensive back for the eventual game winning 37 yard toucdown catch.

What did the coach say about the play that ended the dream of an undefeated season? "We all saw the same thing," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "The guy threw it up in the air and their receiver made a play and our defensive back did not."

The Aftermath

The Giants would end up winning the rest of their games to finish the season 8-8. However, it was not good enough to make the playoffs.

The Denver Broncos had lost for the first time in over a year. They would go on to lose their next game against Miami as well, and finish the season at 14-2. They also would win their second consecutive Super Bowl by beating the Atlanta Falcons.

2007

With the New England Patriots sitting at 12-0, do they have anything to be afraid of? The Pittsburgh Steelers can sure give them a tough game. The Jets and Dolphins? Very unlikely -- but hey, if the 1998 Giants can do it, anything is possible. If the Pats can make it to 15-0, they will come to Giants Stadium at the chance for perfection. The Giants can already have a playoff spot clinched, and definitely would need to rest up their banged up players. However, given the Giants track record, nothing comes easy. I'm sure they will need to somehow win that game. Assuming both teams put their best on the field in order to win, would the Giants have any chance? In 1998, a #10 led an improbable victory. Can another #10 repeat history?

Sources:

• http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=NYG&lg=NFL&yr=1998
• http://www.databasefootball.com/boxscores/gamedata.htm?dy=13&mth=12&yr=1998&tm=NYG&lg=NFL
• http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=DEN&lg=NFL&yr=1998
• http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/weekly_preview/news/1998/12/09/week15_grid
• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDA173DF937A25751C1A96E958260

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