1950: Giants Prevail Against Redskins in Back-and-Forth Contest

The New York Giants were 2-0 as they traveled to Washington to face the Redskins on October 8, 1950. The Giants were coming off of three straight mediocre seasons since last topping the NFL’s Eastern Division, but an infusion of talent that was mainly due to the demise of the All-America Football Conference was making a difference for the better. It was especially true on defense, and long-time Head Coach Steve Owen’s “umbrella defense” had shut down the powerful Cleveland Browns, newcomers from the AAFC, the previous week.

Washington, coached by Herman Ball, was at 1-2 and didn’t appear to offer much of a challenge. HB Bill Dudley was a fine all-around player and end Hugh Taylor a quality receiver, but aging star QB Sammy Baugh was injured and inconsistent Harry Gilmer was starting in his place. After defeating the lowly Colts in the opener, they had lost badly to the Packers and Steelers.

It was a rainy day with a light crowd of 19,288 fans in attendance at Griffith Stadium.  In the first quarter, the Redskins drove 80 yards, keeping the ball on the ground, and Gilmer finished it off with a quarterback sneak from less than a yard out for a touchdown. Bill Dudley added the extra point for the early 7-0 lead. The Giants responded with a 70-yard possession that ended with HB Forrest Griffith, who ran effectively along the way with gains of six and seven yards, scoring on a two-yard plunge. Ray Poole tied the game with the point after.

In the second quarter, the Redskins got a break when HB Jim Ostendarp fumbled a punt and DT Paul Lipscomb recovered, giving Washington the ball at the New York nine. Two plays later, Gilmer threw to Dudley (pictured below) for a four-yard TD and Dudley also added the extra point to make it 14-7, which remained the score at halftime.

In the third quarter, New York QB Charlie Conerly (pictured at top) passed to end Bob McChesney to reach the Washington 13 and the Giants pounded away on the ground from there until HB Gene Roberts blasted over from two yards out for a touchdown. Poole again added the extra point and it was a 14-14 contest.

The Redskins had an opportunity to regain the lead when Dudley kicked a 22-yard field goal, but they chose to take the points off the board due to an offside penalty on the Giants that gave them a first down at the New York 11. However, they were unable to reach the end zone and, once again calling upon Dudley to try for three, came up empty when he missed.

Dudley didn’t miss early in the fourth quarter when he kicked a 19-yard field goal to make it 17-14 in favor of Washington. Down by three, and with less than six minutes to play, the Giants advanced 92 yards. Conerly threw twice to HB Randall Clay, for 37 and 20 yards, and finally it was Conerly tossing a short pass to Roberts, who ran the remaining distance untouched for a 39-yard touchdown. Poole converted once more to put the visitors ahead by four points.

There was still time for the Redskins and HB Frank Spaniel returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the New York 49. But after advancing to the 35, FB Chuck Drazenovich fumbled and the Giants recovered to seal the 21-17 win.

The statistics reflected the closeness of the contest. New York had the edge in total yards (288 to 260) while the Redskins led in first downs (18 to 15). Both teams completed seven passes apiece, with the Giants having a 168 to 105 edge in yards, and Washington outgained New York on the ground by 155 yards to 120. However, the Redskins turned the ball over three times, to one by the Giants.

New York lost two of its next three games but didn’t lose another on the way to a 10-2 record that tied with the Browns atop the American Conference (the re-named Eastern Division). But after sweeping Cleveland in the season series, the Giants lost a tight 8-3 playoff to the Browns. As for the Redskins, the loss to New York was the third of eight straight (including the rematch between the teams). Washington ended up 3-9 and at the bottom of the conference.

1950: Giants Erupt for 16 Points in Fourth Quarter to Defeat Steelers

The New York Giants were a refurbished club as they commenced a new NFL season against the Steelers at Pittsburgh on September 17, 1950. Head Coach Steve Owen was back for a 20^th year and the Giants had gone 6-6 in ’49 following two losing records. With the demise of the rival All-America Football Conference, New York had picked up some key players from the AAFC’s Yankees, including DT Arnie Weinmeister (pictured at right) and defensive backs Otto Schnellbacher, Tom Landry, and Harmon Rowe. Rookie FB Eddie Price joined HB Gene “Choo-Choo” Roberts in the backfield while QB Charlie Conerly was back for a third season.

The Steelers were coached by John Michelosen, entering his third year, and remained the NFL’s last holdout in running a single-wing offense. With Joe Geri typically lining up at tailback, Pittsburgh was a low-scoring, ground oriented team, and it was thanks to a strong defense that the Steelers had accumulated a 6-5-1 record in 1949.

There were 24,699 fans at Forbes Field for the season-opening contest, and they saw a scoreless first quarter. While the Steelers couldn’t move offensively, a 74-yard quick kick pinned the Giants back at their 10. Early in the second quarter, the Steelers got their initial first down of the game on a pass by tailback Bob Gage to end Charlie Mehelich. The possession amounted to nothing, and the Giants missed out on a score when Ray Poole’s field goal attempt from 40 yards fell short.

Inside the last two minutes of the first half, a long pass by Charlie Conerly was intercepted by DHB Howard Hartley, running at full stride. He was pushed into the end zone by Gene Roberts, and it was ruled that Hartley had caught the ball on the field of play before crossing the goal line. Thus, the Giants picked up a safety despite giving up an interception.

New York led by 2-0 at halftime as both offenses were stymied. The Steelers, in particular, managed only one first down in the first half.

Pittsburgh started the third quarter off with a promising drive that reached the New York 29 in six plays, but a fumble by FB Fran Rogel was recovered by safety Otto Schnellbacher to snuff out the threat. The Steelers made out better on their next series, advancing 65 yards in seven plays. A short third down pass by tailback Tom “Shorty” McWilliams was caught by Rogel, who gained 63 yards to the New York two. The Giants stiffened on defense and it took four tries before FB Jerry Shipkey (pictured at left) finally penetrated the end zone for a touchdown. Joe Geri added the extra point and the score stood at 7-2 heading into the fourth quarter.

It looked bad for the home team when Gage fumbled and the Giants recovered at the Pittsburgh six. But the Steelers came through with a goal line stand and the visitors came up short at the one foot line, turning the ball over on downs. However McWilliams, back in punt formation from his own end zone during the ensuing series, was supposed to fake the kick and run to his right, but the snap sailed past him and over the end line for another safety. Pittsburgh’s lead was narrowed to 7-4 with 12 minutes remaining to play.

Once again the Steelers turned the ball over as DT Arnie Weinmeister recovered a fumble by HB Jerry Nuzum at the Pittsburgh six. And once again the defense kept the Giants out of the end zone, with the Steelers regaining possession on downs at their one. Once more the home team was forced to punt from its own end zone, with a limping Joe Geri back deep, but he muffed the snap and DT Al DeRogatis recovered for the Giants for a touchdown. Poole kicked the extra point and New York was back on top by a score of 11-7.

The Steelers went to the air in response as tailback Jim Finks completed two first-down passes to end Elbie Nickel. But another pass by Finks was intercepted by DHB Harmon Rowe, who fumbled after returning it 32 yards, and while OT Frank Wydo recovered for the Steelers, he fumbled in turn. DE Ray Poole recovered for the Giants and lateraled to safety Tom Landry (pictured at right), who ran 37-yards for a touchdown to complete the odd sequence. Poole added the point after and, with less than a minute remaining in the contest, the game was clinched for New York, which won by a final score of 18-7.

Total yards were nearly even in the defensive struggle, with the Steelers holding a 198 to 197 edge, and each team accumulated 10 first downs apiece. The Giants were more effective running the ball, with 167 yards to Pittsburgh’s 34, but Charlie Conerly completed only three of 13 passes for 30 yards as he faced a steady rush from Pittsburgh’s defense. New York recorded seven sacks, to none by the Steelers, and Pittsburgh also turned the ball over a staggering nine times, to two suffered by the visitors, with six coming on a total of seven fumbles.

The Giants won their next two games before losing to the Steelers in the rematch in New York, but they lost only one more game on the way to a 10-2 record that tied them for first in the American Conference with Cleveland. However, after defeating the Browns twice during the regular season (making them the one team that appeared to have solved the juggernaut that came to the NFL from the AAFC), New York lost in the Divisional playoff.

Pittsburgh continued to have problems putting points on the board and was the league’s lowest-scoring team, although again the rugged defense allowed the club to remain competitive. The Steelers broke even at 6-6 to finish in a third place tie in the conference with Philadelphia.

1950: Browns Defeat Giants in Conference Playoff

On December 17, 1950 the Cleveland Browns hosted the New York Giants in a playoff game to determine the champion of the NFL’s American Conference (the re-named Eastern Division). The Browns, coached by the innovative Paul Brown, had joined the NFL after dominating the All-America Football Conference, winning all four league titles before that league folded. Now in the older league, Cleveland had proven the skeptics wrong by compiling a 10-2 record. However, the Giants were the one NFL team that had solved the Browns, winning both regular season encounters. With identical records, they were meeting to determine who would move on to the league championship game against the winner of the National Conference playoff (the Rams and Bears tied for first as well).

Cleveland had a well-balanced offense directed by QB Otto Graham and including the league’s rushing leader in FB Marion Motley. Ends Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli were fine receivers. The Browns were tough on defense, too, and to top things off, Lou Groza (pictured above) was the NFL’s top placekicker, leading in both in number of field goals and accuracy.

The demise of the AAFC was of big help to the Giants, as they were able to add some outstanding talent to their roster that included DT Arnie Weinmeister and defensive backs Otto Schnellbacher, Harmon Rowe, and Tom Landry. The draft brought a good addition to the offense in rookie FB Eddie Price, who joined veteran HB Gene Roberts in the backfield. Head Coach Steve Owen developed the innovative “umbrella” defense with the Browns in mind, and it had worked well in the two regular season encounters as it stifled Cleveland’s passing attack.

There were 33,054 fans in attendance on a bitterly cold day at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, with the temperature in the teens. The turf was frozen and the players on both teams wore sneakers. The field had been covered prior to the game and was clear, while the end zones were white with snow.

HB Dom Moselle returned the opening kickoff 26 yards to the Cleveland 35 and the Browns started off with a 10-play, 59-yard drive that reached the New York four before stalling. Lou Groza, wearing a sneaker on his left foot and football shoe on his right (kicking) foot, booted an 11-yard field goal to give Cleveland the early lead.

The Giants, utilizing the A-formation on offense, were unable to get out of their end of the field for the remainder of the first half. QB Charley Conerly resorted to a quick-kick punt that traveled 72 yards to get out of one jam and, with the teams settling into a battle for field position, the score remained 3-0 at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, the Giants reached the Cleveland 49 thanks to a run by Gene Roberts, but a holding penalty set New York back. New York also lost its best receiver, end Bill Swiacki, to an injury that further weakened the offense.

On the first play of the final period, the Giants again drove into Cleveland territory. Roberts (pictured below) had runs of six and 26 yards as the visitors reached the 16 yard line. But they came up empty when Eddie Price was thrown for a three-yard loss and a lineman caught a Conerly pass, resulting in a penalty.

On their next possession, the Giants appeared on their way to a score when Roberts broke free for a 34-yard gain, but was hauled down by MG Bill Willis at the Cleveland four. The Browns held from there, with several penalties prolonging the series.  Among the penalties, a potential touchdown pass for the Giants was wiped out by an offside infraction and an interception in the end zone by DB Tommy James was nullified by a defensive holding call. A motion penalty backed the Giants up and HB Joe Scott collided with his own blocker for a further loss of yardage. Finally, New York settled for a 20-yard field goal by Randy Clay that tied the score.

As time ran down, the Browns utilized Otto Graham’s mobility to good effect. The former college tailback ran for a total of 37 yards in the series that went 43 yards and ended with Groza kicking a 28-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining on the clock.

The Browns got an additional two points on a safety when Conerly was gang-tackled in his end zone while fading back to try a desperation pass with eight seconds to go. Cleveland won the game and the conference title by a final score of 8-3.

In a defensive struggle with little passing offense on either side, the Browns had the edge in total yards (182 to 154) while New York had more first downs (11 to 9). Cleveland had just 29 net passing yards, to 13 for the Giants, with the Browns recording four sacks to two for New York. The Giants turned the ball over twice and Cleveland suffered one turnover.

Otto Graham went to the air only eight times and had three completions for 43 yards with one interception, but also ran the ball for 70 yards on 8 carries. HB Rex Bumgardner contributed 39 yards on 12 attempts and HB Dub Jones added 32 yards on 12 runs, while Marion Motley was held to only 12 yards on 7 carries. Dante Lavelli was the top receiver with two catches for 35 yards. Bill Willis (pictured below) had a huge performance on defense for the Browns, regularly breaking through the New York line as well as preventing a touchdown by catching Gene Roberts from behind on his breakaway run (Paul Brown declared Willis to be “the greatest lineman in American football” afterward).

For the Giants, Charlie Conerly was successful on three of 12 passes for 48 yards and had two intercepted. Gene Roberts ran for 76 yards on 12 carries and Eddie Price added 65 yards on 21 attempts. Three receivers had one catch apiece, and end Bob McChesney had the longest gain of 19 yards.

“It’s all on the scoreboard,” was Steve Owen’s terse reaction to the loss.

The Browns went on to defeat the Rams in a closely-fought NFL Championship game. They would finish back atop the American Conference in 1951, although their string of league titles would end in the rematch with Los Angeles. New York was 9-2-1 in ’51, ending up in second place. The playoff loss to the Browns would prove to be the last postseason game for the Giants with Steve Owen as coach. He was fired following a lackluster 1953 season after 23 years at the helm that resulted in ten postseason appearances and two NFL titles.

1949: Conerly & Roberts Star as Giants Down Packers

The NFL game on November 13, 1949 at Green Bay’s City Stadium featured the Packers (2-5), in what would be their last season under head coach and founder Curly Lambeau, and New York Giants (4-3), a rebuilding club under long-time Head Coach Steve Owen.

The Giants featured second-year QB Charlie Conerly and HB Gene “Choo-Choo” Roberts (pictured above) on offense. Roberts, a good receiver out of the backfield as well as rusher, had a 200-yard receiving performance three weeks earlier (201 on four catches, three of them for TDs, against the Bears).

Green Bay came into the contest as the lowest-scoring team in pro football, averaging just 9.9 points per game. Beyond star HB Tony Canadeo, there wasn’t much talent. The passing game, with Jug Girard and rookie Stan Heath seeing most of the action at quarterback, was dreadful. It was a far cry from the days of Arnie Herber and Cecil Isbell shredding defenses with throws to Don Hutson.

There were 20,151 in attendance at the small venue. Late in the first quarter, the Giants started off the scoring when Conerly threw a pass to Roberts that traveled 20 yards in the air and the third-year halfback ran the remaining 25 for a 45-yard touchdown. Shortly thereafter, LB Don Ettinger intercepted a pass by Heath at the Green Bay 20. The result was a 41-yard Ben Agajanian field goal.

Down 10-0 in the second quarter, the Packers got into the game with a 27-yard field goal by Ted Fritsch and the score remained 10-3 at halftime. However, the Giants took control of the contest with two touchdowns in the third quarter.

In their first possession of the second half, Conerly threw to Roberts for a 44-yard touchdown. The next was set up when tackle Bill Austin recovered a fumble at the Green Bay 32. Again it was Roberts scoring a TD on a Conerly pass, this time from ten yards out.

Visibility was poor late in the game and the lights were turned on. The Packers finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter when HB Ralph Earhart returned a punt 57 yards. But end Bill Swiacki added another TD for the Giants, pulling in Conerly’s pass over the heads of two defenders for a 24-yard score. The extra point attempt failed, but it didn’t matter. New York won handily by a final tally of 30-10.

While New York’s edge in first downs was only 19 to 17, the Giants significantly outgained the Packers by 451 yards to 288. Most of New York’s yardage came through the air (352 net passing yards to 99 rushing yards) while Green Bay’s was more evenly distributed (137 rushing, 151 passing). And while the Giants turned the ball over five times, the Packers suffered six turnovers.


Charlie Conerly completed 15 of 29 throws for 345 yards with four touchdown passes, although three were intercepted. Gene Roberts had another two hundred-yard receiving performance as he gained 212 on 7 catches with three TDs. For the Packers, Tony Canadeo ran for 71 yards on 14 carries.

The Giants lost three of their last four games to finish at 6-6 and in third place in the Eastern Division. Green Bay lost all of its remaining contests and ended up at the bottom of the Western Division with a 2-10 record. The team was suffering financially as well as organizationally, and it was a sad end to the Lambeau era for the Packers.

Gene Roberts had an extraordinary season. In addition to becoming the first running back to twice gain 200 receiving yards in a single season, he ranked fourth in rushing in the NFL with 634 yards on 152 carries and nine touchdowns and also placed fourth with his 711 yards on 35 pass receptions that included another eight TDs. His 17 touchdowns and 102 points led the league (the scoring total was tied by Pat Harder of the Cardinals). Roberts also led the NFL with 1345 yards from scrimmage. It was all part of a productive four-season career with the Giants that peaked in 1949 and ’50, and ended abruptly when Roberts jumped to Canada in 1951 and played with Montreal and Ottawa for another four years.

Charlie Conerly played for the Giants far longer (until 1961). In 1949, he ranked third in passing yards (2138) and touchdown passes (17, tied with Bob Waterfield of the Rams), although he also ranked third by tossing 20 interceptions.

Green Bay’s Tony Canadeo (pictured below) had an outstanding season with a bad team as he rushed for 1052 yards on 208 carries for a 5.1-yard average and four TDs. The 30-year-old, in his eighth year out of Gonzaga, ranked second in rushing to Philadelphia’s Steve Van Buren and thus became the first NFL player to rush for a thousand yards in a season without leading the league.