No. 29 – 1990 New York Giants

“We were just such a physical team and I think that made the difference.” – Carl Banks

NFL.com: “The 1990 New York Giants won a second Super Bowl in five seasons under head coach Bill Parcells. The Giants won their first 10 games and finished 13-3, allowing an NFL-low 13.2 points per game. They beat the Bears 31-3 in the NFC Divisional before winning two nail-biters: 15-13 against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion 49ers for the NFC title, and 20-19 over the high-scoring Bills in Super Bowl XXV. The defense was led by several Pro Bowlers including Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who had 10.5 sacks; linebacker Pepper Johnson and defensive end Leonard Marshall. The Giants offense, which ranked middle of the pack in scoring offense and total yards, was led by an efficient QB in Phil Simms (15 TDs, 4 interceptions) until Simms was hurt late in the year and replaced by Jeff Hostetler. In the playoffs, Hostetler threw 3 TDs and no interceptions, and passed for 222 yards in the Super Bowl. The Giants hung on to win in the closing seconds thanks to a missed Scott Norwood field goal, that veered “wide right.””

Fennelly: I’ve written quite a bit about this season and this team. They weren’t very flashy, a typical NFC East smash-mouth style club that simply came out and pushed people around. Nothing came easy because the offense wasn’t very dynamic and Parcells was more conservative than ever, calling high-percentage plays to eliminate turnovers. A lot of that changed after Simms got hurt. Hostetler’s mobility gave them a different look on offense and along with the defense, allowed them to stand toe-to-toe with two better teams in San Francisco and Buffalo. The 7-3 loss to San Francisco on a Monday night during this season just might be the greatest game I’ve ever seen.