The New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns were once fierce NFL rivals. Going back to the 1950s, players such as Jim Brown, Sam Huff, Frank Gifford and Lou Groza were fixtures at two iconic venues, Yankee Stadium and Municipal Stadium.
As part of a merger, Paul Brown took his powerful Browns team from the All-America Football Conference to the NFL in 1950 along with the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts and made an immediate impact on their new league, winning the NFL championship in their first season and then playing in the championship game in six of the next seven years, winning two more titles.
After a five-year playoff drought, the Browns returned to the playoffs in 1964, winning their last NFL championship to date. The Browns remained relevant throughout the 1960s under new owner Art Modell, making the playoffs in each of the next eight seasons, but never got back to the championship game.
When the NFL and AFL merged in 1970, the Browns were one of the three NFL teams (along with Baltimore and Pittsburgh) to join the AFC in order to even out the conferences at 13 teams apiece. That’s when the Giants and Browns, who had played 41 times over the 20 years since Cleveland joined the NFL, became estranged. And both franchises went into the tank for the better part of the next decade and half.
But in the mid-1980s, both clubs were ascending. In 1985, the Browns were in their first full season under head coach Marty Schottenheimer and the Giants were beginning their run as an NFC heavyweight under Bill Parcells. Both teams entered the game vying for first place in their respective divisions.
In Week 13, the 8-4 Giants hosted the 6-6 Browns at Giants Stadium. The calendar had turned to December that day, and it was a typical North Jersey afternoon with temperatures in the mid-30s and winds whipping in all directions.
The Giants opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run by Joe Morris. Cleveland answered with a 42-yard touchdown run by Kevin Mack. Giants quarterback Phil Simms was picked off by Hanford Dixon, leading to another Cleveland score, a 2-yard dive by Earnest Byner. Al Gross returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Browns a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.
The Giants then scored 14 unanswered points — on a 58-yard touchdown run by Morris and a 29-yard touchdown strike from Simms to Bobby Johnson — to narrow the score to 21-20 at halftime.
The Giants opened the second half by scoring 13 points on two Eric Schubert field goals and Morris’ third touchdown of the game. Those drives were set up by an interception by safety Terry Kinard and a fumble recovery by linebacker Byron Hunt.
The Giants had a 33-21 fourth-quarter lead, and with their defense, the game seemed over. But Cleveland wasn’t done. They rallied behind their powerful running game and rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar, who was dealing with a shoulder injury.
The Browns scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to pull ahead, 35-33 (Kosar was replaced by veteran Gary Danielson in the third quarter but then was reinserted in the fourth when Danielson was injured).
The Giants had one last drive in them and ended up attempting a 34-yard field goal to win the game in the final seconds. But Schubert’s line-drive attempt went wide to the left, sealing the Browns’ victory.
The Giants went on to finish the season 10-6. They defeated the 49ers, 17-3, in the wild-card game before getting embarrassed by the Bears in Chicago, 21-0, in the divisional round the next week.
Cleveland won the AFC Central with an 8-8 record. They lost in the divisional round, 24-21, to Miami.
In 1986, the Giants steamrolled through the NFC and into the Super Bowl. The Browns went 12-4 and had the top seed in the AFC. They beat the Jets in overtime in the divisional round and then were victimized by John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game by “The Drive” — or they would have faced the Giants in Super Bowl XXI.
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