Throwback Thursday: Falcons drop Giants for first-ever win in 1966

Back on November 20, 1966, the Atlanta Falcons picked up their first-ever win by defeating the New York Giants, 27-16.

One very little-known tidbit from the New York Giants’ “Wilderness Years” period (1964-80) came on Nov. 20, 1966.

The expansion Atlanta Falcons, losers of their first nine NFL contests, came into Yankee Stadium to face Allie Sherman’s sputtering Giants, who weren’t faring much better at 1-7-1.

The day — and the season — didn’t go very well for the Giants.

Here’s how I recounted the game in a previous article on Giants Wire:

The Giants were a mainstay atop the NFL standings from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. But by 1966, they were an aging team that was dismantled and dispersed. Their roster was thin, and the results on the field showed.

The Nov. 20 game was led by the Falcons from the first quarter and they would never relinquish the lead. Former Giants running back Ernie Wheelwright caught two touchdown passes from future Giants quarterback Randy Johnson. Johnson ran in a third touchdown to lead the Falcons to a 27-16 win, the first victory in Falcons franchise history.

New York would go on to finish the season with a 1-12-1 record, the fewest wins in a season by a Giants team to this day. They allowed 501 points and 66 touchdowns, the most ever in a 14-game NFL season. Atlanta finished 3-11, seventh in the Eastern Division, ahead of only the eighth-place Giants.

The loss to Atlanta that day was the second in what might be the worst three-game stretch in team history.

The week prior, the Giants were crushed by the Rams in Los Angeles, 55-14, surrendering 572 yards. The week after the embarrassing loss to Atlanta, the Giants would suffer the worst defeat in franchise history, 72-41, in Washington.

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