1985 New York Giants season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New York Giants 1985 10–6 2nd NFC East Bill Parcells Ron Erhardt Bill Belichick George Young Wellington Mara Giants Stadium Won Wild Card Playoffs(vs. 49ers) 17–3 Lost Divisional Playoffs(at Bears) 0–21 5 QB Phil Simms RB Joe Morris DE Leonard Marshall LB Lawrence Taylor LB Harry Carson Giants seasons The 1985 New York Giants season was the franchise’s 61st season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants entered the season looking to improve on their 9–7 record in 1984, which was enough to qualify the team for the playoffs as the second wild-card team, and to return to the playoffs for the second consecutive year under third-year head coach Bill Parcells. The Giants managed to do both, finishing with ten victories for the first time since 1963 when the team won eleven games and finishing as the first wild-card team which earned the Giants a home playoff game at Giants Stadium. They defeated the San Francisco 49ers 17–3 in that game, avenging their loss to the 49ers in the previous year's divisional playoffs. However, it was as far as the Giants could get as they were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears in the divisional round at Soldier Field 21–0. Bill Parcells stated in "America's Game: 1986 Giants" about the game the Giants played against the Bears in the playoffs that "an honest evaluation of it, we could have probably beat that team one out of ten times. But that day was one of the days that that could have happened." At the time, the team set a record for most rushing yards in one season by a Giants team. 3 Offseason NFL draft 1985 NFL draft Round # Pick # Player Position College 1 19George AdamsRunning backKentucky 2 46Stacy RobinsonWide receiverNorth Dakota State 3 58Tyrone DavisDefensive backClemson 3 73Brian JohnstonCenterNorth Carolina 4 100Mark BavaroTight endNotre Dame 5 132Tracy HendersonWide receiverOhio State 6 159Jack OliverGuardMemphis State 8 213Lee RousonRunning backColorado 9 240Frank WrightDefensive tackleSouth Carolina 10 272Gregg DubrocLinebackerLSU 11 299Al YoungDefensive backVirginia Tech 12 326Herb WelchDefensive backUCLA Personnel Staff 1985 New York Giants President – Wellington Mara General manager – George Young Director of pro personnel – Tim Rooney Head coach – Bill Parcells Offensive coordinator – Ron Erhardt Offensive backfield – Ray Handley Receivers – Pat Hodgson Tight ends – Mike Pope Offensive line – Fred Hoaglin Defensive coordinator – Bill Belichick Defensive line – Lamar Leachman Defensive backfield – Len Fontes Defensive assistant – Mike Sweatman Special teams – Romeo Crennel Assistant special teams – Mike Sweatman Strength and Conditioning – Johnny Parker Roster 1985 New York Giants 17 Jeff Rutledge 11 Phil Simms 33 George Adams American football y 26 Rob Carpenter running back 44 Maurice Carthon 30 Tony Galbreath 20 Joe Morris American football 22 Lee Rouson y 88 Bobby Johnson wide receiver 80 Phil McConkey 81 Stacy Robinson y 87 Byron Williams gridiron football 89 Mark Bavaro y 85 Don Hasselbeck 82 Vyto Kab 67 Billy Ard G 60 Brad Benson T 61 Chris Godfrey G 62 Conrad Goode C 69 David Jordan American football G 72 Gordon King American football T 63 Karl Nelson T 65 Bart Oates C 64 Jim Burt American football NT 79 Dee Hardison DE 70 Leonard Marshall DE 75 George Martin American football DE 76 Curtis McGriff DE 71 Casey Merrill DE 78 Jerome Sally NT 58 Carl Banks OLB 53 Harry Carson ILB 54 Andy Headen OLB 57 Byron Hunt OLB 51 Robbie Jones American football ILB 55 Gary Reasons ILB 56 Lawrence Taylor OLB 48 Kenny Hill defensive back SS 43 Terry Kinard FS 34 Elvis Patterson CB 21 Ted Watts SS 27 Herb Welch y FS 23 Perry Williams cornerback CB  5 Sean Landeta P  3 Eric Schubert K 73 Kevin Belcher center C NF-Inj. 29 Bill Currier S IR 24 Kenny Daniel CB IR 39 Tyrone Davis no y CB IR  6 Ali Haji-Sheikh K IR 36 Mark Haynes CB IR 15 Jeff Hostetler QB IR 68 Damian Johnson American football y T IR 59 Brian Johnston center y C IR 86 Lionel Manuel WR IR 66 William Roberts American football T IR 38 John Tuggle RB NF-Ill. 84 Zeke Mowatt TE IR https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/1985_roster.htm 1985 New York Giants starters and roster Pro-Football-Reference.com November 12, 2014 Regular season In a game against the Washington Redskins, Joe Theismann's career ended on November 18, 1985, when he suffered a gruesome comminuted compound fracture of his leg while being sacked by New York Giants linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson during a Monday Night Football game telecast. The injury was voted the NFL's "Most Shocking Moment in History" by viewers in an ESPN poll, and the tackle was dubbed "The Hit That No One Who Saw It Can Ever Forget" by The Washington Post. The Hit That Changed a Career The Washington Post 2005-11-18 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701635.html 2008-06-30 Leonard Shapiro At the time, the Redskins had been attempting to run a "flea-flicker" play. The Giants' defense, however, was not fooled, and they tried to blitz Theismann. Taylor sandwiched Theismann into Carson and inadvertently landed his hip on Theismann's lower right leg, fracturing both the tibia and the fibula. Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 Philadelphia Eagles W 21–0 1–0 Giants Stadium 76,141 2 September 15 at Green Bay Packers L 20–23 1–1 Lambeau Field 56,145 3 September 22 St. Louis Cardinals W 27–17 2–1 Giants Stadium 74,987 4 September 29 at Philadelphia Eagles W 16–10 3–1 Veterans Stadium 66,696 5 October 6 Dallas Cowboys L 29–30 3–2 Giants Stadium 74,981 6 October 13 at Cincinnati Bengals L 30–35 3–3 Riverfront Stadium 53,112 7 October 20 Washington Redskins W 17–3 4–3 Giants Stadium 74,389 8 October 27 at New Orleans Saints W 21–13 5–3 Louisiana Superdome 54,082 9 November 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 22–20 6–3 Giants Stadium 72,031 10 November 10 Los Angeles Rams W 24–19 7–3 Giants Stadium 74,663 11 November 18, 1985 at Washington Redskins L 21–23 7–4 RFK Stadium 53,371 12 November 24 at St. Louis Cardinals W 34–3 8–4 Busch Memorial Stadium 41,248 13 December 1 Cleveland Browns L 33–35 8–5 Giants Stadium 66,482 14 December 8 at Houston Oilers W 35–14 9–5 Houston Astrodome 36,576 15 December 15 at Dallas Cowboys L 21–28 9–6 Texas Stadium 62,310 16 December 21, 1985 Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–10 10–6 Giants Stadium 66,785 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Results Week 1 Eagles 0 0 0 0 Giants 14 0 0 7 September 8 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. EST 78 °F 1; wind 11 mph km/h knots Fred Wyant Verne Lundquist and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 2 Giants 0 6 7 7 Packers 10 7 0 6 September 15 Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin 3:00 p.m. 56 °F °C 1; wind 8 mph km/h knots Ben Dreith Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 3 Cardinals 7 3 0 7 Giants 7 3 10 7 September 22 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 72 °F °C 1; wind 13 mph km/h knots Bob McElwee Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 4 Giants 0 0 10 0 6 Eagles 0 0 3 7 0 September 29 Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia 1:00 p.m. 61 °F °C 1; wind 5 mph km/h knots Tom Dooley Pat Summerall John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 5 Cowboys 7 7 7 9 Giants 3 3 20 3 October 6 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 9:00 p.m. 59 °F °C; wind 16 mph km/h knots Chuck Heberling Frank Gifford, O. J. Simpson, Joe Namath ABC Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 6 Giants 0 3 17 10 Bengals 14 7 7 7 October 13 Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati 1:00 p.m. 72 °F °C 1; wind 11 mph km/h knots Jim Tunney Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 7 Redskins 0 0 0 3 Giants 0 7 7 3 October 20 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 60 °F °C 1; wind 14 mph km/h knots Gene Barth Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 8 Giants 0 7 0 14 Saints 3 0 0 10 October 27 Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana 3:00 p.m. Indoors (dome) Bob Frederic Pat Summerall John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 9 Buccaneers 3 10 0 7 Giants 3 3 10 6 November 3 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. EST 53 °F °C 1; wind 21 mph km/h knots Dick Jorgensen Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 10 Rams 7 6 3 3 Giants 0 7 10 7 November 10 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 63 °F °C 1; wind 18 mph km/h knots Jerry Markbreit Jack Buck and Hank Stram CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 11 Giants 7 0 14 0 Redskins 7 0 7 9 November 18 RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 9:00 p.m. EST 52 °F °C 1; wind 6 mph km/h knots Fred Wyant Frank Gifford, Joe Namath, and O.J. Simpson ABC Week 12 Giants 0 10 10 14 Cardinals 3 0 0 0 November 24 Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri 3:00 p.m. 30 °F °C 1; wind 12 mph km/h knots Red Cashion Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 13 Browns 7 14 0 14 Giants 7 13 3 10 December 1 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 43 °F °C 1; wind 20 mph km/h knots Tom Dooley Marv Albert and Bob Griese NBC Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 14 Giants 14 21 0 0 Oilers 0 14 0 0 December 8 Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas 1:00 p.m. Indoors (dome) Bob McElwee Dick Stockton and Wayne Walker CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 15 Giants 0 14 0 7 Cowboys 7 14 0 7 December 15 Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas 12:00 p.m. 36 °F °C 1; wind 11 mph km/h knots Fred Silva Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 16 Steelers 0 3 7 0 Giants 7 21 0 0 December 21 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 12:30 p.m. 27 °F °C 1; wind 15 mph km/h knots Jerry Markbreit Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen NBC Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings Playoffs Wild card 49ers 0 3 0 0 Giants 3 7 7 0 December 29 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 75,842 Mostly cloudy; 36 °F °C 1 or; wind 16 mph km/h knots Red Cashion Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS Even though the 49ers recorded 362 yards of total offense, with receiver Dwight Clark catching 8 passes for 120 yards, the Giants limited San Francisco to only one field goal. Meanwhile, New York running back Joe Morris rushed for 141 yards. Divisional Giants 0 0 0 0 Bears 7 0 14 0 January 5 Soldier Field, Chicago 11:30 a.m. 18 °F °C 1; wind 16 mph km/h knots Ben Dreith Pat Summerrall & John Madden CBS The Giants lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears. Awards and honors Phil Simms, Pro Bowl MVP NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 202 References 30em External links 1985 New York Giants at jt-sw.com 1985 New York Giants at Pro-Football-Reference.com Category:New York Giants seasons New York Giants New York Giants season Category:20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Category:Meadowlands Sports Complex