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1987 New York Giants season

1987 New York Giants season
OwnerWellington Mara
General managerGeorge Young
Head coachBill Parcells
Offensive coordinatorRon Erhardt
Defensive coordinatorBill Belichick
Home fieldGiants Stadium
Results
Record6–9
Division place5th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Lawrence Taylor

The 1987 season was the New York Giants' 63rd in the National Football League (NFL) and their fifth under head coach Bill Parcells. The Giants entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champion but failed to qualify for the playoffs. They were the sixth team in NFL history to enter a season as the defending Super Bowl champion and miss the playoffs.[1] The Giants started the season 0–5, becoming the first defending Super Bowl champion to lose their first 5 games. Ultimately, the Giants never recovered from their 0–5 start and failed to improve on their 14–2 record from 1986 and finished at 6–9. They were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 1983. They also placed last in their division for the first time since that same season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1987 New York Giants draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 28 Mark Ingram  WR Michigan State
2 55 Adrian White  DB Florida
3 83 Stephen Baker  WR Fresno State
4 112 Odessa Turner  WR Northwestern State
5 140 Paul O'Connor  G Miami (FL)
6 160 Tim Richardson  RB Pacific
6 168 Doug Riesenberg  OT California
8 223 Rod Jones  TE Washington
9 225 Stan Parker  G Nebraska
9 251 Dana Wright  RB Findlay
10 279 Chuck Faucette  LB Maryland
11 307 Dave Walter  QB Michigan Tech
12 321 Bill Berthusen  DT Iowa State
12 329 Chad Stark  RB North Dakota State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1987 New York Giants staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Bill Belichick
  • Defensive line – Lamar Leachman
  • Defensive backfield – Len Fontes
  • Defensive assistant – Mike Sweatman

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Romeo Crennel
  • Assistant special teams – Mike Sweatman

Strength and conditioning


NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 New York Giants replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Roster

1987 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue
1 August 15 at New England Patriots W 19–17 1–0 Foxboro Stadium
2 August 22 Cleveland Browns W 24–10 2–0 Giants Stadium
3 August 29 New York Jets L 23–30 3–0 Giants Stadium
4 September 5 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–20 3–1 Three Rivers Stadium

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 14 at Chicago Bears L 19–34 0–1 Soldier Field Recap
2 September 20 Dallas Cowboys L 14–16 0–2 Giants Stadium Recap
3 at Miami Dolphins Cancelled due to the 1987 NFL strike
4 October 5 San Francisco 49ers L 21–41 0–3 Giants Stadium Recap
5 October 11 Washington Redskins L 12–38 0–4 Giants Stadium Recap
6 October 18 at Buffalo Bills L 3–6 (OT) 0–5 Rich Stadium Recap
7 October 25 St. Louis Cardinals W 30–7 1–5 Giants Stadium Recap
8 November 2 at Dallas Cowboys L 24–33 1–6 Texas Stadium Recap
9 November 8 New England Patriots W 17–10 2–6 Giants Stadium Recap
10 November 15 at Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17 3–6 Veterans Stadium Recap
11 November 22 at New Orleans Saints L 14–23 3–7 Louisiana Superdome Recap
12 November 29 at Washington Redskins L 19–23 3–8 RFK Stadium Recap
13 December 6 Philadelphia Eagles W 23–20 (OT) 4–8 Giants Stadium Recap
14 December 13 at St. Louis Cardinals L 24–27 4–9 Busch Stadium Recap
15 December 19 Green Bay Packers W 20–10 5–9 Giants Stadium Recap
16 December 27 New York Jets W 20–7 6–9 Giants Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
Giants 7 066 19
• Bears 3 71410 34
  • Date: September 14
  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 62 °F (16.7 °C), wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • Television network: ABC

[3]

Week 2

1 234Total
• Cowboys 3 733 16
Giants 7 070 14

[4]

Week 3

1 234Total
• 49ers 3 141014 41
Giants 0 7014 21

[5]

Week 4

1 234Total
• Redskins 3 2177 38
Giants 3 090 12

[6]

Week 5

1 234OTTotal
Giants 0 0300 3
• Bills 0 0033 6

[7]

Week 6

1 234Total
Cardinals 0 007 7
• Giants 14 3310 30

[8]

Week 7

1 234Total
Giants 0 1077 24
• Cowboys 7 7019 33
  • Date: November 2
  • Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 69 °F (20.6 °C), wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
  • Referee: Fred Wyant
  • Television network: ABC

[9]

Week 8

1 234Total
Patriots 0 073 10
• Giants 0 1430 17

[10]

Week 9

1 234Total
Giants 7 373 20
Eagles 10 070 17

[11]

Week 10

1 234Total
Giants 0 770 14
• Saints 3 10010 23

[12]

Week 11

1 234Total
Giants 10 630 19
• Redskins 0 0914 23

[13]

Week 12

1 234OTTotal
Eagles 0 60140 20
• Giants 7 0673 23

[14]

Week 13

1 234Total
Giants 7 377 24
• Cardinals 14 1300 27

[15]

Week 14

1 234Total
Packers 0 037 10
• Giants 0 1370 20

[16]

Week 15

1 234Total
Jets 7 000 7
• Giants 0 1730 20

[17]

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Washington Redskins(3) 11 4 0 .733 7–1 9–3 379 285 W1
Dallas Cowboys 7 8 0 .467 4–4 5–7 340 348 W2
St. Louis Cardinals 7 8 0 .467 3–5 7–7 362 368 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 8 0 .467 3–5 4–7 337 380 W2
New York Giants 6 9 0 .400 3–5 4–8 280 312 W2

Awards and honors

  • Lawrence Taylor, NFC Pro Bowl selection[18]
  • Lawrence Taylor, Pro Football Weekly: 1st team all-conf.[18]
  • Lawrence Taylor, UPI: 2nd team all-conf.[18]
  • Lawrence Taylor, Associated Press: 2nd team all-NFL[18]
  • Lawrence Taylor, Pro Football Weekly: 1st team all-NFL[18]

References