Week 2, September 11th, 1988, San Francisco 49ers (1-0) @ New York Giants (0-1)

Sunday, September 11th, 1988 1:00PM
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) @ New York Giants (0-1)
Giants Stadium
Weather: 69 degrees, relative humidity 51%, wind 15 mph
Line: New York -2 (new york), O/U 44 (under)

Attendance:  75,943 (76,891)

San Francisco 6, New York Giants 29

Due to injury concerns, Joe Montana was benched in favor of Quarterback Steve Young.  The New York Giants didnt waste any time on Young and avenging a heart-breaking week 1 Monday Night loss to the Redskins.

San Francisco received the opening kickoff.  They were called for holding on 1st down.  The next play resulted in a sack by safety Terry Kinard.  On 2nd and 25 from the 4, Steve Young was brought down in the end zone by Pepper Johnson for the safety, whipping the Giants' faithful into a frenzy and a 2-0 lead less than a minute into the game.

Pepper Johnson celebrates a safety in the 1st minute

The 49ers' next possession, Steve Young (15-20 115 yards, 1 Int) fumbled on his own 18. Carl Banks picked it up and tried to advance it, but was stripped of the ball and 49er Roger Craig pounced on it to save the day - for now.  Jerry Rice (5-114) had a 30 yard reception on the next play, and the 49ers were able to drive down for a 47 yard Mike Cofer field goal to take the lead 3-2.

The Giants answered as Phil Simms went 4-6 for 75 yards and a touchdown capped by a 13 yard connection to TE Mark Bavaro (6-65 TD).  Stephen Baker (7-89) had 2 receptions for 50 yards on the quick-strike drive to take a 9-3 lead which would hold for the rest of the 1st Quarter.

Mark Bavaro catches a 13 yard touchdown pass in the 1st Quarter

On the 49ers' 1st play of the 2nd Quarter, even while the Giants were keying on Roger Craig, Carl Banks made an outstanding individual effort in intercepting a pass intended for Brent Jones and returning it 18 yards for the defensive touchdown and a 16-3 lead.  The home crowd was electric.

The Giants would include another phase of dominance:  Special teams.  With 7:41 to play in the 2nd, A Barry Helton punt was blocked by the Giants and returned 32 yards by Phil McConkey to the 49er 19, which ended up a 22 yard Paul McFadden field goal for a 19-3 lead which would end up the halftime score.  A frustrating half for San Francisco, having reached Giants territory 5 times with 3 points to show for it.

Phil Simms wasn't spectacular, but got the job done early. 19 of 37 for 197 Yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions on the day 53.5 rating 

Early in the 3rd quarter, another  mistake would doom the 49ers.  Giant punter Mark Buford blasted a 56 yard punt that returner John Taylor could not handle.  Don Griffin scooped it up and tried to advance it, but lost the ball into the hands of NY Giants' George Adams at the 49er 12.  This turnover was converted to a 6 yard Maurice Carthon score to make it a blowout 26-3.

Bill Walsh had seen enough, and went with Joe Montana for the rest of the game.  His 1st 2 plays were completions to Jerry Rice for 64 yards, however the 49ers stalled out and the drive was closed by a Mike Cofer 26 yard field goal.  Montana went 1 for 8 the rest of the way against the stingy Giants defense.

Paul McFadden added a 41 yard field goal in the 4th to close the scoring to cap a huge 29-6 Giants victory against another NFC powerhouse. 

Player of the Game:

Carl Banks - Giants

Banks was a force on defense for the Giants.  6 tackles, 1 interception returned for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery

1988 San Francisco 6, 1988 New York NFC 29
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 San Francisco	3	0	3	0	0	6
1988 New York NFC	9	10	7	3	0	29

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	14:04	1988 New York NFC	Safety, S.Young sacked by P.Johnson in the end zone.	2-0 NYN
1	7:18	1988 San Francisco	M.Cofer 47 yd. field goal	3-2 SFN
1	4:49	1988 New York NFC	M.Bavaro 13 yd. pass from P.Simms (P.McFadden kick)	9-3 NYN
2	14:01	1988 New York NFC	C.Banks 18 yd. intercept (P.McFadden kick)	16-3 NYN
2	5:24	1988 New York NFC	P.McFadden 22 yd. field goal	19-3 NYN
3	8:33	1988 New York NFC	M.Carthon 6 yd. run (P.McFadden kick)	26-3 NYN
3	6:06	1988 San Francisco	M.Cofer 26 yd. field goal	26-6 NYN
4	7:51	1988 New York NFC	P.McFadden 41 yd. field goal	29-6 NYN

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	14:20	1988 San Francisco	QBSack	Terry Kinard	-6
1	10:48	1988 San Francisco	Fumble	Steve Young
1	10:16	1988 San Francisco	Pass	Jerry Rice	30
1	4:33	1988 San Francisco	Return	Doug DuBose	44
2	14:32	1988 New York NFC	QBSack	Kevin Fagan	-7
2	9:02	1988 San Francisco	Intercept	Tim McKyer	0
2	7:27	1988 San Francisco	Blocked Punt	Barry Helton	-9
2	0:15	1988 New York NFC	QBSack	Larry Roberts	-5
3	7:28	1988 San Francisco	Pass	Jerry Rice	35
3	1:31	1988 San Francisco	Intercept	Don Griffin	0

Team Statistics
	1988 San Francisco	1988 New York NFC
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	2-7-0-9	8-10-1-19
Third Down Efficiency	1-13-8%	4-17-24%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-2-0%	0-1-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	3-7-43%	17-21-81%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	233-55-4.2	287-77-3.7
Total Net Yards Rushing	58	102
Total Rushes	25	38
Average Per Rush	2.3	2.7
Passes Completed/Attempted	18/28 (64.3%)	19/37 (51.4%)
Net Yards Passing	175	185
Avg Yards Per Pass	6.6	5.3
Sacked/Yards Lost	2/10	2/12
Punts/Average	8/36.8	7/49.1
Punts Received/Return Yardage	4/11	1/-1
Kickoffs/Returns	6/113	4/56
Interceptions/Returns	2/0	1/18
Penalties/Yards	6/49	2/15
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	4/2	2/1
Time of Possession	27 mins 40 secs	32 mins 20 secs
Average Drive Start	SFN 31	NYN 26

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 San Francisco
Steve Young	20	15	113	75.0	5.7	0	0	1	5.0	30	2/10	67.3
Joe Montana	8	3	72	37.5	9.0	0	0	0	0	35	0/0	70.8
1988 New York NFC
Phil Simms	37	19	197	51.4	5.3	1	2.7	2	5.4	27	2/12	53.5

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 San Francisco
Roger Craig	20	51	2.5	16	0	0	0/0
Harry Sydney	2	4	2.0	4	0	0	0/0
Steve Young	2	3	1.5	3	0	0	1/1
Tom Rathman	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0/0
1988 New York NFC
Joe Morris	20	54	2.7	16	0	0	0/0
Ottis Anderson	12	22	1.8	11	0	0	0/0
Maurice Carthon	5	17	3.4	7	1	0	0/0
Phil Simms	1	9	9.0	9	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 San Francisco
Jerry Rice	5	114	22.8	35	0	0
Roger Craig	3	22	7.3	10	0	0
Mike R. Wilson	3	26	8.7	14	0	0
Tom Rathman	3	2	0.7	7	0	0
John Taylor	2	-6	-3.0	-3	0	0
John Frank	1	5	5.0	5	0	0
Ron J. Heller	1	22	22.0	22	0	0
1988 New York NFC
Stephen Baker	7	89	12.7	27	0	0
Mark Bavaro	6	65	10.8	15	1	0
Lionel Manuel	4	26	6.5	12	0	0
Mark Ingram	2	17	8.5	12	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 San Francisco
Mike Cofer	0/0	1/1	0/0	1/1	0/0	2/2	100
1988 New York NFC
Paul McFadden	0/0	1/1	0/0	1/1	0/0	2/2	100

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 San Francisco
Barry Helton	7	42.0	42.1	0	5	60	1
1988 New York NFC
Maury Buford	7	49.1	41.9	2	3	59	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 San Francisco
Doug DuBose	6	113	18.8	44	0
1988 New York NFC
Neal Guggemos	3	56	18.7	23	0
Phil McConkey	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 San Francisco
John Taylor	4	1	11	2.8	10	0
1988 New York NFC
Phil McConkey	1	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 San Francisco
Michael Walter	9	0	0
Eric Wright	6	0	0
Don Griffin	6	0	1
Tim McKyer	5	0	0
Kevin Fagan	5	1	0
Michael Carter	5	0	0
Keena Turner	5	0	0
Jeff Fuller	4	0	0
Charles Haley	4	0	0
Larry Roberts	4	1	0
Riki Ellison	2	0	0
Ronnie Lott	2	0	0
Roger Craig	0	0	1
John Taylor	0	0	1
1988 New York NFC
Mark Collins	7	0	0
Lawrence Taylor	7	0	0
Carl Banks	6	0	1
Pepper Johnson	5	1	0
Terry Kinard	4	1	0
Eric Dorsey	3	0	0
Perry L. Williams	3	0	0
Harry Carson	2	0	0
Jim Burt	2	0	0
Sheldon White	2	0	0
George Martin	2	0	0
Leonard Marshall	1	0	0
George Adams	0	0	1
Phil McConkey	0	0	1

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 San Francisco
Don Griffin	1	0	0.0	0	0
Tim McKyer	1	0	0.0	0	0
1988 New York NFC
Carl Banks	1	18	18.0	18	1

Game Story

In an easy win New York NFC smoked San Francisco by the score of 29 to 6. Phil Simms passed 37 times for 197 yards with a touchdown. Joe Morris ran the ball 20 times for 54 yards. New York NFC got out to an early lead outscoring San Francisco 9 to 3 in the first quarter. They led after three quarters 26 to 6.