# 1961 New York Giants season

The 1961 New York Giants season was the franchise's 37th season in the National Football League. After relinquishing the NFL East title the previous season, the Giants reclaimed the title with a 10–3–1 record, a half-game ahead of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.
New York traveled to Wisconsin for the NFL Championship Game and were shut out 37–0 by the Vince Lombardi-coached Green Bay Packers.

## Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 10–21 | 0–1 | 58,059 |
| 2 | September 24 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–14 | 1–1 | 35,587 |
| 3 | October 1 | at Washington Redskins | W 24–21 | 2–1 | 36,767 |
| 4 | October 8 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 24–9 | 3–1 | 23,713 |
| 5 | October 15 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 31–10 | 4–1 | 41,500 |
| 6 | October 22 | Los Angeles Rams | W 24–14 | 5–1 | 63,053 |
| 7 | October 29 | Dallas Cowboys | L 16–17 | 5–2 | 60,254 |
| 8 | November 5 | Washington Redskins | W 53–0 | 6–2 | 56,077 |
| 9 | November 12 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 38–21 | 7–2 | 62,800 |
| 10 | November 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 42–21 | 8–2 | 62,592 |
| 11 | November 26 | at Cleveland Browns | W 37–21 | 9–2 | 80,455 |
| 12 | December 3 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–20 | 9–3 | 47,012 |
| 13 | December 10 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 28–24 | 10–3 | 60,671 |
| 14 | December 17 | Cleveland Browns | T 7–7 | 10–3–1 | 61,804 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Giants | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 9–2–1 | 368 | 220 | T1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 8–4 | 361 | 297 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 8–3–1 | 319 | 270 | T1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 7–5 | 279 | 267 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–7 | 295 | 287 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 2–9–1 | 236 | 380 | L4 |
| Washington Redskins | 1 | 12 | 1 | .077 | 1–10–1 | 174 | 392 | W1 |
       Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 9–3 | 391 | 223 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 7–4–1 | 270 | 258 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 7–5 | 326 | 302 | W2 |
| Baltimore Colts | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 6–6 | 302 | 307 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 6–5–1 | 346 | 272 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–9 | 263 | 333 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 3–9 | 285 | 407 | L2 |
       Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Time | TV | Result | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| NFL Championship | December 31 | at Green Bay Packers | 2:00 p.m. EST | NBC | L 0–37 | City Stadium | 39,029 | Recap |
    Source:
Playoff Game Officials
Playoff :
| Round | Opponent | Referee | Umpire | Head Linesman | Back Judge | Field Judge |
| NFL Championship Game | at Green Bay | (#52) George Rennix | (#17) James Beiersdorfer | (#48) John Highberger | (#22) Charles Sweeney | (#14) Frank Luzar |

### Playoff game summaries
#### 1961 NFL Championship Game (Sunday, December 31, 1961): at Green Bay Packers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Packers | 0 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 37 |
at City Stadium • Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: December 31
* Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 17 °F (−8 °C), relative humidity 82%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h), wind chill 6 °F (−14 °C)
* Game attendance: 39,029
* Referee: George Rennix
* TV announcers (NBC): Lindsey Nelson and Chris Schenkel
| Team | Category |
| NYG | Passing |
| NYG | Rushing |
| NYG | Receiving |
| GB | Passing |
| GB | Rushing |
| GB | Receiving |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | NYG | GB |
| 2 | | | | | Packers | Hornung 6-yard touchdown run, Hornung kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | | | | | Packers | Dowler 13-yard touchdown reception from Starr, Hornung kick good | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | | | | | Packers | Kramer 14-yard touchdown reception from Starr, Hornung kick good | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | | | | | Packers | 17-yard field goal by Hornung | 0 | 24 |
| 3 | | | | | Packers | 22-yard field goal by Hornung | 0 | 27 |
| 3 | | | | | Packers | Kramer 13-yard touchdown reception from Starr, Hornung kick good | 0 | 34 |
| 4 | | | | | Packers | 19-yard field goal by Hornung | 0 | 37 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 0 | 37 |
* Point spread: Giants +3½
* Time of Game:
| Giants | Game Statistics | Packers |
| 6 | First downs | 19 |
| 14–31 | Rushes–yards | 44–181 |
| 119 | Passing yards | 164 |
| 10–29–4 | Passes | 10–19–0 |
| 2–20 | Sacked–yards | 0–0 |
| 99 | Net passing yards | 164 |
| 130 | Total yards | 345 |
| 129 | Return yards | 58 |
| 5–39.2 | Punts | 5–42.0 |
| 5–1 | Fumbles–lost | 1–0 |
| 4–38 | Penalties–yards | 4–16 |
| | Time of possession | |
Individual stats
Giants Passing :
| | C/ATT$^1$ | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG$^3$ | Rate |
| Tittle | 6/20 | 65 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 19 | 1.0 |
| Conerly | 4/8 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 71.9 |
| Gaiters | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
Giants Rushing :
| Car$^2$ | Yds | TD | LG$^3$ |
Giants Receiving :
| Rec$^4$ | Yds | TD | LG$^3$ |
Giants Kickoff Returns :
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng |
Giants Punt Returns :
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng |
Giants Punting :
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck |
Starting Lineups
| Position | Starting Lineups at Green Bay (1961 NFL Championship Game) |
| Offense ||
| FL | #44 Kyle Rote |
| LT | #79 Rosey Brown |
| LG | #62 Darrell Dess |
| C | #55 Ray Wietecha |
| RG | #66 Jack Stroud |
| RT | #53 Greg Larson |
| TE | #80 Joe Walton |
| SE | #85 Del Shofner |
| QB | #14 Y. A. Tittle |
| FB | #29 Alex Webster |
| LH | #28 Joel Wells |
| Defense ||
| LDE |
| LDT |
| RDT |
| RDE |
| LLB |
| MLB |
| RLB |
| LCB |
| RCB |
| SS |
| FS |