New York Giants: A History of G-Men, Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field

Lambeau Field opened in Green Bay, Wis., in 1957. Originally christened New City Stadium, the home of the Green Bay Packers was renamed Lambeau Field in honor of team founder and longtime coach Curly Lambeau in 1965.

The New York Giants have visited Lambeau Field eight times since the stadium opened and have split those meetings with the Packers, with each team winning four times.

Sunday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game is the ninth meeting between the teams at Lambeau and the third playoff matchup. The Packers and Giants split the first two postseason meetings, as well, with the Packers posting a victory in the 1961 NFL Championship and the Giants winning the 2007 NFC Championship.

What follows is a chronological recap of the eight previous meetings between the Giants and Packers on the frozen tundra.

Nov. 3, 1957: Defense Delivers Win for Giants

The Giants (4-2) got a pair of defensive touchdowns in their first visit to Green Bay’s new stadium, never trailing en route to a 31-17 win in Week 6 of the 1957 season.

Sam Huff returned a fumble in the first quarter to open the scoring. After Green Bay (2-4) tied the game on a 77-yard pass from Bart Starr to Billy Howton, New York scored 10 unanswered points in the second period on a 12-yard field goal by Ben Agajanian and a three-yard touchdown run by Frank Gifford.

The Giants took a 24-10 halftime lead on a three-yard pass from Charley Conerly to Ken MacAfee after Fred Cone had booted a 39-yard field goal for the Packers.

Green Bay made it a one-score game in the third quarter on a 40-yard touchdown run by Don McIlhenny. But Emlen Tunnell sealed the win for the Giants, returning an interception 52 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.

New York won despite being out-gained 382-276 by Green Bay. Rookie Paul Horning ran for 112 yards on 16 carries for the Packers and Howton had four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Starr finished 11-for-32 for 185 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice. Conerly was 9-for-22 for 153 yards and had a touchdown and threw a pick.

Neither team made the playoffs in 1957, with the Giants finishing second in the East Division to Cleveland at 7-5 while the Packers were last in the West Division with a 3-9 mark.

Dec. 31, 1961: Lombardi Gets His First Title in Titletown

The Giants reached the 1961 NFL Championship with a 10-3-1 record, a half-game better than the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles in the East Division. The Packers cruised to their second straight West Division crown with an 11-3 mark, 2.5 games ahead of the Detroit Lions.

Green Bay was hosting its first NFL Championship, having played the 1939 title game in Milwaukee.

The Packers had already beaten the Giants once, posting a 20-17 win over New York on Dec. 3 in Milwaukee.

Paul Hornung, who was the NFL MVP in 1961, opened the scoring, capping a 12-play, 80-yard drive on the first play of the second quarter with a six-yard run. The Packers put the game away quickly after that.

Y.A. Tittle was picked off twice in less than two minutes. The first interception, by Ray Nitschke, set up a 13-yard scoring pass from Starr to Boyd Dowler. Hank Gremminger picked off Tittle moments later and Starr hit Ron Kramer for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 Green Bay en route to a 37-0 blowout, the first of five championships for the Vince Lombardi Packers in the 1960s.

Tittle was just 6-for-20 for 65 yards and threw four interceptions before being yanked in favor of Charlie Conerly in the second quarter. New York also couldn’t get the ground game going, managing just 31 yards on 14 attempts.

Starr went 10-for-17 for 164 yards and three scores. Hornung ran for 89 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown and Kramer finished with four catches for 80 yards and two scores.

Sept. 19, 1971: Tarkenton Throws Four TDs, Giants Hang on

The Giants traveled to Green Bay for the first time after Lambeau Field had been renamed to open the 1971 season. The game was highlighted by Fran Tarkenton throwing for four touchdown passes, three to Rich Houston, and the Giant defense recovering two fumbles in the end zone in the second quarter.

After Ken Ellis returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Green Bay a 7-0 lead, the Giants scored the next 28 points. Tarkenton and Houston connected on scores of six and 39 yards and then the defense took over.

Linebacker Ralph Heck recovered a fumble in the Green Bay end zone to make it 21-7 and defensive back Joe Green repeated the trick moment later to give Big Blue a 28-7 lead.

Tarkenton connected with Tucker Frederickson for a 20-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give New York a 42-24 lead.

Backup quarterback Scott Hunter rallied the Packers in the fourth quarter, throwing an 18-yard pass to Carroll Dale to make it a 42-38 game before the Giants allowed punter Tom Blanchard to be tackled in the end zone in the closing seconds for a safety and a 42-40 opening-day win.

Tarkenton was 13-for-21 for 236 yards and an interception to go with the four touchdown passes. Houston made six catches for 151 yards and three scores. Hunter came off the bench to go 9-for-16 for 158 yards and two touchdowns and Donnie Anderson rushed for 99 yards on 16 carries and had a score.

Neither team did much the rest of the way. New York went 4-10 to finish last in the NFC East while the Packers’ 4-8-2 record was the worst in the NFC Central.

Sept. 15, 1985: Ivery’s Late Score Keys Green Bay Win

Eddie Lee Ivery plunged in from a yard out with 4:07 remaining in regulation and the Green Bay Packers (1-1) beat the New York Giants (1-1) 23-20 in Week 2.

The Packers took a 17-6 halftime lead, getting a one-yard touchdown run from Jessie Clark in the first quarter and a one-yard touchdown pass from Lynn Dickey to Paul Coffman in the second period.

Phil Simms got the Giants close with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Don Hasselbeck in the third quarter and gave New York the lead in the fourth period on a five-yard hookup with Lionel Manuel before Ivery’s late touchdown.

Ali Haji-Sheikh, who had hit from 23 and 52 yards earlier in the game, missed a potential game-tying 47-yard field goal at the gun.

Simms was 21-for-40 for 272 yards and two scores. Manuel finished with 105 yards on five receptions but the Giants were held to just 76 yards on the ground. Dickey had 188 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 15-for-26 passing and Clark had 65 yards on 13 attempts.

New York earned a wild-card berth with a 10-6 record in 1085, beating the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card playoff before being shut out by the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears in the divisional round. Green Bay finished second in the NFC Central and missed the playoffs after going 8-8.

Sept. 17, 1995: Early Touchdowns Enough for Pack

Brett Favre threw two first-half touchdown passes and the Packers went on to held off the Giants, 14-6.

New York (0-3) out-gained Green Bay (2-1) 303-198 and sacked Favre four times—three by Michael Strahan—but could only manage a pair of Brad Daluiso field goals in the loss.

Favre connected with former Giant Mark Ingram for an 11-yard touchdown in the first quarter for all the points the Packers would need and then found Robert Brooks for a 19-yard score in the second quarter to put Green Bay up 14-0.

Favre was 14-for-25 for 141 yards and the two scores and Edgar Bennett carried the ball 23 times for 87 yards for the Packers. Dave Brown finished 23-for-50 for 199 yards for the Giants and was intercepted once. Rodney Hampton ran for 86 yards on 16 carries.

While the Giants were en route to a 5-11 campaign and a fourth-place finish in the NFC East, the Packers won the NFC Central with an 11-5 mark and posted wins over Atlanta and at San Francisco before falling to eventual champion Dallas in the NFC title game.

Oct. 3, 2004: Tiki Runs Wild as Giants KO Favre, Pack

Tiki Barber ran for 182 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown in the third quarter, as the Giants knocked out Green Bay quarterbacks Brett Favre and Doug Pederson in a 14-7 victory.

After a scoreless first half, the Packers (1-3) got on the board on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Javon Walker. On the Giants’ ensuing possession, Barber broke free for his long run to tie the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, New York took the lead on a four-yard pass from Kurt Warner to Jeremy Shockey and held off the Packers down the stretch. Green Bay’s offense struggled to move the ball as Favre was knocked out of the game with a head injury in the third quarter and backup Pederson was later lost to broken ribs in the fourth, leaving third-stringer Craig Nall to finish the game for the Packers.

Warner was 20-for-26 for 187 yards and threw a pick while Favre was 12-for-18 for 110 yards and an interception before departing. Pederson was also intercepted once and was just 7-for-17 for 86 yards.

The Giants would get off to a 5-2 start under Warner before first-year Giants coach Tom Coughlin replaced him in the starting lineup with No. 1 overall draft pick Eli Manning. The Giants went just 1-8 the rest of the way and finished in a three-way tie for second in the NFC East with Washington and Dallas at 6-10. Green Bay righted the ship, finishing 10-6 and winning the NFC North before losing a wild-card game at home to the 8-8 Minnesota Vikings.

Jan. 20, 2008: Webster’s Pick, Tynes’ Kick Send G-Men to Super Bowl

On a frigid evening in Green Bay, with the temperature at kickoff a brisk seven degrees below zero and the wind chill reaching -27, regulation time wasn’t enough to decide the NFC Championship.

The Packers took the lead in the second quarter on a 90-yard catch and run from Brett Favre to Donald Driver before the Giants came back in the third quarter. New York took a 13-10 lead on a one-yard run by Brandon Jacobs before Green Bay reclaimed a 17-13 advantage on a 12-yard pass from Favre to Donald Lee.

New York got the lead back late in the quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Ahmad Bradshaw before Mason Crosby tied the game early in the fourth quarter with a 37-yard field goal.

Early in overtime, Favre was short on a sideline pass to Driver and Corey Webster intercepted the ball. The Giants drove to the Packer 30, setting up Lawrence Tynes for a 47-yard potential game-winning field goal. Tynes, who had missed twice in the fourth quarter, boomed the ball into the frigid Wisconsin night and sent the Giants to the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years.

Eli Manning finished 21-for-40 for 251 yards and no turnovers on the cold night. Plaxico Burress made 11 catches for 151 yards. Favre was 19-for-35 for 236 yards and two touchdowns but was also picked off twice and the Giants gobbled up Green Bay’s running game, holding Ryan Grant to 29 yards on 13 carries.

New York won road games at Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay before upsetting the 18-0 New England Patriots in the Super Bowl after a 10-6 regular season. Green Bay had gone 13-3 in what turned out to be Favre’s final year in Green Bay before knocking out Seattle in the divisional playoffs.

Dec. 26, 2010: Rodgers Rips Up Giants to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Giants came to Lambeau Field with a chance to clinch a playoff berth a week after a gut-wrenching loss on the final play of the game to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But Aaron Rodgers kept the party on hold, returning from missing the previous game with a concussion to throw for 404 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers routed the reeling Giants 45-17.

Green Bay (9-6) outscored New York (9-6) 24-3 in the second half to blow open what had been a close game.

Rodgers had touchdown passes of 80 yards to Jordy Nelson, three yards to James Jones, one yard to Donald lee and five yards to John Kuhn while completing 25-of-37 passes. Greg Jennings caught seven balls for 142 yards while Nelson had 124 yards on four grabs on a day when Rodgers completed passes to nine different receivers.

Manning was 17-for-33 for 301 yards and two scores, including an 85-yard touchdown to Mario Manningham, but was intercepted four times. New York turned the ball over six times in all. Manningham finished with four catches for 132 yards.

Green Bay clinched a wild-card spot with a win over Chicago the following week while the Giants missed the postseason despite a win over Washington on the final day. The Packers went on a torrid postseason run, winning at Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago before beating Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.