1963 New York Giants season

1963 New York Giants season
Head coach	Allie Sherman
Owner	Jack Mara Wellington Mara
Home field	Yankee Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Lost NFL Championship

The 1963 New York Giants season was the 39th season for the club in the National Football League. The Giants won their sixth NFL Eastern Conference championship in eight years with an 11–3 record, but lost the NFL Championship Game to the NFL Champion Chicago Bears, 14–10 at Wrigley Field, in their final post-season appearance until 1981.

Giants quarterback Y. A. Tittle produced one of the greatest passing seasons in NFL history. Tittle had had a breakout season the previous year, but according to Cold Hard Football Facts, "[h]e was even better in 1963, breaking his own record set the year before with 36 TD passes while also leading the league in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating. Tittle's G-Men scored a league-leading 32.0 [points-per-game] and he lifted his team to an epic title-game showdown with the Bears, who possessed what was easily the league's best defense in 1963 (10.3 [points-per-game])."

Offseason

A familiar figure on the offensive line, four-time Pro Bowl selection Wietecha, retired after a decade of service, and Greg Larson took over his job at center. Other new faces included third-string quarterback Glynn Griffing (who would spend just a single season in the NFL), linebacker Jerry Hillebrand, and offensive tackles Lane Howell and Lou Kirouac. There was nothing new about the face of Hall of Fame bound Hugh McElhenny, who put on a Giants uniform for the first time in 1963 after 11 years as a star fullback with San Francisco and Minnesota. McElhenny stayed with the Giants for just a single season, and of the 12 new players on the Giants' roster in 1963, only Hillebrand and John Lo Vetere spent more than two seasons with the team.

The Giants were facing competition as the once laughingstock of the American Football League the New York Titans were bought by Sonny Werblin who changed the team name to the New York Jets.

Roster

Defense [1] CB Erich Barnes ⋅ CB Dick Lynch ⋅ Offense [2] FL Frank Gifford ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Rosey Brown Darnell Dess Greg Larson Bookie Bolin Jack Stroud ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Joe Walton ⋅ SE Del Shofner ⋅ QB Y.A. Tittle ⋅ RB Phil King ⋅ FB Alex Webster Joe Morrison Special Teams PK Don Chandler P Don Chandler KR Charlie Killett PR Eddie Dove

Regular season

For Y.A. Tittle 1963 was his finest season. The New York offense was flooded with capable receivers. Del Shofner, Frank Gifford, Alex Webster, Joe Morrison, Joe Walton and Thomas were joined by the newly acquired McElhenny, who had already caught many a pass from Tittle when both played for the San Francisco 49ers. Complementing the offense was Don Chandler, whose accurate place-kicking enabled him to become the league's leading scoring in 1963.

But the brightest of the stellar attractions would be the come-from-behind quarterback himself, who had to rescue the 1963 season with yet another miracle finish. Although Tittle threw three touchdown passes for a 37–28 victory in the season opener against the Baltimore Colts, his ribs were injured in the third quarter, and he was forced to spend the rest of the game, and the entire next game as well, on the sideline. Reserve quarterbacks Gugliemi and Griffing were of little help in game 2, a 31–0 drubbing of the Giants at Pittsburgh. Fortunately for New York, Tittle recovered in time for the third game of the season.

In victories over the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, Tittle threw a total of five touchdown passes. The defense came alive as well, especially Dick Lynch, who intercepted three Sonny Jurgensen passes in New York's defeat of the Eagles.

The Giants' home opener, perennially delayed by Yankee Stadium's baseball tenant, was the first critical game of the season. Jim Brown and the undefeated Cleveland team kept the Browns' perfect record intact and increased Cleveland's Eastern Conference lead over the Giants to two games with a 35–24 victory. With nine games remaining in the 1963 schedule, New York's 3–2 record did not seem particularly hopeful.

During the next five games, however, Tittle shifted the Giants' offense into overdrive, averaging an astounding 39.6 points per game. The sweetest of the victories was a 33–6 shellacking of the Browns in the face of 84,000 stunned Cleveland spectators. Before a frustrated Jim Brown was ejected late in the 4th quarter for fighting with a New York defender, he had been held to a mere 40 yards rushing.

Of the final 9 games in the 1963, season, the Giants lost only one: A 24–17 defeat by the St. Louis Cardinals in a game played at Yankee Stadium a few days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Commissioner Pete Rozelle received broad criticism from many quarters allowing the regular schedule to proceed on that bleak Sunday, for it had been set aside as a national day of mourning.) New York closed out the season with big wins over the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Giants captured their third consecutive Eastern Conference crown on the final Sunday of the season to finish 11–3–0. one game ahead of the Browns.

Throughout the autumn of 1963, the air above Giants football games virtually hummed with forward passes. The team has amassed 3,558 total passing yards, a mere 47 shy of the Baltimore Colts, who were led by Johnny Unitas. More importantly, Tittle led the NFL with 36 touchdown tosses, breaking his one-yard-old single-season of 33. But New York's passing game was to be severely tested by the league's acknowledged defensive leader: The Chicago Bears.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 15, 1963	at Baltimore Colts	W 37–28	60,029
2	September 22, 1963	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 31–0	46,068
3	September 29, 1963	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 37–14	60,671
4	October 6, 1963	at Washington Redskins	W 24–14	49,419
5	October 13, 1963	Cleveland Browns	L 35–24	62,956
6	October 20, 1963	Dallas Cowboys	W 37–21	62,889
7	October 27, 1963	at Cleveland Browns	W 33–6	84,213
8	November 3, 1963	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 38–21	29,482
9	November 10, 1963	Philadelphia Eagles	W 42–14	62,936
10	November 17, 1963	San Francisco 49ers	W 48–14	62,982
11	November 24, 1963	St. Louis Cardinals	L 24–17	62,992
12	December 1, 1963	at Dallas Cowboys	W 34–27	29,653
13	December 8, 1963	Washington Redskins	W 44–14	62,992
14	December 15, 1963	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 33–17	63,240

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Championship	December 29, 1963	at Chicago Bears	L 14–10	45,801

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	11	3	0	.786	9–3	448	280	W3
Cleveland Browns	10	4	0	.714	9–3	343	262	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	9	5	0	.643	8–4	341	283	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	4	3	.636	7–3–2	321	295	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	10	0	.286	3–9	305	378	W1
Washington Redskins	3	11	0	.214	2–10	279	398	L3
Philadelphia Eagles	2	10	2	.167	2–8–2	242	381	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Game summaries

Week 1

See also: 1963 Baltimore Colts season

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	3	21	13	0	37
Colts	14	14	0	0	28

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

• Date: Sunday, September 15
• Game weather: 54°F, wind 11 mph
• Box Score

Game information

1st Quarter BAL: Gino Marchetti 33-yard fumble return (Jim Martin kick) BAL: Jimmy Orr 34-yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Jim Martin kick) NYG: Don Chandler 42-yard field goal 2nd Quarter BAL: John Mackey 32-yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Jim Martin kick) NYG: Phil King 46-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Don Chandler kick) NYG: Joe Walton 4-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Don Chandler kick) BAL: Jerry Hill 3-yard rush (Jim Martin kick) NYG: Hugh McElhenny 7-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Don Chandler kick) 3rd Quarter NYG: Y.A. Tittle 9-yard rush (kick failed) NYG: Alex Webster 1-yard rush (Don Chandler kick) 4th Quarter No Scoring Passing NYG: Y.A. Tittle 16/23, 243 yards BAL: Johnny Unitas 19/33, 219 yards, 2 INT Rushing NYG: Alex Webster 15–60, Phil King 12–26, Y.A. Tittle 5–24, Hugh McElhenny 3–6, Ralph Guglielmi 2–3 BAL: J.W. Lockett 9–37, Tom Matte 10–26, Johnny Unitas 4–25 Receiving NYG: Phil King 5–101, Del Shofner 5–85, Hugh McElhenny 3–24, Joe Walton 2–17, Alex Webster 1–16 BAL: Jimmy Orr 5–83, John Mackey 2–46, Tom Matte 4–37, Raymond Berry 4–33, J.W. Lockett 4–20

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 0 14 16 7 37 Eagles 0 0 7 7 14 Date: September 29 Location: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA Game weather: 64°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q2 NYG Walton 43 yard pass from Tittle (Chandler kick) NYG 7–0 Q2 NYG Shofner 10 yard pass from Tittle (Chandler kick) NYG 14–0 Q3 NYG Morrison 8 yard pass from Tittle (kick failed) NYG 20–0 Q3 NYG Chandler 12 yard field goal NYG 23–0 Q3 NYG Morrison 1 yard run (Chandler kick) NYG 30–0 Q3 PHI Retzlaff 11 yard pass from Brown (Clark kick) NYG 30–7 Q4 PHI McDonald 18 yard pass from Brown (Clark kick) NYG 30–14 Q4 NYG Morrison 70 yard run (Chandler kick) NYG 37–14

• Joe Morrison 12 Rush, 120 Yds

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 7 0 0 7 14 • Giants 3 20 14 7 44 Date: December 8 Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY Game attendance: 62,992 Game weather: 44°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 WSH Tracy 4 yard run (Khayat kick) WSH 7–0 Q1 NYG Chandler 48 yard field goal WSH 7–3 Q2 NYG Lynch 42 yard interception return (Chandler kick) NYG 10–7 Q2 NYG Gifford 8 yard pass from Tittle (Chandler kick) NYG 17–7 Q2 NYG Katcavage 10 yard fumble return (kick failed) NYG 23–7 Q3 NYG Morrison 57 yard pass from Tittle (Chandler kick) NYG 30–7 Q3 NYG Huff 36 yard interception return (Chandler kick) NYG 37–7 Q4 NYG Gifford 28 yard pass from Griffing (Chandler kick) NYG 44–7 Q4 WSH Mitchell 56 yard pass from Izo (Khayat kick) NYG 44–14

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

For details of the game, see 1963 NFL Championship Game

Awards and honors

• Y.A. Tittle, NFL MVP
• Y.A. Tittle, Franchise Record, Most Touchdown Passes in One Season, 36 Touchdown Passes

References

• New York Giants on Pro Football Reference
• Giants on jt-sw.com