Giants-Jets rivalry: The 5 greatest games between the two teams

Sunday will be the 15th regular season meeting between the Giants and the Jets. The Giants have won 8 times, but the Jets have won the last two meetings. The five most memorable games between the two rivals:

Giants 29, Jets 14

Dec. 24, 2011

A day that began with the Jets covering up the Super Bowl logos outside the Giants’ locker room at MetLife stadium ended with the Giants heading toward adding to that mural a month and a half later. The game memorable for Victor Cruz’s 99-yard touchdown catch and run from Eli Manning that gave the Giants their first lead of the day as well as a punishing TD run by Ahmad Bradshaw, but it was an event after the game that ratcheted up the tension between the two teams even further: Brandon Jacobs and Rex Ryan exchanged hostile words and nearly came to blows. Both teams entered the game needing a win to help their playoff hopes. The Jets lost that day and the following week and haven’t been to the postseason since. The Giants did not lose another game on their way to capturing Super Bowl XLVI.

Jets 27, Giants 21

Dec. 18, 1988

The Jets (7-7-1) had already been eliminated from playoff consideration before this last game of the season, but the Giants (10-5) needed a win to clinch a division title and a berth. Phil Simms was sacked eight times by the Jets defense (twice by Marty Lyons), the Giants missed two field goals and fumbled a punt return, and Ken O’Brien hit Al Toon for the winning touchdown with 37 seconds remaining. The loss did not eliminate the Giants from a playoff spot, but later that night when the Rams beat the 49ers (who had already clinched and were resting their starters) the Giants’ season ended.

Jets 23, Giants 20 (OT)

Dec. 6, 2015

The Giants were up 20-10 early in the fourth quarter with a chance to kick a field goal from the Jets’ 4 after an 11-minute drive but Tom Coughlin sensed a 13-point lead would not hold up so he tried for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Eli Manning threw an interception to Rontez Miles and the Jets scored the next 10 points, including a TD pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Brandon Marshall, to tie the score with 32 seconds in regulation. The Jets got the ball first in overtime and scored on a 31-yard field goal from Randy Bullock. The Giants had an opportunity to tie on their ensuing overtime possession with a 48-yard attempt from Josh Brown, but that kick went wide left for his first miss of the season. The Jets snapped a four-game winning streak in the series by the Giants with their first victory since 1993.

Giants 35, Jets 24

Oct. 7, 2007

Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs were not yet Super Bowl champions or franchise icons and neither looked like they would ever become them in the first half of this game. Manning completed just three of his first 10 passes and had one intercepted while Jacobs’ fumble led to a Jets TD and a 17-7 Jets lead at halftime. But Jacobs would score on a 19-yard run to open the third quarter and Manning would find Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress for second-half TDs. Rookie CB Aaron Ross, benched in the first half, sealed the win with an interception returned for another touchdown. It was the third of six straight wins for the Giants after starting that season 0-2 and helped shape them into the team that would go on to win Super Bowl XLII.

Jets 26, Giants 20 (OT)

Nov. 10, 1974

The first sudden death overtime game in NFL regular season history was far less significant than the “Greatest Game Ever Played” that decided the NFL Championship in such a fashion between the Giants and Colts in 1958. This game was played at the Yale Bowl and blacked out on television in New York. Neither the Giants (2-6) nor the Jets (1-7) were having successful seasons. Joe Namath ran for a touchdown on his ailing knees in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 20. After the Giants missed an overtime field goal, Namath hit Emerson Boozer for the winning touchdown pass to give the Jets their first win in the series. The Giants had won the first regular-season meeting between the two teams, 22-10, at Shea Stadium on Nov. 1, 1970, in a game Namath, Boozer and Matt Snell all missed due to injuries.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.