For Giants, Victory in ’91 Was Just Divine

New York Giant safety Greg Jackson recently recalled the fervent state his team was in during the waning moments of their 1991 playoff against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park: “Those last few minutes, we were all praying,” he told George Willis of Newsday. “And I mean praying like we’ve never prayed before.”

For the Giants, who were seemingly out of the game before Lawrence Taylor recovered a fumble by Roger Craig with two minutes remaining, their NFC championship hinged on a 42-yard field-goal attempt by Matt Bahr on the game’s final play.

“Some of us didn’t want to look. Some did. It was a tense moment,” Jackson recalled.

The kick was good, giving the Giants a 15-13 victory and sending them to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

Trivia time: Who holds the Raider record for most touchdown passes in a postseason game?

Bay Area confusion: The San Francisco 49ers start the playoffs today having lost three of their last four games, and to hear Coach George Seifert talk, the team is in total disarray.

“I don’t know where the hell we are right now,” Seifert said the other day. “It doesn’t matter who might come in this next game. It could be anybody, Cincinnati, anybody. It’s a little bit of a chaotic situation and I haven’t seen it before. That’s just the state we’re in.”

Asked specifically if he was looking forward to the playoffs, Seifert said, “I look forward with fear, actually.”

Just a fact: Four of the last five times the Giants and 49ers have met in the playoffs, the winner has gone on to win the Super Bowl.

Got a bridge to sell you: Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner on 7-foot-6 Philadelphia rookie center Shawn Bradley:

“Did they give $44 million for eight years or $8 million for 44 years? Either way, it wasn’t much of a bargain. The Golden Gate bridge was available for a lot less. And the Philadelphia 76ers would probably get just as much use.”

Looking back: On this day in 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I at the Coliseum, 35-10, before a crowd of 61,946.

Trivia answer: Daryle Lamonica, with six against Houston, Dec. 21, 1969.

Quotebook: Professional golfer John Daly, talking about reporters: “I think they need to look at their lives before they use that pen. I’m sure a lot of those guys in the media don’t have perfect lives.”