1990 New York Giants season

The 1990 New York Giants season was the franchise's 66th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants, who play in the National Football Conference (NFC), won their sixth championship and second Super Bowl. Led by linebacker Lawrence Taylor and quarterbacks Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler, the Giants posted a 13–3 record before defeating the Chicago Bears and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the NFC playoffs. In Super Bowl XXV, they defeated the Buffalo Bills 20–19 in Tampa Stadium against a patriotic backdrop inspired by the recently started Gulf War. The story of the season is the subject of a recent book, When the Cheering Stops, by defensive end Leonard Marshall and CBSsports.com co-writer William Bendetson.

After making the playoffs in 1989, the Giants entered the 1990 season as a Super Bowl favorite, though most believed they stood little chance of stopping the 49ers. The Giants began the season with a 27–20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, then won their next nine games before losing a rematch to Philadelphia 31–13 in Week 12. The Giants also lost close games to the 49ers on the road and to the Bills at home in the regular season before defeating both teams in playoff rematches. In the Week 15 game against Buffalo, starting quarterback Phil Simms was injured and ultimately lost for the season with a broken foot. He was replaced by Hostetler, who did not lose a game. The Giants' defense led the NFL in fewest points allowed (211), and the team set an NFL record by committing only 14 turnovers in the regular season.^[1] After the season, seven Giants were selected to the Pro Bowl.

In 2007, ESPN.com ranked the 1990 Giants' defense as the sixth-greatest in NFL history,^[2] noting that the team "allowed only 13.2 points a game against a very tough schedule – they played against seven playoff teams during the regular season. Led by Hall of Fame outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor and First Team All-Pro inside linebacker Pepper Johnson, New York's defense also came through in the playoffs, holding the Bears to just three points in the divisional playoff game. The Giants then held a resilient 49ers offense to just two field goals and one touchdown, and set up the game-winning score by both forcing and recovering a late Roger Craig fumble involving NT Erik Howard and OLB Lawrence Taylor to win the NFC Championship Game 15–13. In Super Bowl XXV, the Giant defense held its own against the Bills' no-huddle offense while the Giants' offense executed long methodical drives that gave the Giants a time of possession advantage of 2-to-1, and New York won 20–19."