The GREATEST Game Ever Played! (Colts vs. Giants, 1958 NFL Championship)

the 1958 World Championship of professional football featuring the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts with Chris Schenkel the New York Giants bruised and battered and held together by a adhesive tape won 8 of their last nine games to earn their 10th Eastern Conference crown the Baltimore Colts topped off a five-year building program by smashing to their first Western title with E as usual Don Heinrich starts at quarterback for New York Hinrich fumbles Geno Marchetti recovers on the giant 45 it's a big break for Baltimore and Johnny Unitas tries to take advantage of it but Carla kare11 cleats in front of Raymond Barry to intercept the past and New York is back in business in its own 45 [Music] the burly Baltimore line refuses to cough up a first down in Don Chandler drops back to punt he takes his time and booms of beauty to veteran safety man Carl's handsome passive is forced out of bounds on the pro 15 plenty more is flanked right and crows over there to cover him but as Unitas fires along pass more is a half step behind crow and that's all he needs Lenny Lopes to the 25 on a 60 yard play thanks to a penalty the Colts have 11 to go on third down many more tries to get outside but he's cut down at the corner after two yards milah except to try a field goal it's blocked by Sam huh the Giants take over on the 22 and they will be trying to move the ball and move they do Connelly is at quarterback now and he flips the short pass to Mel Triplett Mel digs hard for a nine yard gain with the coast rushing him hard Connelly shovels a quick pitch out to Frank Gifford Gifford gets a great block from Roosevelt Brown and gallops down the sidelines for a 43 yard gain your Pelican hangs on for dear life to pull Frank down [Music] Alex Webster takes off from his right half back position and swings back over the middle as Connally throws but Alex falls on the frozen turn its fourth down coming up on New York elects to go for the field goal Pat Summerall kicks from a 36 it's for New York fans howl for joy as the Giants lead three to nothing at the end of the first quarter [Music] the Giants have the ball is the second period opens Connolly loves the flare path to giver gene Lipscomb and Don Cilic slamming down and Frank Lobos great Klaus recovers for the coke on the New York 24 another big world of more break the confident Colts are only ten yards away Lenny Moore comes wide to the left and keeps his feet on an eight yard dash to the New York two yard line [Music] Baltimore's this close there's only one thing to do amici puts down his head and things over for the touchdown 15,000 Colts fans what the stadium is their heroes take the lead Steve Mira's conversion makes it a seven-to-three game the Giants just can't get going and Don Chandler gets off one of his towering punts Jackie Simpson is under but he fumbles the ball in the scramble for the ball buzz guy takes over for New York on the Baltimore 10 but they're in for rude jokes Gifford loses the handle on a pitch out and alert Don Joyce recovers to give both amour a new lease on life Johnny Unitas is doing a fine job of play calling he flips the screen pass to Alan Ameche in the big fullback barrels to the 29 for a first down the Colts make it look easy as they crunch upfield plenty more cuts back over the middle and drive to another first down on the Baltimore 39 the Colts go back to their aerial game with Unitas backpedaling and firing to raymond berry berry latches on but was out of bounds the Colts don't like the call but the officials word is law Johnny's been saving this little maneuver as the overeager giant come rushing in Unitas ducks away with algae to pray clearing the road it's a 16-yard gain I'm the first down on the giant 30 Baltimore draws a 5-yard penalty and the Colts will have to come up with another big one with more faking down the right side Unitas suddenly worlds and hits ray burying the left sideline for 13 yards third and 1 it's time for power and that means amici the Baltimore bulldozer battles inside left end for the first down with room to spare as he makes it to the 15 both blockers build a fence around Unitas as he cocked his arm Barry is loose in the end zone touchdown [Music] late at halftime the 64,000 185 packed into Yankee Stadium saw violent temps first half with every man on the field hitting as hard as he knew how on every play they know by now they are witnessing a genuine football classic and even sites such as this can't curb their impatience for the second half to get underway at the start of the third quarter the Colts lead 14 to 3 and are confident they can keep the momentum here they move from a giant punt United has his usual fine protection as he throws a long one Jim Mutchler makes a sensational catch between two defenders and falls to the giant 27 it's a crucial play in this drive united's what the ball as hard as you can and Barry makes a great grab in front of Carl Cara leverage for a first down on the 15 the Giants have done a good job of covering Lenny more but there's nothing they could do to stop him from catching this slant past and more squirms all the way to the New York 3 it's goal to go on four downs to do it Alan Ameche hammer so hard at the left side the two giant players are stunned but he's still a yard short second and one Unitas capes and crashes into the crowd like a wreck our commuter with the Giants a yard away third and one amici is usually infallible in this situation but the mighty New York defense each unit rises up to stopping for no gain more than one the coach won't settle for a field goal it's a quick pitch [Music] hold it's third and two now but Connolly Gamble's and goes for the long play Kyle wrote usually a short receiver is way upfield to take the ball and break away from his defender Andy Nelson and Ray Brown land on him like a ton of bricks and rope fumble Alex Webster races in to pick up the ball and carry to the one on an 86 yard play the Giants are determined to see the other side of that goal line Mel Triplett plants into the coaches all his life the referees arms go up and the Giants have scored their first touchdown placement makes it 4210 and bedlam breaks loose in the stand [Music] the tide of battle has changed as the Colts are forced to punt and Charlie Connelly fights the 17 yard pass over the middle of ops no fur on the final play of the third quarter [Music] Connolly has found a flaw in the Baltimore pass defense then he exploits it again on the first play of the final period bob smelter is in LeClair and all Andy Nelson can do is hold into a 46 yard game [Music] first down and Connelly comes back to throw for the fired up giant Frank Gifford takes it on the run and manages to stay in bounds as he fights milk papers touchdown Giants complexion of this game has changed New York now leaves 17 to 14 and it's the folks who must come from behind the pressure is all on the Colts now as they moved from the kickoff Unitas passes to berry on the far sideline and it's a first down on the Baltimore 44 on 39 United stripes that slant past two more again but this time Lyndon Crowe is right on top of Leni to break up the play the officials decide CRO is a little too quick with that tackle and the Colts have another first down on an interference penalty after losing a yard Unitas goes for the long gainer a pro straight for the goal line but it's just beyond the fingertips of LG to play its fourth down on the coast try four tires vert wretches on boots from the 46 ratchet our kicks too far under the ball it sky-high and too short another quote drive is dead [Music] the New Yorkers bid for an insurance touchdown Charlie Connelly Chuck's the short pass to Kent McAfee and Ken gets out to his own 39 for a first down the Giants put two blockers in front of Frank Gifford and sent him slashing off light tackle Gifford crosses the 50 and gets to the Colts 46 it's vital that the New Yorkers hang on to that ball but Big Daddy Lipscomb pulled down Phil King so hard he loses his grip gray crowds makes his second clutch recovered the game for Baltimore with the ball on the new york 42 this is a golden opportunity united passes Lenny more has it at the goal line our roar goes up from the crowd but more was out of bounds and it's just an incomplete pass on third down United States aim on his most dependable receiver Raymond Perry gets loose for the catch and is belted out of bounds on the giant 31 just when it looks as if the Colts are on their way the roof caves in in the robust la burst in the color unites for a huge loss Unitas has to eat the ball again and there's nothing left to do but punt Ray Brown gets it away [Music] Jim captain takes it on the five and rockets to the 19 with the seconds ticking away the Giants only need to control the ball for a couple of minutes Alex Webster takes a pass for a first down third down and four to go the give is to give it again and he hits the same hole but he's a little less than a yard short now coach Jim Lee Howell must decide whether to punt or goal for the first down the Giants feel they can hold the Colts that they are deep in their own territory and Chandler's been running beautifully all day it's another good one and Carl Canton has to call for a fair catch on his own 14 it's now or never from Baltimore Unitas babe and send the skyscraper upfield but it's too long for Jim Mutchler to catch up with on second down united calls on LG to pray as he fires into the flat but LG's dive is too late they're down and tend to go on the coast catch fire in the clutch you not as NASA doubtful anymore it's too short but more makes our great pension his name first down Unitas will be throwing on every play on the Giants noise but Johnny's deadly accuracy pays off there he makes the catch and claws his way to midfield with a minute left to play both fans take hope but 50 yards is a long way to go United States once and fires to Barry Barry doesn't miss and he carries to the giant 35 the coast must make every play count United's campers back and looks for Barry ray has it on the far side of the field he battled all the way to the 13 with just seven seconds left in the game [Music] jerk bolts don't even huddle Steve Myra rushes onto the field the ball is snapped Myra kick it's gone no the more ties it up with only four or five seconds to spare there's no time for the Giants to retaliate and this heart-stopping struggle goes into a sudden-death overtime period the first in the history of championship play let's watch that history-making field goal as their ground camera saw it from behind the goal post no doubt about it it's one of the really big moments in football now after three and a half minutes of rest the teams will talk for the right to receive and play until one of them scores the first team to score by any method will be the 1958 world champion [Music] after the short rest period the Giants win the toss and elect to receive with the Wolves and Bert wretched char boots the ball through the early evening gloom an eager Don Maynard bobbles the ball but recovers quickly and gets to the New York 20 second and six Connolly field it's time to get moving he triggers a toss intended for Bob snooker but Big Bob can't hold it third and six connelly tries to outbox the Colts as he rolls out as if the pass keeps the ball and bolts up the sideline you can see the linesman stick on the far side Connolly is just a yard short rather than risk giving the Colts the ball within field goal range the Giants in Chandler back to punt foul-tempered refuses to play it safe with a fair catch and tries to return the ball but he's nailed almost in his tracks both kochwebb Ewbank is praying his offensive unit hasn't cooled off LG Duprey answers his prayers by taking the ball on the first play and scrambling for 11 yards over the right side Johnny Unitas is the coolest customer the game of football has ever seen he steps back and tries for the distance Lenny Moore is there but so is Lyndon crawl for a sensational faith the Colts are calling on their whole bag of tricks with two men flank wide United splits a swing pass to amici and Allen just makes the eight yards needed for a first down but the giant stage an uprising as mighty mo model FG charges into ride unites down for an eight-yard law to the Colt 36 now the giant rooters take hope but Unitas and company are not to be stopped United students to let go of the ball until he sees Barry break loose then he's right on target and Baltimore moves all the way to the giant 43 United comes up with an inspired call it's a trap and it provides a huge hole for Alan Ameche the horse galloped through and thunders for 23 yards to the New York 20 Coulter with an easy field goal range [Music] the Giants expect the Colts to stay on the ground but Unitas pops a quick pass to Raymond berry its first down and goal to go on the New York eight yard line [Music] the giant defenders get set for a goal-line stand the ball goes to amici and he spends for one yard to the seventh United suppose another surprise he worlds and passes all the way out to the sideline Mutchler is there and he makes his way to the one it's third down will they kick or try once more for the touchdown they elect to go for the six point Alan Ameche dines through a huge hole and overtime victory beating the Eastern Conference champion New York Giants 23 to 17 in a truly magnificent come-from-behind effort let's watch again the play that made the Colts the world champions of football the Colts clean everything out of the way and Ameche bounces on the touchdown turf as his delirious fans close in this was a pitched battle every inch of the way between two real championship teams and it was not until the final seconds that either was able to establish clear superiority few who were in Yankee Stadium on that long excitement filled afternoon will ever forget it

Channel: NFL Throwback

Views: 91,118

Rating: 4.9322801 out of 5

Keywords: nfl, american football, nfl history, nfl highlights, nfl vault, nfl throwback, classic game highlights, classic game highlight, game highlight, game highlights, 1958 nfl championship, 1958 nfl championship game, the greatest game, the greatest game ever, colts vs giants, giants vs colts, johnny unitas, iconic moment

Id: Ck6kcnJVkDE

Length: 16min 31sec (991 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 21 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/MWiatrak2077]

I prefer Championship from the year before - no bias I swear

[u/jphamlore]

That New York Giants team had as their assistant coaches Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry?

[u/ShoutOutTo_Caboose]

This is the game that kind of exploded the popularity of the NFL right?

[u/Bipedal-Moose]

This is one of the most important games in the history of American sports actually, it sparked the massive boom of popularity the NFL received in the following decades.

It's interesting to watch what the game was like so long ago. It's come such a long way since then

[u/Htomservo]

I have a piece of wood from one of the uprights from that game. My grandfather and the Colts Corral he was a member of all took a train from Baltimore to New York for the game and they got a big chunk of it and broke it up into little pieces for everyone on the ride back.

[u/dlm891]

Fun Fact: The Baltimore Colts made it to the Super Bowl by being champions of the Western Conference

[u/[deleted]]

Man, I haven’t see many highlights of his, but Unitas was amazing. I also don’t understand his mechanics - the way he holds the ball it looks like he is going to spike it a la Osweiler but he manages to have these beautiful passes.

[u/FalconReddits]

The first book my wife ever bought for me was The Best Game Ever by Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down). For anyone interested in one the most famous and important games in American sports history, I highly recommend reading that book. There are so many fun and interesting details about the game, the players, and the coaches, including how the teams spied on each other's practices before the big game (beta version of "Spygate").

 

Bonus: The book isn't very long, and it has pictures!

[u/EarthAllAlong]

I went to school with Raymond Berry's granddaughter. Cool getting to see him play