New York Giants vs Atlanta Falcons 10/25/81 1st Half Week 8

Both teams are (4-3) coming into this game. The Falcons have lost 3 out of their last 4 games, after starting the season (3-0). A big play on special teams gives the 1st half some excitement Off and on rain from Fulton-County Stadium, as both QB's try to adapt. Pat Summerall & John Madden call the game for CBS Sports.

[@googleuser3227]

1980’s NFL had the best uniforms, broadcasters, pregame shows, highlight shows, music tracks, stadiums, etc.

[@tonyb8660]

and smoking sections in Jr high & High school lmao!

[@flashbaneyify]

R.I.P. MR. MADDEN. You now can call games in heaven with Pat Summerall. God bless you both.

[@rottweilertom]

Ray Perkins punting on 4th and inches was so classic Ray Perkins and glad he left the team to go to Alabama. Always loved Rob Carpenter - a really solid underated runner

[@gootchie]

I remember being 13 years old and at this game. Miserable weather. The Falcons started off strong but couldn't seem to put it away, while the Giants hung in there and got better as the game went on.

[@lieutenantnomad9198]

Wouldn't be the last time the Falcons couldn't put away their opponent lol.

[@spryfolII]

The rookie LT made all the difference. He gave the Giants that ultimate identity. The fact that Taylor was so dominate, the Giants knew that if they drafted well on defense ( they already had pro bowlers on the defense before Taylor) they could matchup against the offenses of the NFC East. Once they sured that up, they knew Simms was a potential Pro Bowl QB, although he had to prove himself. Especially after Scott Brunner led the Giants to the playoffs, defeating the Cowboys and defending NFC Champion Eagles. I was a die-hard Redskins fan back then, and I saw them coming and I was more afraid if those 80s Giants teams than any team in the NFL. When you break it down, those Giants teams wirh LT elevated the NFC East to unbelievable heights. The Redskins won 3 Super Bowls, Giants 2, and t h e Eagles were in the mix for several seasons. Only the Bears and 49ers were able to win Lombardi during that era. Probably the most balanced and through football in the history of the NFL, and the Giants can strongly say they had more to do with that excellence than any team, including the team if the 80s..the 49ers. Real Talk NFL Fans

[@terryfromm6681]

Agree that 81' playoffs featured arguably the two greatest games ever. San Diego vs Miami and Dallas vs San Francisco played a week apart

[@johnliberty3647]

I really miss the starting theme music at the start of this video. Never has an NFL broadcast started their program with such beautiful music.

[@jonbaggett2536]

I was there! It was my very first NFL game. I was about to turn 7. Thanks for the video!

[@alayawife]

Pat and John best EVER!!!🏈🥇💪

[@terryfromm6681]

Two big time running backs, Andrews and Cain, three great wide receivers, Jenkins, Jackson, and Wallace. Very good offensive line, Kenn, van note, Bryant. And a gunslinger quarterback, bartkowki.

[@rottweilertom]

But no significant playoff wins or SBs

[@jamiecrawford8133]

Andrews was unbelievable. Shame he gets no publicity and nobody under age 50 knows who he is

[@jaysnowden2]

I was watching this and it hit me that this was the Falcon game I went too w my older brother. Seems like yesterday. I miss ya brother.

[@joshuakline1435]

Together Again Madden and Summerall RIP ☹☹☹☹

[@terryfromm6681]

As a Giants fan, this was a measuring stick game. It was probably the biggest win in 18 years.

[@rottweilertom]

I would disageee. I think the Dallas game with Danelo kick to get us in playoffs was

[@terryfromm6681]

Vin Scully and Hank Stram did the SF v. Dallas NFC championship game. Madden and Summerall did the San Francisco v Cincinnati Superbowl

[@terryfromm6681]

Giants we're 9 point underdogs. This game validated NY as a contender. Best nyg win in decades vs Superbowl favorite falcons

[@bigstack19]

Falcons weren’t Super Bowl favorites. The 81 Falcons went 7-9. The offense was loaded but the defense was trash.

[@terryfromm6681]

NFC Superbowl favorite before the 81' season. Came off a 12-4 season in 80'.

[@pattybfcakes]

Thank you for putting this game up Richard. I remember watching but it was soo long ago. If you have anymore 1981 Giants games would appreciate seeing them

[@jenyakostak2155]

pattybfcakes We need that!

[@Shabba6884]

This was perhaps the turning point in both teams' seasons for 1981. The Falcons won just three more games after this and finished 7-9 after having won their division the previous year. The Giants used this thrilling win to kick off a 6-2 second half of the year to make the playoffs and knock off the Eagles while there before bowing out to the eventual SB champion 49ers.

[@rubendor8120]

Pat Summerall ,man what can i say ....is there any way i can go back in time ???

[@spryfolII]

@Brian Greenberg. Good point. Madden worked with Vin Scully, and when you revisit those games, Madden was really reserved. Scully was such the professional, he intimidated the analyst, and they couldn't really be outgoing, funny and entertaining. Scullys own professionalism cost him the chance to broadcast a Super Bowl, because Summerall was just as professional, but he had a comedic and horse banter side. Remember, Summerall worked with "straight man" Ray Scott, wry humourous and jovial Jack Buck, and his ace bar buddy and sidekick Tom Brookshire, so when Madden sat down next to Pat, it really was no contest. John Madden was a natural fit with Summerall. They knew it, CBS knew it, we knew it, and Vin Scully himself deep down knew it. 1981 is arguably the best NFL season they ever had. You had Summerall and Madden blasting off. You had the Giants, Packers, Eagles, Cowboys, and 49ers have great seasons. The season itself came down to the last day, and great football in the playoffs wirh "The Catch" and culminating with (still ti this day) the highest rated Super Bowl, and still in the top half of most watched program in television history....Super Bowl XVI with Pat and John on the call with the San Francisco 49ers birthing a dynasty in Detroit. WOW!!! I'm so glad I can say I saw it all..."on CBS Sports"! Just kidding. I'm even more happier to relive these games and moments. Makes me feel like crawling back into my moms womb, and doing it all over again. What a great time in my life. Thanks again for posting these Richard. Much Appreciated

[@survivor5044]

Thank you for watching my channel and your input with Madden/Scully. Your comments were right on point with Summerall and Madden being the perfect fit. They had great chemistry together by allowing each other to be themselves. This was very important for CBS to attract newer audiences like myself, before my teenage years. Pat & John knew it was a job, but they didn't allow their emotions to take it too seriously. Though it was a job to analysis the games and educate the viewers watching on tv, they (Summerall & Madden) also felt the job should be fun and it was. As for the 1981 season, I agree it was the best ever. The Steelers & Cowboys were no longer the dominate teams of the NFL anymore after that season. The Giants, 49ers, Bears, Redskins, did an outstanding job of evaluating talent within their scouting dept. Their intelligence on every player their scouted helped them immensely on draft day. Even the New Orleans Saints did an outstanding job of drafting in 1981, especially when they drafted Ricky Jackson in the 2nd round from Pitt. I'm praying the NFL will drop their copyright claims from 1981-86, so I can keep posting more games from this era. #1981NFLSeason

[@rottweilertom]

Plus L.T.'S first year

[@RobertJohnson1975]

@@survivor5044 The playoffs that year would've been different if Denver had won the AFC West, San Diego would've missed the playoffs and we wouldn't have had the Epic in Miami

[@tommythomason6187]

The key to Bartkowski's and the Falcons offensive success was that they got serious about building a great offensive line. And Cain and Andrews rarely fumbled. Injuries and inconsistent defense killed them in 1981, though most games were close. Losing their blitzing linebacker, Joel Williams, early in the season, really set them back. They played some fierce games with the 49ers during this era.

[@aarondersnah863]

Jeff Van Note lives a couple of streets over from me. I found this out few years back when his name came up on NextDoor (a social media platform for neighborhoods). I sent a message asking if he was related to the Falcons great with the same name, and his reply was "Falcons great, ha! You're too kind." I would think that some who is still playing offensive line at age 40, like Van Note did in his last season, qualifies as a "great."

[@presidentskroob]

“It seems like on every return, we have a penalty now” Some things never change.

[@Nash55ppp]

RIP Pat and John.

[@dave-o4328]

Who else here too see their 1st game together now that both in heaven

[@gmanhirt8818]

Four outstanding linebackers on this New York Football Giants team,,

[@spryfolII]

For the Falcons, it started 5 years prior in 1977. The Falcons had a incredible defense, coordinated by future Falcons Head Coach Jerry Glanville. In 1977 (the last 14 game season) the Falcons gave up about 129 points for the season. A YES!!! The whole season. That Falcons team played as good "team" defense as any of the elite defenses in NFL history. How they did it was just as remarkable. They blitz...and blitzed.. and blitzed some more. They made ut fashionable to blitz on early downs, and from varied defensive alignments and regardless if field position. Glanville said, they knew they didn't have the individual talent to play straight up, so they created ways to disrupt the offensive line protection and blocking by sending 2, 3, 4, and sometimes the whole kit n kabuddle at a offense, and it worked. Many teams still use the Glanville designed blitzes from back then. If that team had any, and I mean ANY offense, who knows what could have happened in those playoffs, eventually won by the Cowboys. The Vikings were at the end with their dominance, the Rams had young Pat Haden at QB and no way the Rams score consistantly on Atlanta in a playoff situation. Chuck Knox was the Rams coach and he would've ran the ball as much as he could. The Bears were decent, and it could have been a 3-0 game, and Dallas. Who matched up well, but as the Cowboys found out a year later when the Falcons made rhe playoffs and went toe to toe with the Cowboys, knocking Roger out cold, they were a handful. Playoffs in 78, falloff in 79, bounce back in a BIG way in 1980. (I still believe that was the Falcons best team) but the conservative bug bit them in the 2nd half against Dallas did them in, and that brings us to this game and season. All about not taking advantage of the opportunity you have in front of you. The reason why the Falcons were pre-season favorites to ay least play for the NFC crown was evident in this game. They had everything. Decent Strong Armed QB in Bartkowski. Great RB tandum with Andrews and Cain. All Pro TE Junior Miller, 2 Pro Bowl recievers in Alfred Jenkins and Alfred Jackson and Pro Bowlers on the Offensive line, whi at times looked like the best, and worst in the league. The Defense was stout, and they didn't have to blitz like they used to. The Special teams weren't the top, but average at best. The Falcons had a legit 7-8 year period where their personel could match up against anyone, but they never got the results. And to this day, I don't know why? What happened, and who's to blame? In fact, the Falcons even to this day have had plenty of talent, coaches, and seasons where there was no clear cut team that everyone could say...Oh...so n so got the trophy before the season started. Unlike the Giants, the Falcons never morphed into a team that one had to fear, instead they've always had the.."it's the Falcons...c'mon man, what did you expect" lable. And it all goes back to the "Gritz Blitz" days, when they rounded into a fine team, but always found a way to be sorry, or underachieve.Take this game for instance. The Falcons personel wise should've beaten the Giants by 10 or more, but.. they found ways to keep thw Giants in the game, and once a up n coming team starts to really believe, watch out! We see it all the time, and especially in football because of its weekly and momentary momentum swings. Maybe thats it! That's why the Falcons never win the BIG games, and had such bad seasons. They never "truly" believed and when faced with some adversity, they folded, instead of rising above it. What do you guys think? Real NFL fans.

[@hugemb]

That's a pretty strong analysis. I always rooted for those falcons teams even as a Giants fan. They were 3-0 that season after handling the 49ers relatively easy. After that game those 2 franchises went in opposite directions. 1981 was a pivotal year for the NFL. You obviously had the rise of the 49ers, the Giants start to turn things around and the Redskins with Joe Gibbs in the second half of '81 turn into a contender. Those three teams(and Bears) would dominate the NFC for the next 10 years.

[@danyluk1]

Good writeup....let's have a cigar sometime and talk football

[@Shabba6884]

Spryfol II, I think that 1980 playoff loss to the Cowboys really did 'em in and they didn't recover for the rest of the '80s. Had it in the bag but got burnt by Danny White in perhaps White's finest fourth quarter in a Cowboy uniform.

[@terryfromm6681]

And Junior Miller, never lived up to expectations.

[@9thoth]

Good to hear Madden

[@briangreenberg6021]

This was the end of the audition phase for who would end up being John Madden's partner. Obviously,Summerall won and got to be with him for 20 years,beating Vin Scully.

[@tommyparkerparker]

Scully became the top baseball play by play man at NBC. I was hoping that Scully would have done some NFL games at NBC but at that point, he was done with football.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

@@tommyparkerparker Yeah, he really took being not chosen hard. And I think he knew he wouldn't push Enberg aside at NBC. It's too bad because he was a very good football PBP man.

[@davanmani556]

I think the NFL draft is the best of all-time.

[@pfflyer3381]

Walt Garrison, chucking hay, America Express commercial? 6:37

[@tommythomason6187]

Great time to live in Atlanta, and we had a great team, poor record in '81 not withstanding. More of a hometown crowd back then, though Atlanta has always been rather transient because it is a convention town. Even back then, though, if the team was crackin' they'd sit by the thousands, with their umbrellas, in a cold rain to watch the team. If they were bad, nobody'd cross the street to see them.

[@realMartinHamilton]

Know a guy who played on the same college team as Bartkowski. They remain great friends. On that same college team with Bartkowski were Herman Edwards, Chuck Muncie, and Wesley Walker. Not a bad locker room to be a part of. You guess the college!

[@survivor5044]

California Golden Bears!!

[@jamiecrawford8133]

Didn't know Edward's was on that California team. Chuck Muncie what a talent that went to waste. Sad

[@realMartinHamilton]

@@jamiecrawford8133 yes Chuck liked the smoke. He was very talented.

[@enigmathegrayman2953]

Damnit, I miss the 1980s 😢

[@gootchie]

Best player that the Giants had (besides LT, who was a rookie this year and still learning)? Dave Jennings, their punter. The NFC's counterpart to the Raiders' Ray Guy, and just about as good. Should be in the HOF.

[@chrisrhoads8256]

Classic days 🏈🤛👊🤜💪✌️

[@krierp8]

Do you have the '83 Giants-Falcons game? That was a good one.

[@survivor5044]

I may be able to find this game from a private collector.

[@rubendor8120]

Mr Waldrup is the real GOAT

[@jenyakostak2155]

That is right. Wait for new 81 season games of G-men, and not only 81

[@terryfromm6681]

The Dallas playoff game haunted this team until 1991. Falcons we're the best team and most talented. Would have beaten Philadelphia at home and crush Oakland in Superbowl.

[@MaximusWolfe]

Would, shoulda, coulda.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

LOL...no, they wouldn't have beaten the Raiders. I don't think they would've beaten San Diego either.

[@harlorformula8516]

Except it's not his first broadcast of course

[@debbiehenson1096]

Falcons went from best team in the world to missing the playoffs in one year. How does that happen.

[@terryfromm6681]

Redskins matched up better with Bear's defense than Giants. Giants soft zone drove Gibbs crazy. The hogs could block Chicago's ,46 defense

[@muffs55mercury61]

Back before Atlanta ended up with a dome stadium. So pointless as Atlanta rarely gets snowstorms and sub freezing weather. The Falcons could have salvaged a respectable season but collapsed towards the end and lost their last three games and finished at 7-9.

[@davanmani556]

But that wind is a bone chiller.

[@reekahd7695]

And the Falcons still sorry til this day lol

[@Redboi-sp6pi]

Anybody catch the fact the HEAD Ref last name is Seeman 😂😂😂

[@terryfromm6681]

Beat Dallas to make playoffs for first time in a decade and a half. Beat Philadelphia before losing to eventual champ San Francisco

[@frankdrebin259]

Cool when it was just football. No stupid politics or sappy halftime interviews w players and their lame charities that no one cares about. Just football.