NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XXI played on January 25, 1987, was won by the Champions of the NFC the New York Giants who defeated the AFC Champions the Denver Broncos at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.

The New York Giants had finished 1st in the 1986 NFC East Division coached by Bill Parcells with a regular season record of 14-2-0. Their point scoring average had been 23.2 points per game which made their offense 8th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 14.8 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 2nd in the league.

The Giants postseason games began with the NFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the San Francisco 49ers who had finished 1st in the NFC West Division coached by Bill Walsh with a regular season record of 10-5-1. The 49ers point scoring average had been 23.4 points per game which made their offense 7th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 15.4 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 3rd in the league.

The Giants and the 49ers had played against each other once in regular season when the Giants had won a close game by 21 points to 17 and they appeared to be very closely matched for the Divisional Playoff.

In their Divisional Playoff encounter whatever transformed the two sides no one will ever know. The Giants became a lethal weapon in offense, scoring points as and when they wished whilst their defense was truly at the top of their game and stifled off practically any sort of threat from the 49ers. As for the 49ers with the league′s so called 3rd best defense, it was as if they hadn′t even bothered to turn up and they conceded more points in this game than they had in any other all season. The Giants won by 49 points to 3.

The New York Giants next game was in the NFC Championship Game where their opponents were the Washington Redskins who had finished 2nd in the NFC East Division coached by Joe Gibbs with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Redskins point scoring average had been 23 points per game which made their offense 9th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.5 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 9th in the league. The Redskins had qualified for the playoff games by winning the NFC Wild Card Game.

In regular season the Giants and the Redskins had played against each other twice with the Giants winning quite comfortably both times. The Giants were the better team according to Division standings, were better on their points scored and conceded averages, they had beaten the Redskins both home and away in regular season and could be confidently predicted to win the Conference Championship.

True to form the New York Giants scored a whitewash victory by 17 points to 0 to win the 1986 National Football Conference Game.

The New York Giants opponents in Super Bowl XXI were the Denver Broncos who had finished 1st in the AFC West Division coached by Dan Reeves with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Broncos point scoring average had been 23.6 points per game which made their offense 6th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 20.4 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 5th in the league.

The Denver Broncos postseason games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the New England Patriots who had finished 1st in the AFC East Division coached by Raymond Berry with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Patriots point scoring average had been 25.8 points per game which made their offense 2nd best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19.2 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 10th in the league.

Both teams were Division winners with similar records but the Patriots points scored / conceded averages did look better and they ranked above the Broncos in both offense and defense. However, during regular season the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots had played against each other once with the Denver Broncos winning a fairly close game by 27 points to 20.

The AFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots was another fairly close call but once again the Broncos upheld their superiority over the Patriots to win by 22 points to 17.

The Denver Broncos next playoff game was in the AFC Championship Game where their opponents were the Cleveland Browns who had finished 1st in the AFC Central Division coached by Marty Schottenheimer with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Browns point scoring average had been 24.4 points per game which made their offense 5th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19.4 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 11th in the league.

In regular season the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns had not played against each other but looking for form to link the two the Denver Broncos had lost to the New York Jets and the San Diego Chargers both of whom the Cleveland Browns had beaten. Whilst the Browns had lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Raiders who the Broncos had beaten (home and away in the case of the Raiders).

Although averages pointed towards the Browns, in terms of results their did not look a lot between the two teams.

In the AFC Championship Game it was the Broncos who won a tight contest by 23 points to 20.

Super Bowl XXI had a clear favorite in the New York Giants. They had recorded a very good regular season record with good averages, they had shown great form in their Divisional Playoff Game, they had won the Conference Championship without any fuss and into the bargain had already beaten their opponents the Denver Broncos (albeit fairly narrowly) in regular season. The Giants looked nailed on for victory.

However, in the game it was the Broncos who set the early pace after taking a 10- 7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Gradually though the New York Giants pulled themselves into the game and by half-time it was only 10 - 9 to the Broncos.

In the third quarter the Giants really got into their stride and scored 17 points after touchdowns by Mark Bavaro & Joe Morris plus a field goal and two kicks by Raul Allegre. The Broncos had no reply.

The Giants pulled further clear in the fourth quarter when scoring another 13 points in answer to which the Broncos could only score 10. The New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI by 39 points to 20.

Note
The New York Giants playoff averages were 35 points scored per game (23.2 regular season) and an average of 7.7 points conceded per game (14.8 regular season).

The Denver Broncos playoff averages were 21.7 points scored per game (23.6 regular season) and an average of 25.3 points conceded per game (20.4 regular season).

In Conclusion
The New York Giants had obviously kept something "up their sleeve" all season as they were a very formidable team throughout the playoffs. Their averages for points scored and conceded improved beyond recognition.

The Denver Broncos did not really show any sort of improvement in form over regular season and were performing more or less at their given level, that is until Super Bowl XXI when their defense was fully exposed by the Giants and conceded points at an alarming rate.

In Super Bowl XXI there was never much threat of any "Giant Killing"!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Denver Broncos (AFC)	10	0	0	10	-	20
New York Giants (NFC)	7	2	17	13	-	39