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| Mark Bavaro carries Ronnie Lott down the field for his famous 31-yard reception in the Giants' 1986 Monday Night game with the 49ers. |
Throughout the long, storied history of Monday Night Football, there have been plays and performances that have become legendary because they have occurred in one of television's longest running primetime programs.
An example of this is a 31-yard reception made by New York Giants tight end Mark Bavaro during a Monday Night game against the San Francisco 49ers that has become one of the most famous plays in MNF history.
The Giants entered the game with a 10-2 record and were on track to capture home field advantage for the AFC playoffs.
Led by head coach Bill Parcells, the Giants were living up to their preseason expectations as Super Bowl contenders thanks to the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" defense led by linebacker Lawrence Taylor and a steady ground-control offense with running back Joe Morris.
Still, whenever they needed a big play in the passing game, quarterback Phil Simms would usually hook up with Bavaro, who in his 2nd NFL season, had become Simms' go-to-guy as he ended up finishing the season with 66 catches and 1,001 yards receiving.
Simms and Bavaro would have to have big games for their Monday Night contest with the 49ers at Candlestick Park.
The 49ers stood at 7-4-1 having endured a mediocre stretch of 4-3-1 in the middle of the season after losing starting quarterback Joe Montana to a back injury that was so severe that doctors thought he would never play again.
But in Week 10, Montana returned and threw three touchdown passes to Jerry Rice in a 43-17 rout of the then St.Louis Cardinals.
With Montana back and Rice at wide receiver plus running back Roger Craig, who had run for 1,050 yards and caught 92 passes for 1,016 yards the year before, the 49ers were hoping to make a late season run that would start with a win over the Giants.
The Giants got the ball to start the game from their 30-yard-line, but seemed to be on their way to a three-and-out as they faced a 3rd & 17 from their 23-yard-line.
However, Simms found wide receiver Phil McConkey for 32 yards to give the Giants a 1st down at the 49ers' 45-yard-line.
But three plays later, Simms was intercepted when his pass was deflected by 49ers cornerback Tim McKyer and landed in the hands of his teammate Jeff Fuller who returned it 14 yards to the 49ers' 42-yard-line.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the 49ers had the ball at their 19-yard-line when they put together a 12-play, 69-yard drive which ended with the first points of the game, a 30-yard field goal by Ray Wersching that put San Francisco on top 3-0 with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
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| Jerry Rice celebrates with Joe Montana and another teammate after one of his two touchdowns. |
The Giants got off two plays before the first quarter, picking up 29 yards on a pair of Simms passes that had New York at the San Francisco 47-yard-line as the second quarter was set to begin.
But on the first play of the quarter, Simms was intercepted again, this time by 49ers strong safety Carlton Williamson, who gave the 49ers the ball back at their 28-yard-line.
From there, the 49ers drove 72 yards in 11 plays, primarily through the air as Montana completed seven of eight passes for 52 yards, with the last completion being a 11-yard touchdown pass to Rice to extend San Francisco's lead to 10-0 with 10:26 left in the second quarter.
Following the touchdown, the Giants took over at their 23-yard-line and once again drove into San Francisco territory as Simms hit Tony Galbreath for 19 yards, then connected with Bavaro for 17 yards and then again for 10 yards, to set up a 1st & 10 at the 49ers 23-yard-line.
But Simms would throw three straight incomplete passes forcing the Giants to settle for a 41-yard field goal attempt by Raul Allegre, which fell short and no good, keeping it a 10-0 game in favor of the 49ers with 5:55 left before halftime.
From there, the 49ers put together a 14-play, 77-yard drive that culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Rice off a reverse to give San Francisco a 17-0 lead with just 45 seconds left in the first half.
However, with all three timeouts left in their pocket and Simms having an effective game throwing the ball, the Giants tried to put together a drive to get into field goal range and get some points before halftime.
Starting at his 28-yard-line, Simms hit back-to-back passes to Galbreath for a total of 16 yards, then found Bobby Johnson for eight yards which got five yards added to it when 49ers linebacker Keena Turner was called for a face mask penalty.
Then after Simms connected with McConkey for 18 yards to put the Giants at the 49ers' 25-yard-line, Simms called the Giants' last timeout with two seconds left, giving Allegre a shot at redemption and a 43-yard field goal.
However, Allegre's kick sailed wide left and the Giants went into the locker facing a 17-0 halftime deficit.
The 49ers got the ball to start the second half but went three-and-out punting the ball back to the Giants who took over at the 49ers' 49-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Simms went back to pass and found Bavaro at the 49ers' 40-yard-line.
That is when Bavaro went into Beast mode as he broke two San Francisco tacklers, then found himself wrapped around the arms of Lott at the 30-yard-line.
But Bavaro kept moving, carrying Lott with him before ultimately falling down at the San Francisco 18-yard-line to complete the 31-yard reception and give the Giants a 1st down.
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Little did anyone know at the time, but that would be the turning point of the game as two plays later, Simms connected with Morris for a 17-yard touchdown for the Giants' first touchdown of the game which cut the 49ers' lead to 17-7 with 12:19 to go in the third quarter.
Perhaps inspired by Bavaro's play or the halftime adjustments made by defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, the Giants defense forced a second straight three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 29-yard-line.
From there, Simms hit running back Ottis Anderson for 12 yards on a screen pass to begin the drive, then hit Bavaro again for 11 yards following a three-yard loss by Morris.
After Morris was stopped for no gain on 3rd & 2 from the Giants' 49-yard-line, Parcells decided to roll the dice and go for the 1st down.
The gamble paid off as Morris busted for 17 yards to give the Giants a 1st down at the 49ers' 34-yard-line.
On the very next play, Simms went deep and hit Stacy Robinson for a 34-yard touchdown to bring the Giants to within three points at 17-14 with 7:37 left in the third quarter.
The Giants kept the momentum going as they forced another three-and-out and got the ball back at their 29-yard-line as Simms hit Maurice Carthon for seven yards, then McConkey for 14 yards to give New York a 1st down at exactly midfield.
Then after Anderson was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Simms went deep again and hit Robinson for a 49-yard completion to give the Giants a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
Simms handed the ball off to Anderson, who punched it in for the one-yard touchdown to give the Giants their first lead of the game, 21-17 with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter.
With their 17-point lead gone like that, the 49ers needed to put together a drive to regain control of the game.
But on the first play from scrimmage following Anderson's touchdown, Montana was picked off by Giants cornerback Perry Williams whose 14-yard return set up shop for the Giants at the 49ers' 39-yard-line.
The Giants seemed poised for another touchdown when Bavaro lost the football at the end of a 16-yard reception, which was recovered by 49ers linebacker Riki Ellison at the San Francisco six-yard-line.
After Wendell Tyler carried the ball for six yards, the third quarter came to an end with the Giants having outscored the 49ers 21-0, outgained them 226-20 and did not permit an single 1st down to turn the 17-0 deficit into a 21-17 lead.
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| Giants quarterback Phil Simms would complete 27 of 38 passes for 388 yards and throw two touchdown passes. |
But almost like waking up from a nap, the 49ers offense got going as the 4th quarter began.
Following a 12-yard run by Tyler to give the 49ers a 1st down at their 22-yard-line, Montana completed five passes in a row to get the 49ers down to the Giants' 38-yard-line.
Montana then handed the ball off to Tyler who picked up seven yards, only to have Craig get only one yard on a 2nd down run, which was followed by an incomplete pass, setting up 4th & 2 from the 30-yard-line.
Though they were in Wersching's range for a field goal, the 49ers decided to go for the 1st down, but Rice caught Montana's 4th down pass out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Giants who took over at their 30-yard-line with 9:51 left in the 4th quarter.
Following an trade of punts, the 49ers got the ball back at their 32-yard-line with 5:05 left on the clock and needing a touchdown to win.
But with the ball in Montana's hands, 49ers fans were very hopeful that San Francisco could pull it out while Giants fans were probably biting their nails in nervousness.
After an incomplete pass to start the drive, Montana hit Rice for 11 yards, then connected with tight end Russ Francis on back-to-back completions totaling 21 yards, then handed it off to Joe Cribbs, who picked up two yards for a San Francisco 1st down at the Giants' 34-yard-line.
Following a false start that pushed the 49ers back five yards, Montana threw an incomplete pass, then hit Craig on back-to-back passes, gaining 14 yards and setting up 4th & 1 at the New York 25-yard-line with less than two minutes to go.
Montana snuck for the 1st down, picking up two yards, then hit Rice on two straight passes, but only picking up six yards, before handed it off to Tyler who was dropped for a three-yard-loss setting a do-or-die 4th & 7 at the Giants 20-yard-line with one minute left.
Montana dropped back to pass but was pressured by Giants linebacker Andy Headen, forcing a bad pass that fell incomplete giving New York the ball and allowing them to run out the clock which they did to come away with the 21-17 victory.
The two teams would meet again in the NFC Divisional Playoffs as both teams won their last three games to clinch their respective divisions to set up the Divisional Playoff in the Meadowlands.
The Giants annihilated the 49ers 49-3 as New York went on to win their first Super Bowl title as they defeated the Denver Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI, thanks to Simms' MVP performance where he completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 and three touchdown passes, including one to Bavaro that gave the Giants the lead for good early in the second half.
Bavaro remained with the Giants for four more seasons, helping them win another Super Bowl in 1990, before being cut in 1991 because of a degenerative knee condition.
After sitting out a year, Bavaro returned to the NFL playing the 1992 season with the Cleveland Browns, then playing two years with the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring for good after the 1994 season.
Bavaro finished his career with 351 catches for 4,733 yards and 39 touchdowns, with 266 of those catches for 3,722 yards and 28 touchdowns coming with the Giants, helping earn a spot in the New York Giants Ring of Honor in 2011.
But when Giants fans think of Bavaro, usually the first image that will come to their head is that memorable catch-and-run against the 49ers on Monday Night Football in 1986.
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| Bavaro would finish the game as the Giants' leading receiver with seven catches for 98 yards. |
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