The New York Giants season was the franchise's 67th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the first under head coach Ray Handley. The Giants entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champion but failed to qualify for the playoffs. They were the eighth team in NFL history to enter a season as the defending Super Bowl champion and miss the playoffs,NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, , p. 256 and became the first organization in NFL history to do so twice (the Giants missed out on the playoffs a season after winning Super Bowl XXI as well).
The 1991 season marked the first season that the Mara family did not have total ownership of the Giants. Wellington Mara's nephew Tim, who had inherited the half-stake in the team that his grandfather and namesake had given to Tim's father Jack, decided that he no longer wanted to be involved with the team after 26 years, most of which had been spent feuding with his uncle over the team's operations. On February 2, 1991, shortly after Super Bowl XXV, Tim Mara announced he had sold his family's stake in the team to businessman Bob Tisch, the co-founder of Loews Corporation and former United States Postmaster General. Tisch did not take an active role in the operations of the team, instead choosing to focus on the team's finances; this enabled the Maras to keep control of the football side of the team and allowed Wellington Mara's son John to take a more active role with the Giants.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, , p.287
The 1991 season also saw major changes to the Giants' coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick left the team to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns shortly after the Super Bowl. Head coach Bill Parcells retired in May and was replaced by the team's former running backs coach Ray Handley.
During the Giants' previous season Phil Simms entered the year as the starter and started the first fourteen games of the season. In the course of that fourteenth game, where the Giants hosted the Buffalo Bills, Simms suffered a severe foot injury and backup Jeff Hostetler took over and led the Giants through the playoffs and to their Super Bowl victory over those same Bills.
Simms did recover from his injury and was expected to regain his starting position, but Handley decided to make Simms and Hostetler compete for the position. Handley made his decision prior to the Giants' week one matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football and gave the starting job to Hostetler amid some controversy. Hostetler led the Giants to 6 wins in his eleven starts, but broke his back during a week 13 win against Tampa Bay. Simms returned to finish the game, but went 2–3 as Giants starter the remainder of the year and the Giants fell out of the playoffs.
Offseason After the 1990 season, in which the Giants won the Super Bowl, the Giants lost several members of their coaching staff. In addition to Parcells and Belichick, wide receivers coach Tom Coughlin took the head coaching position Boston College; he was said to have been the first choice to replace Parcells and would have done so had he not left the Giants.
NFL draft
Roster
Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 1 Buffalo Bills W 23–17 1–0 Giants Stadium 2 at Cleveland Browns L 10–16 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 3 New York Jets W 24–10 2–1 Giants Stadium 4 at New England Patriots L 3–24 2–2 Foxboro Stadium
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 San Francisco 49ers W 16–14 1–0 Giants Stadium Recap 2 September 8 Los Angeles Rams L 13–19 1–1 Giants Stadium Recap 3 September 15 at Chicago Bears L 17–20 1–2 Soldier Field Recap 4 September 22 Cleveland Browns W 13–10 2–2 Giants Stadium Recap 5 September 29 at Dallas Cowboys L 16–21 2–3 Texas Stadium Recap 6 October 6 Phoenix Cardinals W 20–9 3–3 Giants Stadium Recap 7 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 23–20 4–3 Three Rivers Stadium Recap 8 Bye 9 October 27 Washington Redskins L 13–17 4–4 Giants Stadium Recap 10 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–30 4–5 Veterans Stadium Recap 11 November 10 at Phoenix Cardinals W 21–14 5–5 Sun Devil Stadium Recap 12 November 17 Dallas Cowboys W 22–9 6–5 Giants Stadium Recap 13 November 24 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 21–14 7–5 Tampa Stadium Recap 14 December 1 at Cincinnati Bengals L 24–27 7–6 Riverfront Stadium Recap 15 December 8 Philadelphia Eagles L 14–19 7–7 Giants Stadium Recap 16 December 15 at Washington Redskins L 17–34 7–8 RFK Stadium Recap 17 Houston Oilers W 24–20 8–8 Giants Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 2: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Week 3: at Chicago Bears
Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 5: at Dallas Cowboys
Week 6: vs. Phoenix Cardinals
Week 7: at Pittsburgh Steelers
With the win, the Giants improved to 4-3. However, they would end up being the last team to win in Pittsburgh on Monday night until the 2025 Houston Texans as the rest of the league would have 23 game losing streak in Pittsburgh on Monday night.
Week 9: vs. Washington Redskins
Week 10: at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 11: at Phoenix Cardinals
Week 12: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 13: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 14: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 15: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 16: at Washington Redskins
Week 17: vs. Houston Oilers
Standings
See also List of New York Giants seasons
References
External links 1991 New York Giants at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1991 New York Giants at jt-sw.com