The Giants' meeting with the Miami Dolphins in MetLife Stadium on Sunday constitutes a semi-milestone in the 87-season history of the franchise.
The Giants will play the 1,200th regular season game in their history to join the Chicago Bears (1,264), Green Bay Packers (1,230) and Chicago-St. Louis-Phoenix-Arizona Cardinals (1,213) as the only franchises to reach that figure. The Detroit Lions are fifth on the games-played list with 1,127.
The Bears, Packers and Giants are also one-two-three in all-time regular season victories (Arizona is fourth in games played but sixth in wins).
Chicago beat Tampa Bay Sunday in London to improve to 708-515-42. Green Bay defeated Minnesota to reach its bye with a 7-0 record this year and 671-524-36 all-time. The Giants' regular season record is 640-526-33, including 355-246-16 at home and 285-280-17 on the road.
If postseason games are included, the Giants are also third in lifetime victories with 660, behind the same two teams: Chicago (725) and Green Bay (700). Pittsburgh is behind the Giants with 579, followed by Washington (573), the Rams (530) and Philadelphia (525).
The team records of both the Steelers and Eagles list an additional five victories for each, boosting their total to 584 and 530, respectively. But according to the NFL, the figures above are correct.
In 1943, during World War II, the NFL faced a manpower shortage, so the Eagles and Steelers combined teams and were known as the Steegles. That team won five games, victories that both the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia franchise take credit for. But the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statisticians of the NFL, doesn't credit the victories to either team and instead treats the Steegles as a separate franchise.Â
Here's how the Giants have fared in other milestone regular season games in their history:
Game              Date               Opponent                   Result
1st                  10/11/25         at Providence             L, 14-0
50th                12/8/28           at Frankford               L, 7-0
100th             10/9/32           at Boston                    L, 14-6
200th             11/3/40           at Brooklyn                W, 10-7
300th             11/20/49         vs. Detroit                  L, 45-21
400th             9/28/58          vs. Chi. Cardinals       W, 37-7*
500th             11/14/65         at Cleveland               L, 34-21
600th             11/26/72         vs. Philadelphia          W, 62-10
700th             11/11/79         vs. Atlanta                  W, 24-3
800th             10/12/86         vs. Philadelphia          W, 35-3
900th             11/22/92         vs. Philadelphia          L, 47-34
1,000th           12/20/98         vs. Kansas City          W, 28-7
1,100th           9/25/05           at San Diego              L, 45-28
*game played in Buffalo, N.Y.
*The Dolphins will tote a 0-6 record into MetLife Stadium on Sunday. This will be the Giants' first game against a winless opponent with at least six losses since…their last meeting with Miami. On Oct. 28, 2007, the Giants faced the 0-7 Dolphins in London's Wembley Stadium in the first NFL regular season game ever played outside of North America. The Giants won, 13-10.
*When John Beck started at quarterback for the Washington Redskins Sunday at Carolina, it created an unusual symmetry in the NFC East. Each of the Giants' three division opponents has started seven different quarterbacks since Eli Manning assumed the Giants' starting job on Nov. 21, 2004:
Dallas (7): Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson, Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo, Brad Johnson, Jon Kitna, Stephen McGee
Philadelphia (7): Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia, Mike McMahon, A.J. Feeley, Koy Detmer, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick
Washington (7): Patrick Ramsey, Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Todd Collins, Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman, John Beck
Manning has started 109 consecutive regular season games.
*Minnesota rookie Christian Ponder Sunday became the NFL's 131st different starting quarterback since Manning took over.
*When the Giants defeated Buffalo, 27-24, in their most recent game on Oct. 16, it was Tom Coughlin's 137th regular season victory as an NFL head coach. Coughlin has won 69 games in seven seasons plus six games with the Giants. He won 68 games in eight years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
*The Giants lead the NFC and are second in the NFL with a 68.4 touchdown percentage from inside their opponents' 20-yard line. They have scored touchdowns on 13 of 19 trips inside what Coughlin calls the green zone. The Bills leads the league by scoring touchdowns on 76.2 percent of their opportunities (16 of 21).
*Manning is fourth in the NFL with a 101.1 passer rating and third with a 9.07-yard average per pass attempt.
*Manning's 116.0 rating in the fourth quarter is second in the league behind Denver's Tim Tebow, who has thrown 34 fewer passes and has 29 fewer completions in the quarter than Manning. In the fourth quarter, Manning has completed 42 of 60 passes (70.0 percent) for 601 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
*Ahmad Bradshaw has scored 38 points (six touchdowns and a two-point conversion), which places him fifth in the NFL among non-kickers.
*Jason Pierre-Paul is third in the NFL with 7.5 sacks.
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