1944 New York Giants season
# 1944 New York Giants season

The 1944 New York Giants season was the franchise's 20th season in the National Football League.

In an April 2013 article, football analytics website Cold Hard Football Facts named the 1944 Giants the "Stingiest Defense in NFL history," as the team only surrendered 75 points in ten games. "The manpower shortage on NFL fields created a variety of statistical anomalies on both sides of the field," said the article, "and the 1944 Giants are no exception. But even then, the 1944 Giants were a truly awesome unit: the average team scored 18.0 points per game in 1944, well above the 7.5 PPG average surrendered by the Giants. [...] But even the best defenses can’t get it done alone: Giants quarterback Arnie Herber threw four interceptions in New York's 14–7 NFL title game loss to Herber's former team, the Packers. The 1944 Giants were a mere No. 5 in scoring offense in the 10-team NFL."

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 2 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | October 8 | at Boston Yanks | W 22–10 | 1–0 | Fenway Park | Recap |
| 5 | October 15 | at Brooklyn Tigers | W 14–7 | 2–0 | Ebbets Field | Recap |
| 6 | October 22 | Card-Pitt | W 23–0 | 3–0 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 7 | October 29 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–24 | 3–1 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 8 | November 5 | Boston Yanks | W 31–0 | 4–1 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 9 | November 12 | at Philadelphia Eagles | T 21–21 | 4–1–1 | Shibe Park | Recap |
| 10 | November 19 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–0 | 5–1–1 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 11 | November 26 | Brooklyn Tigers | W 7–0 | 6–1–1 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 12 | December 3 | Washington Redskins | W 16–13 | 7–1–1 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 13 | December 10 | at Washington Redskins | W 31–0 | 8–1–1 | Griffith Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries

### Week Four: at Boston Yanks

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 22 |
| Yanks | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |

at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

* Date: October 8
* Game attendance: 17,463

### Week Five: at Brooklyn Tigers

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

* Date: October 15
* Game attendance: 24,854

### Week Six: vs Cardinals-Pittsburgh Combine

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Card-Pitt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: October 22
* Game attendance: 40,734

### Week Seven: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eagles | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Giants | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: October 29
* Game attendance: 42,639

### Week Eight: vs. Boston Yanks

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 10 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 31 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: November 5
* Game attendance: 28,364

### Week Nine: at Philadelphia Eagles

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Eagles | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

* Date: November 12
* Game attendance: 33,248

### Week Ten: vs. Green Bay Packers

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: November 19
* Game attendance: 56,481

Steve Owen won his 100th regular season game as Giants head coach. Tom Coughlin would be the next to accomplish the feat 61 years later.

### Week Eleven: vs. Brooklyn Tigers

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: November 26
* Game attendance: 29,387

### Week Twelve: vs. Washington Redskins

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Redskins | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Giants | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: December 3
* Game attendance: 47,457

### Week Thirteen: at Washington Redskins

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 14 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 31 |
| Redskins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.

* Date: December 10
* Game attendance: 35,540

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Recap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Championship | December 17 | Green Bay Packers | L 7–14 | Polo Grounds | Recap |

### 1944 NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Packers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Date: December 17
* Game attendance: 46,015

Game information :

Second quarter

GB Ted Fritsch 1-yard run (Hutson kick)

GB Fritsch 28-yard pass from Comp (Hutson kick)

Fourth quarter

NYG Cuff 1-yard run (Strong kick)

Top passers

GB – Irv Comp – 3/10, 73 YDS, TD, 3 INT

NYG – Arnie Herber – 8/22, 117 YDS, 4 INT

Top rushers

GB – Joe Laws – 13 CAR, 74 YDS

NYG – Ward Cuff – 12 CAR, 55 YDS, TD

Top receivers

GB – Don Hutson – 2 REC, 47 YDS

NYG – Frank Liebel – 3 REC, 71 YDS :

## Standings

NFL Eastern Division :

| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| New York Giants | 8 | 1 | 1 | .889 | 6–1–1 | 206 | 75 | W4 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 1 | 2 | .875 | 6–0–2 | 267 | 131 | W2 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 4–3–1 | 169 | 180 | L2 |
| Boston Yanks | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 2–6 | 82 | 233 | L2 |
| Brooklyn Tigers | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0-8 | 69 | 166 | L10 |

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

