How Elite Were They? #52- Phil Simms’ 14-win 1986 Season

Originally published on May 20, 2025

By Zane Miller

After being drafted with the seventh overall pick of the 1979 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, quarterback Phil Simms wouldn’t have to wait long for his shot at the starting gig for the G-Men. By 1979, the Giants had become a dysfunctional mess, as the glory era of their many championship appearances in the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s was long over. The team had failed to have a winning season since 1972 and had just wrapped up a season which featured the most infamous late-game blunder in NFL history against the Philadelphia Eagles, with an unnecessary handoff going awry and gifting the Eagles the win despite the Giants only needing to kneel the ball to get the victory. After watching all of this unfold from the outside, Simms was not particularly thrilled to be drafted by the Giants, but his attitude would change later on.

The Giants looked to be on track for another poor season with an 0-4 start to 1979, but, after starting QB Joe Pisarcik went down with a season-ending shoulder injury, Simms took the reins and gave the team a much-needed morale boost in the process. Although the Giants still finished with a losing record, Simms himself threw for 13 touchdowns and 1,743 yards in 11 starts and took second in Rookie of the Year voting to St. Louis (now Arizona) Cardinals running back Ottis Anderson. Though this was certainly a promising sign for the future, it did not immediately translate into further on-field success for the Giants.

With Simms reprising his role as starter in 1980, the Giants finished inside the bottom three in the league for both offense and defense on the way to a miserable 4-12 record. However, thanks in large part to drafting linebacker and franchise cornerstone Lawrence Taylor, the defense skyrocketed to third-best in the league in 1981. Offensively the team still struggled, especially after Simms was dealt his own season-ending shoulder injury in mid-November. The Giants were able to end their losing season skid with a 9-7 finish and won their wild card playoff matchup against the Eagles, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl-winning San Francisco 49ers a week later.

The 1982 season was marred throughout the league by a players’ strike cutting the scheduled 16 games per team down to just nine, though Simms would not play in any of them due to a nasty preseason knee injury. Backup Scott Brunner took over as starter just as he had for the final stretch of 1981, but the Giants would just miss out on the playoffs with a 4-5 record.

Despite finally getting healthy for 1983, Simms’ return would be halted once again. After watching both Simms and Brunner compete in training camp, new head coach Bill Parcells opted to name Brunner as the starter for the regular season. The disgruntled Simms requested a trade, but to no avail as he begrudgingly settled for the backup job. However, a deplorable three-win 1983 season ironically led to Brunner being traded to the Denver Broncos, in turn giving the starting spot back to Simms.

Now finally able to make his grand return to the field, Simms proved he still possessed the skills that made him a seventh overall pick five years earlier. He had arguably the best statistical season of his career in 1984, breaking the 4,000-yard mark with 4,044 passing yards and 22 touchdowns. The Giants again snuck into the playoffs with a 9-7 record and defeated their opponent in the wild card game, this time taking out the Los Angeles Rams but, just as they had in 1981, fell to the eventual champ 49ers in the divisional round. In 1985, the Giants showed signs of the amazing season which was right around the corner, finishing top-10 in both offense and defense on the way to a 10-6 finish. The team finally extinguished the 49ers in the playoffs, but again failed to get past the divisional round thanks to the Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears. However, in 1986, Simms and company would finally put all the pieces together.

The Giants’ season opener saw Simms get off to an impressive start, throwing for three touchdowns and exactly 300 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in the Monday Night Football contest with two touchdowns and 105 yards going to wide receiver Bobby Johnson. However, the Cowboys scored a touchdown in the final two minutes, winning 31-28 to defend their home turf. After that, though, the Giants went on a roll, starting the next week on September 14^th against the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers where Simms passed for another 300 yards on the nose with one touchdown. New York won that game 20-7 to kick off a five-game winning streak, though this ended on October 19^th with a 17-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Kingdome. However, the Giants would not lose again for the rest of the year.

After defeating the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) to close out the month of October, followed by a pair of 17-14 victories over the Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, Simms put up another 300-yard performance on November 16^th versus the Minnesota Vikings. Despite giving up a pair of interceptions, he rebounded with a touchdown pass and 310 passing yards, including a crucial late-game completion to Johnson on 4^th and 17 to set up a field goal for the 22-20 win. The team then took down the Broncos before facing the 49ers on December 1^st for another Monday Night Football matchup. This time the Giants would come out on top, fighting back from a 17-0 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points all coming in the third quarter. Simms was credited with a season-high 388 passing yards to go along with a pair of touchdown passes. In the rematch against the Redskins on December 7^th, Simms had another three-touchdown game with an additional 265 yards passing as the Giants picked up the sweep 24-14.

After a solid victory over the Cardinals in the penultimate game of the regular season, the Giants were able to go into the postseason on a high note with a dominant 55-24 win against the Green Bay Packers. As running back Joe Morris ran for 115 yards on the day, Simms collected 245 passing yards and three touchdowns, two of which going to sophomore tight end Mark Bavaro. The team easily claimed the NFC East title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs thanks to their 14-2 record with Simms as the starter for each game. His 21 touchdown passes put him in a tie for seventh on the 1986 season with Seahawks quarterback Dave Krieg, while the 3,487 passing yards placed him in eighth, only two yards behind Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) signal caller Warren Moon in seventh.

On January 4^th, 1987, the Giants faced the 49ers again in the divisional round, but a second half comeback would not be necessary for New York. The Giants never trailed at any point in the game, going up 28-3 at halftime and posting another second half shutout, winning by a fitting score of 49-3. Although Simms only passed for a total of 136 yards, this included four passing touchdowns as 49ers starter Joe Montana struggled in the cold and windy conditions, throwing for 98 yards and no touchdowns along with a pair of interceptions.

In the NFC championship game on January 11th, the Giants moved on to face the Redskins for the third time in three months, but New York’s dominant defense would be the star of the show. Washington punter Steve Cox had a busy afternoon with six punts in the first half alone, allowing the G-Men to go up 17-0 at the half. Despite the Washington defense being able to keep the Giants off the board in the second half, their offense failed to improve much as the Giants kept the shutout, reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history by the 17-0 scoreline. Simms had a bit of a tough day with just 90 passing yards and one touchdown, while the Redskins’ Jay Schroeder had 195 yards through the air with no touchdowns.

January 25^th saw the Giants travel to Pasadena, California’s Rose Bowl to face the same Broncos team they had beaten earlier in the season in Super Bowl XXI. Similar to their previous matchup, the game remained close at halftime, as Denver held a slim 10-9 advantage. However, the Giants offense went to work in the third quarter, as Simms capitalized on chunk plays to Morris and backup running back Lee Rouson to retake the lead on touchdown pass to Bavaro. The Broncos went three-and-out on their ensuing possession to set up a Giants field goal, then punted it away again, setting up New York for the drive which would prove to be the largest turning point.

After finding wide receiver Lionel Manuel (who had missed most of the season with a knee injury) for a 17-yard gain, Simms connected with seldom-used wideout Phil McConkey for 44 yards as McConkey nearly got into the end zone. However, Morris ran it in himself on the next play to make it a three-possession game. The Giants quickly got the ball back on an Elvis Patterson interception, and McConkey was officially able to get his Super Bowl touchdown as Simms unintentionally found him for his third TD pass of the day to make it a 33-10 game. Despite a strong effort from Denver in the fourth quarter, it would prove to be too little, too late as the Giants captured their first championship in exactly 30 years, taking Super Bowl XXI by a final score of 39-20. Simms had an excellent showing with three touchdowns and 268 yards through the air to earn the Super Bowl MVP award, as Broncos quarterback John Elway went for 304 yards and one touchdown pass.

With a Super Bowl ring now on his finger, Simms looked to run it back in 1987. However, the Giants would be hit particularly hard by the players’ strike commencing two games into the season. Nearly all of the Giants players, Simms included, left the team due to the strike and the replacement players lost all three of their games before the strike ended. The team never fully recovered from the championship hangover and finished with a disappointing 6-9 record. After a far better 1988 campaign where the Giants finished at 10-6 (yet barely missed the playoffs), Simms flirted with 12-win seasons in both 1989 and 1990, but finished with 11 wins each time. In 1989, Simms missed one start due to injury as backup Jeff Hostetler led the team to victory over the then-Phoenix Cardinals, while his injury in 1990 proved even more costly. In a mid-December loss to the Buffalo Bills, Simms suffered a season-ending foot injury, forcing Hostetler to take the reins going into the playoffs. Simms watched from afar as the Giants claimed their second straight NFC East title, before winning Super Bowl XXV against that same Bills squad on a missed last-second field goal.

With Hostetler playing so well in relief, he would move into the permanent starting role in 1991 with Simms moved to backup. Simms would claim just one win in both 1991 and 1992, but the quarterback switch did not go according to plan as the team failed to claim a winning record in either of those seasons. Hostetler left via free agency prior to the 1993 season, thus handing the starting job back to Simms. After two years of riding the bench, Simms turned back the clock by leading the Giants to an 11-5 record in 1993, coming up just one game short of another 12-win campaign. The G-Men knocked out the Vikings in the first round before getting blown out by the 49ers on their way to another Super Bowl triumph. Unfortunately, this was where Simms’ playing career came to an end, as he opted to undergo shoulder surgery after the season. Although the surgery went well, the Giants surprisingly released Simms during the 1994 offseason. Despite receiving interest from other teams, Simms chose to retire from the NFL with 95 career wins and a Super Bowl victory to his name.

After announcing his retirement, Simms remained involved in the NFL as he moved into the broadcasting side of the league less than three months later. He served as the color commentator for Sunday Night Football in 1994, which was on ESPN at the time. However, he was scooped up by NBC for the 1995 season, becoming the network’s lead color commentator through the 1997 season. In 1998, Simms found his long-term home in NFL on CBS, staying on as the primary color analyst through 2016. He then took a temporary break from color commentary, instead joining the panel for the CBS pregame show “NFL Today” from 2017 to 2023. Simms made his return as color commentator in 2024 for nationally broadcast games on the Westwood One radio network.

Both of his sons played quarterback in the NFL themselves, with his oldest son Chris being in the league from 2004 to 2009, most notably guiding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the NFC South crown in 2005. His youngest son Matt joined the organization which shared its stadium with the Giants, playing on the New York Jets in 2013 and 2014. Simms’ #11 jersey was officially retired by the New York Giants in 1995, and he was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the New York Giants Ring of Honor in 2010.