PREGAME: The King of the Gridirons selected the matchup between the 1965 New York Football Giants and the 1999 Green Bay Packers as their official "Kickoff Classic" event. These two storied franchise have a bushel full of championships and 3 Super Bowl's each. Each franchise has been to the Super Bowl 4 times, but that is where the similarities end. The Giants represent New 
York and all the glitz and glitter the media capital of the world has to offer. The Packers represent small town middle America an good old fashioned nose to the grindstone values. The Giants are a passing team led by the brush cut stoic Earl Morrall. They have a corps of dangerous deep wideouts and a running game that compliments it nicely. The Packers grind it out with Dorsey Levens and then put the game in the hands of the ultimate "aw shucks" gunslinger, Brett Favre.
1st QTR: New York elected to receive and thanks to a decent Ernie Koy return began play on their 25. Morrall didn't waste any time at all going vertical when he connected with Aaron Thomas for 43 yards on the 3rd play from scrimmage. A Pass interference call
two plays later setup a 1st and goal on the 1, but some stout defense by the Packers and a fumble by Morrall pushed the Giants back to the Packer 2. Facing a 4th and goal from the two the Jints elected to go for it, but Green Bay was waiting for Steve Thurlow to get the handoff and crushed the Giant half back for no gain. Green Bay took over with 1st and 98 to go having dodged a bullet. Facing a 3rd and 8 from their 4 the Pack looked to go vertical, but Jerry Hillebrand nailed Favre's receiver to force a 4th down punt. That's what everyone thought until a late flag came against Joe LaVotere for roughing the passer and an automatic first down. A few plays later Dorsey Levens gained 27 yards off tackle to get the Pack out of danger. Three plays later Levens found a hole and blew past the linebackers for a gain of 36, which put the ball on the Giant 18. The Giant run D was on it's heels as evidenced by the fact that De'Mond Parker was able to gain 12 yards even though the D was looking for him. A few more runs saw the Packers drive stall at the Giants 4, thanks to a Lou Slaby 2 yard stuff of Levens. This setup a 23 yard chip shot FG by Ryan Longwell to make it 3-0. The Giants began to drive the football, but stalled out on the Packer 43 and had to punt just before the quarter ended.
2nd QTR: After a 37 yard punt by Ernie Koy pinned the Packers inside their 20 (18 yard line) Brett Favre got the troops ready to go. Facing a key 3rd and 18 from his own 35 Favre hit Corey Bradford in stride for a 18 yard gain and a first down on New York's 47. Favre being the gunslinger that he is went up top on the next play and beat shut down corner Dick Lynch with a beautiful skinny post to Antonio Freeman for a 25 yard gain down to the Giant 22. Big Blue's D stiffened and stopped Levens on a 4th and 8 draw that gained just 3. Longwell came on to knock home a 34 yarder to make it 6-0 with just under 9 minutes to play in the half. The Giants went 3 and out and the Packers took over on their own 42 with 6:32 remaining in the half. The defense was geared up for Levens to run, but Favre went play action and hit Dorsey Levens on a neat swing pass that gained 22. Facing a 3rd and 7 from the Giant 28 Favre once again tricked Big Blue. Thinking pass the defense chose to double Freeman and Schroeder. Levens got the call on a perfectly executed delayed draw and took it unmolested to the house for a 28 yard score. After the extra point the Packers had themselves a 13-0 lead, which they would take to the locker room as the half ended with not much more action going on.
3rd QTR: Green Bay started the 2nd half from their own 24. On the first play
from scrimmage Favre hit Levens with a dump pass and Dorsey did the rest weaving in and out of Giant defenders who missed tackle after tackle. When the dust settled Willie A. Williams finally shoved Levins out of bounds on the Giants 26, which accounted for a huge 50 yard gain. 3 plays later the Pack faced a 3rd and 9 from NY's 25 when Favre again threw underneath the coverage on a perfectly timed screen pass to Tyrone Davis that netted 10 yards, which was just enough for a 1st down. Carl "Spider" Lockhart made a huge open field saving tackle to prevent Davis from hitting paydirt. Lockhart's tackle would only be a temporary game saver, because Levens would score 3 plays later on a 3 yard dive into the end zone. No matter how you slice it, New York was in deep trouble. With just under 5 minutes gone in the 3rd they were down 20-0. The time for action was now. Kick return speedster Clarence Childs busted a 27 yard return to give New York good field position on their own 35. Morrall dropped back to pass and noticed Joe Morrison double teamed, which meant speedster Homer Jones was locked in single coverage. Morrall's pass was a bit behind Jones, but the fleet footed receiver managed to pull it in for a 26 yard gain on Green Bay's 39. On the next play Green Bay stacked for the run and keyed Giant Fullback Tucker Fredrickson. It didn't matter one bit, because All-Pro left tackle Rosey Brown busted a huge hole for Frederickson, who went off tackle for 34 yards before Mike McKenzie pushed him out on the Packer 5. Three plays later Morrall hit another one of the "Baby Bulls", Ernie Koy in the back of the end zone for New York's 
first score of the day. The drive took only 2:25 and showcased New York's ability to strike fast. Green Bay got conservative and went 3 and out. A poor Luis Aguiar punt and a 9 yard return by Willie A. Williams gave the Jints great field position on their own 46. After a Frederickson 1 yard run Morral hit Tight End Aaron Thomas for 23 yards and just like that they were on the Packer 35. Steve Thrulow took an inside handoff and busted free for ten yards, but in his haste to get extra yardage Thurlow tried to stretch the ball out, but Antwan Edwards punched it out and Leroy Butler fell on it. A blow golden opportunity for a Giants team that was down by 13 with 4:43 left in the 3rd. Penalties and a big 10 yard sack of Favre by Roger Lalonde put the Packers in an awful 3rd and 25 from their 10. A Giant safety blitz saw Jimmy Patton sack Favre on the 1 narrowly missing a safety. Aguiar got off a decent punt, but the Giants still had great field position at the Packer 45. Morrall sent Morrison deep to the post. Butler made contact with Morrison while the ball was in the air and Pass Interference was called on the Packer 24. Facing a 3rd and 8 on the Packer 17 Morrall called a draw to Thrulow who barely stretched out to find the first down marker. Scott McGarrahan brought him down, but in the process grabbed Thurlow's face mask, which put the ball on the Packer 5. Morrall saw the Packers geared up for a handoff to Fredrickson, so he called a quick hitch to Joe Morrison, which resulted in a 5 yard score to make it 20-14 as the 4th quarter was about to begin.
4th QTR: Looking to gain yardage and chew clock the Pack went to Levens one
more time for a quick 23 yard burst, which put the ball on their own 43. A few plays later Corey Bradford caught a 2nd and 12 pass from Favre on the Giant 9 for a 38 yard gain. On 2nd and goal from the 3 Levens knifed his way into the end zone to all but put the final dagger in the visiting Giants hearts. With 9:48 left in regulation the Jints were down 27-14. Ernie Koy took Ryan Longwell's kick from his 9 to his own 39. One problem Koy put the ball on the turf. A huge scrum ensued and New York was lucky that Clarence Childs emerged with the pigskin or the day would have officially ended right then and there. After no gain on 1st down Morrall went back to a familiar target in Morrison for 15 yards on a fag pattern. Two short runs gave New York a manageable 3rd and 3 from the Packer 39. The time for safe plays was done. Bold moves were needed and Earl Morrall once again went to Morrison. This time the Giants gained 21 yards as Morrison was hauled down by Edwards on the Packer 18. Fredrickson gained 9 yards on a 2nd and 10 play, but Morrall went to the well one time too many and his square out to Morrison sailed out of bounds. Facing a 4th and 1 on the Packer 9 with 7 minutes left in the game New York had to go. Green Bay stacked the line and sold out on the run keying Koy. Morrall read that
defense like an Archie comic and laughed his way to a 9 yard TD strike to who else, but Joe Morrison. 27-20 Green Bay with 6:47 left to play as the Lambeau crowd began to get antsy. Basil Mitchell picked up Andy Stynchula's kickoff on the 2 and booted the ball. He recovered in time to get pancaked on the Packer 6, much to the chagrin of Coach V, who called it "the bonehead play of the year". Instead of letting the ball go out of bounds, which would have ensured Green Bay great field position, Mitchell put his team deep in the hole. Facing 3rd and 5 from his own 13 Favre tried to elude the blitzing Giant defense but couldn't get away from Jim Carroll who dumped him for an 8 yard loss. Aguiar did well to field a low snap and get away a 40 yarder that was fair caught on the Packer 45 with just over 4 minutes to play. Morrall took too much time in the huddle and a delay of game penalty moved the ball back to midfield. A draw play to Frederickson gained 7 yards to make it 2nd and 8. A short pass to Thurlow netted zero yards and Morrall was staring 3rd and 8 right in the face. Green Bay dropped back in a deep cover two, so Morrall elected to give Thurlow another chance at the draw. 21 yards later the Giants had a fresh set of downs with just over 3 minutes to play. The Packers elected to double Morrison, and based on Morrall's tendencies who would blame them. Earl looked off the
double and quickly hit Homer Jones for on the 8 for a 14 yard gain and another first down. Fredrickson would take an inside handoff down to the 4 as the two minute warning sounded. Thurlow would gain a yard on the next play and force Green Bay to call their first time out. Morrall attempted to dump the ball off to back up tight end Bob Crespino, but the ball sailed wide of it's target. With 1:44 remaining the Giants were down by 6 with a 4tha and goal from the 3 looking them right in the eye. Green Bay stacked the line once again for the run with Ernie Koy as their main target. Morrall faked the handoff and then hit former All-Pro Del Shofner with a high jump ball that the often injured, but always athletic Shofner snagged for 6. The extra point put the G-men up by 1, but there was still plenty of time left on the clock (1:35) as the dangerous Favre trotted onto the field. New York elected to double Freeman and Schroeder on 2nd and 10 with the ball on the Pack's 20. Favre hit Bradford with a screen pass that surprised the Giants and netted 28 yards. With 1:16 left and the ball just shy of midfield John Lovetere sacked Favre for a 4 yard loss. A 12 yard hitch pass to Levens made it 3rd and 2 from the Giant 44 with :37 left. A screen pass to Levens somehow worked for 10 yards to put the ball on the Giant 34 with 29 seconds left. Favre went with a quick out to Freeman, but Hillebrand was there to knock him 
down for a 4 yard loss. Levens would gain 8 on a draw play to put the ball on the Giant 30 with :14 seconds left. Facing a 3rd and 6 with 1 time out left on the Giant 30 Coach V elected to bring on Ryan Longwell for a 47 yard field goal. Longwell has a huge leg and without any wind or precipitation his chances were excellent on making it. Longwell stepped into it and for some reason he didn't plant correctly and wound up hooking it wide left. Morrall would take a knee on the final play of the game and New York would seal it's improbable comeback from a 20 point deficit in the 3rd quarter to steal this one from the cheese heads.
