BLAST FROM PAST: Leonard Marshall crushes 49ers QB Joe Montana during the Giants’ 15-13 win in the NFC title game Jan. 20, 1991. (
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Carl Banks sounded like he was ready to suit up and see if Mark Bavaro, Phil Simms and Mark Collins might be ready to join him.
It might be more than 20 years since the Giants and 49ers staged their high-intensity showdowns, but Sunday’s game at Candlestick Park has the feel of those slugfests of yesteryear when playoff positioning and championships were often at stake.
“I was talking to one of the 49ers players and we were both saying all is right in the world when there’s a meaningful game between the 49ers and Giants,” Banks said yesterday. “It’s a really good space to be in if you’re these teams. These are the kind of defining games to see where you are. You know going in that you’ll get hit. Both teams know it, and the margin for error is so slim.”
It might be a new season, but there’s a palpable carry-over from last season’s NFC Championship, won by the Giants 20-17 in overtime. The 49ers thought they were going to the Super Bowl, which the Giants ultimately claimed by beating the Patriots. A measure of payback will be in the air on Sunday with the 49ers (4-1) wanting to establish their superiority over the Giants (3-2) in the NFC.
“They feel like a Super Bowl team, and what better way to prove that than to beat last year’s Super Bowl team,” Giants tight end Martellus Bennett said.
That was the prevailing sentiment beginning in ’86 when the Giants defeated the 49ers 49-3 in the divisional playoffs en route to their first Super Bowl victory. They would meet for six consecutive seasons, including twice in the 1990 season, when the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers won 7-3 during the regular season only to see the Giants prevail 15-13 on Matt Bahr’s field goal in the NFC Championship in San Francisco. The Giants went on to win their second Super Bowl that year, upsetting the Bills in Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. Interestingly, the all-time record between the 49ers and Giants is dead-locked 18-18, including playoffs.
“Every time the schedule came out [when] we knew what we were getting in the NFC East, but we always looked to see if the 49ers were on the schedule,” said Collins, who played cornerback for the Giants from 1986-93. “Our mindset was, if we could get out of the NFC East, we had a chance at going to the Super Bowl no matter who we played. We thought we could beat San Francisco.”
A common link between the games of the past and what’s expected Sunday will be how physical the game will be. The 49ers pounded quarterback Eli Manning in the NFC Championtship and likely will bring heavy leather on Sunday. That’s the way it was when Ronnie Lott was at safety for the 49ers and Lawrence Taylor and Banks were playing defense for the Giants.
“San Francisco was a physical team, but felt like we were a little more physical,” Collins said. “They wanted to make the big play. We knew if you kept them from making the big play, you had a chance to win.”
Both the Giants and 49ers are capable of making big plays these days. They combine to average 830 yards of offense per game this season. But it was two special team’s fumbles by the 49ers that decided the NFC title last year.
“Your attention to detail has to go up 100-fold because you know they’re going to look for every little weakness,” Banks said. “It’s a fun game to play in, but it’s also a fun game to watch.”
A game just like the old days.
george.willis@nypost.com