The New York Giants entered the 1982 season with high expectations. They had qualified for the postseason the previous season for the first time since 1963 and wanted to build on that success.
But 1982 was not going to be kind to Giant fans. Neither would the next season, but we’ll save that for another time. The Giants began the year with a 16-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and then fell to the Green Bay Packers the next Monday night at home amid a power outage at Giants Stadium.
That week, the players’ union voted to strike and the NFL went dark for the next 57 days. By the time the two sides settled, it was the week before Thanksgiving and the season was shortened to nine games.
The Giants lost the first game upon their return, 27-17, to the Washington Redskins at Giants Stadium before embarking on a three-game winning streak to even their record at 3-3.
On December 19, the Giants traveled down to Washington D.C. for a key rematch with the Redskins at a snowy RFK Stadium. Big Blue took a 14-3 lead into the tunnel at halftime on touchdowns by Johnny Perkins and Butch Woofolk.
The second half was a struggle for both teams. The Redskins scored on a Joe Washington 22-yard run but missed the point after to narrow the score to 14-9 in the third quarter.
The storylines coming into the game were the playoff implications and Washington kicker Mark Moseley’s quest to break Garo Yepremian’s NFL record for consecutive field goals (20) which was set in 1978-79. A win would put the Redskins firmly in the playoff picture.
On the Giants’ side, they needed to win to keep afloat in the NFC playoff tournament but were dealing with the distraction of head coach Ray Perkins announcing he was leaving after the season to replace Bear Bryant at Alabama.
In the fourth quarter, Moseley tied Yepremian’s mark by kicking a 31-yarder to make the score 14-12.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ offense was going nowhere. Washington drove the football down into field goal range with less than a minute remaining in the game. With four seconds left, Moseley booted himself into the record books and the Redskins into the playoffs with a 42-yard blast through the uprights.
The ball was slowed by the hand of Giants linebacker Byron Hunt, who got a piece of the ball but not enough to stop it from sailing into history.
“I don’t know how much of it I got,” said Hunt. “It went through, so what does it matter?”
Pro Bowl linebacker Brad Van Pelt said, ”You could hear the ball hit the skin.”
But it was Moseley and the Redskins who walked off with the win and ran the table all the way through the Super Bowl, which they won.
The Giants finished the season at 4-5 and missed the playoffs. Perkins left after the season and was replaced by defensive coordinator Bill Parcells. You know the rest.