1938 New York Giants season

This article is about the football team. For the baseball team of the same name in 1938, see 1938 New York Giants (MLB) season.

The 1938 New York Giants season was the franchise's 14th season in the National Football League.

1938 New York Giants season
Head coach	Steve Owen
Home field	Polo Grounds
Results
Record	8–2–1
Division place	1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Won NFL Championship (vs. Packers) 23–17
← 1937 Giants seasons 1939 →

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 11	at Pittsburgh Pirates	W 27–14	1–0	Forbes Field	Recap
2	Bye
3	September 25	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–14	1–1	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium	Recap
4	October 3	Pittsburgh Pirates	L 10–13	1–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
5	October 9	at Washington Redskins	W 10–7	2–2	Griffith Stadium	Recap
6	October 16	Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–7	3–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
7	October 23	Brooklyn Dodgers	W 28–14	4–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
8	Bye
9	November 6	Chicago Cardinals	W 6–0	5–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
10	November 13	Cleveland Rams	W 28–0	6–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
11	November 20	Green Bay Packers	W 15–3	7–2	Polo Grounds	Recap
12	November 24	at Brooklyn Dodgers	T 7–7	7–2–1	Ebbets Field	Recap
13	December 4	Washington Redskins	W 36–0	8–2–1	Polo Grounds	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Pittsburgh Pirates

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	6	14	0	7	27
Pirates	7	7	0	0	14

Game information
First quarter PIT Whizzer White 4-yard run (Armand Niccolai kick) NYG Tuffy Leemans 1-yard run (kick blocked) Second quarter PIT Eggs Manske 23-yard pass from Frank Filchock (Niccolai kick) NYG Lee Shaffer 3-yard pass from Ed Danowski (Hank Soar kick) NYG Shaffer 11-yard pass from Danowski (Ward Cuff kick) Fourth quarter NYG Soar 1-yard run (Cuff kick)

Week One: New York Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 11
• Game attendance: 17,340

Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	0	7	3	0	10
Eagles	0	7	0	7	14

Game information
Second quarter PHI Bob Pylman 88-yard fumble return (Henry Reese kick) NYG Jim Poole 28-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick) Third quarter NYG Cuff 23-yard FG Fourth quarter PHI Joe Carter 92-yard fumble return (Reese kick)

Week Three: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 25
• Game attendance: 23,877

Week 4: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	7	0	6	13
Giants	7	0	3	0	10

Game information
First quarter NYG Cuff 18-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick) Second quarter PIT Bill Sortet 24-yard pass from Filchock (Niccolai kick) Third quarter NYG Cuff 10-yard FG Fourth quarter PIT Sortet 13-yard pass from Filchock (kick failed)

Week Four: Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: October 3
• Game time: Night
• Game attendance: 18,805

Week 5: at Washington Redskins

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	3	0	0	7	10
Redskins	0	7	0	0	7

Game information
First quarter NYG Cuff 17-yard FG Second quarter WAS Bob Masterson pass from Sammy Baugh (Masterson kick) Fourth quarter NYG Jim Lee Howell 18-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)

Week Five: New York Giants at Washington Redskins

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Date: October 9
• Game attendance: 37,500

Week 6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	7	0	7
Giants	0	14	3	0	17

Game information
Second quarter NYG Bull Karcis 76-yard fumble return (Cuff kick) NYG Leemans 3-yard run (Cuff kick) Third quarter PHI Woody Dow 25-yard pass from Emmett Mortell (Reese kick) NYG Cuff 20-yard FG

Week Six: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: October 16
• Game attendance: 33,187

Week 7: vs. Brooklyn Dodgers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Dodgers	0	0	0	14	14
Giants	7	21	0	0	28

Game information
First quarter NYG Howell 31-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick) Second quarter NYG Karcis 1-yard run (Cuff kick) NYG Len Barnum 1-yard run (Cuff kick) NYG Ray Hanken 5-yard pass from Leemans (Kink Richards kick) Fourth quarter BRK Beattie Feathers 8-yard run (Ace Parker kick) BRK Scrapper Farrell 26-yard run (Parker kick)

Week Seven: Brooklyn Dodgers at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: October 23
• Game attendance: 36,228

Week 9: vs. Chicago Cardinals

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	0	0	0	6	6

Game information
Fourth quarter NYG Leemans 5-yard run (kick failed)

Week Nine: Chicago Cardinals at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: November 6
• Game attendance: 19,648

Week 10: vs. Cleveland Rams

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	7	14	7	0	28

Game information
First quarter NYG Karcis 1-yard run (Cuff kick) Second quarter NYG Karcis 1-yard run (Cuff kick) NYG Hanken 27-yard pass from Leemans (Richards kick) Third quarter NYG Danowski 31-yard run (Cuff kick)

Week Ten: Cleveland Rams at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: November 13
• Game attendance: 25,000

Week 11: vs. Green Bay Packers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	3	0	3
Giants	0	0	9	6	15

Game information
Third quarter NYG Giants tackled Clarke Hinkle in end zone for a Safety GB Paul Engebretsen 22-yard FG NYG Leemans 75-yard run (Cuff kick) Fourth quarter NYG Mel Hein 50-yard interception return (kick failed)

Week Eleven: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: November 20
• Game attendance: 48,279

Week 12: at Brooklyn Dodgers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	0	0	0	7	7
Dodgers	7	0	0	0	7

Game information
First quarter BRK Parker 68-yard interception return (Ralph Kercheval kick) Fourth quarter NYG Dale Burnett 7-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)

Week Twelve: New York Giants at Brooklyn Dodgers

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

• Date: November 24
• Game attendance: 17,400

Ed Danowski's pass to Dale Burnett was the last Giants touchdown on offense on Thanksgiving Day until 2022.

Week 13: vs. Washington Redskins

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	14	0	10	12	36

Game information
First quarter NYG Soar 43-yard run (Cuff kick) NYG Karcis run (Cuff kick) Third quarter NYG Cuff 36-yard FG NYG Cuff 96-yard interception return (Cuff kick) Fourth quarter NYG Chuck Galatka pass from Leemans (kick failed) NYG Galatka 7-yard interception return (kick failed)

Week Thirteen: Washington Redskins at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: December 4
• Game attendance: 57,461

The Giants won the Eastern Division in a 36-0 romp of the defending champion Washington Redskins, and a right to play in the championship.

NFL Championship Game

Main article: 1938 NFL Championship Game

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	14	3	0	17
Giants	9	7	7	0	23

Game information

First quarter NYG Cuff 14-yard FG. Giants 3-0. NYG Leemans 6-yard run (kick failed). Giants 9-0. Second quarter GB Carl Mulleneaux 40-yard pass from Arnie Herber (Engebretsen kick). Giants 9-7. NYG Charles Barnard 21-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick). Giants 16-7. GB Hinkle 1-yard run (Engebretsen kick). Giants 16-14. Third quarter GB Engebretsen 15-yard FG. Packers 17-16. NYG Soar 23-yard pass from Danowski (Cuff kick). Giants 23-17. Fourth quarter No scoring plays Top passers GB - Arnie Herber - 5/14, 123 yards, 1 TD NYG - Ed Danowski - 7/11, 74 yards, 2 TD Top rushers GB - Charlie Hinkle - 18 rushes, 64 yards, 1 TD NYG - Hank Soar - 20 rushes, 68 yards Top receivers GB - Wayland Becker - 2 receptions, 78 yards NYG - Hank Soar - 3 receptions, 41 yards, 1 TD

1938 NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Date: December 11
• Game attendance: 48,120

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	8	2	1	.800	5–2–1	194	79	W1
Washington Redskins	6	3	2	.667	4–2–2	148	154	L1
Brooklyn Dodgers	4	4	3	.500	3–2–3	131	161	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	6	0	.455	3–5	154	164	W2
Pittsburgh Pirates	2	9	0	.182	2–6	79	169	L6

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

All-Star Game

Five weeks after winning the championship, the Giants defeated the NFL All-Stars 13–10 in the first Pro Bowl on January 15, 1939. The game was played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California, where poor weather caused an attendance of just 15,000.^[1][2][3][4]

See also

• List of New York Giants seasons
• 1939 National Football League All-Star Game

References

1. "Giants beat Stars; Ward Cuff is hero". Milwaukee Journal. United Press. January 16, 1939. p. L-7. Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
2. "New York's Giants defeat All-Stars". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. January 16, 1939. p. 6.
3. McLemore, Henry (January 16, 1939). "'Super' pro grid game proves flop on Coast". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. p. 19.
4. Guenther, Jack (January 16, 1939). "Giants down professional all-star grids in charity tilt". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). United Press. p. 9.