The Rams, wild-card qualifiers, had earlier beaten the Eagles behind the passing

Gradually the Giants were changing since their 1986 Super Bowl vic- tory. For the 1989 season some of the stars remained, for example Simms and Bavaro on offense, and Taylor, Banks, and Marshall on defense. But only Oates remained from the starting line and on defense Carson had retired and Burt had moved on to San Francisco. Carson had been with the team for thirteen seasons and was the leader of the defense. He had been selected to nine Pro Bowls, seven straight between 1981 and 1987, and five times was All-NFL. It was impossible to replace him. Also gone was the exciting punt returner and occasional wide receiver Phil McConkey. Here, however, the Giants found a new star in their fifth round draft choice, Dave Meggett. Meggett, another small back (5'7") who played big, proved to be an exciting punt and kick returner as well as a third-down back who could rush or receive out of the backfield. As a rookie he made the Pro Bowl. Finally, missing from the Giants was Joe Morris, their career rushing leader, who had injured his knee in an exhibition game. He was replaced by Ottis Anderson, who had come to the Giants in 1986 after seven seasons with the Cardinals. Anderson, of course, was the running back picked after Simms in the 1979 draft who then beat out Simms for rookie of the year. Ander- son had five seasons with the Cards during which he ran for over one thou- sand yards but was tailing off when he was traded to the Giants in 1986. Between then and 1988 he saw limited action with the Giants but in 1989, at the age of thirty-two, he was able to again rush for over one thousand yards.

In 1989 the Giants improved to fifa 15 ultimate team coins a 12–4 record and won their division championship, but they lost their playoff game to the Rams, 19–13, in over- time. The Rams, wild-card qualifiers, had earlier beaten the Eagles behind the passing of Jim Everett. In this game, in which the Giants were favored, Everett passed for over three hundred yards and completed twenty-five of forty-four attempts, including the winning touchdown pass in overtime. The Rams then lost to the 49ers, who went on to win the Super Bowl for the second year in a row