Nov. 3, 1963 - The Giants defeated the Cardinals in St. Louis today, 38-21. A crowd of near capacity proportions, 29,482, came to the game, which was considered by local adherents as a golden opportunity for the home team to grow up in the NFL and change their identity from a loser to a contender. The Giants, who have been winners for a long time, destroyed such hopes early in the proceedings by scoring three touchdowns in the second period. The victory broke a tie for second place between these two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Giants now possessing exclusive status of that position, one game behind the Browns. Giant quarterback Y.A. Tittle gave the Cardinals his full repertory: the slant, the draw, the sweep, the sideline pass, the screen, and after all those things worked, he went to the bomb. In the third period Tittle threw a 40-yard touchdown pass — a bomb — to Del Shofner, which made the score, following the successful conversion, 31-7, in favor of the Giants. Earlier in the game, Dick Lynch made a key interception on the Giants 2 when the Cardinals were threatening, and Tittle then took the team 98 yards to a score, the play being a 41-yard pitch to Frank Gifford (pictured), who made an outstanding, tumbling catch in the end zone. “We had to try the long pass strategy,” said Giant coach Allie Sherman afterward. “The Cardinals play very tight and tough on defense, and we had to loosen them up. Tittle did a fine job.” Cardinal coach Wally Lemm also had praise for Y.A. “He has wonderful poise,” said Lemm. “Any other quarterback, under the pressure we put on Tittle, would have had to eat the ball or throw it away, but Tittle completes passes under those conditions. He put the ball where it had to be.” Tittle said the Cardinal defense was “tough, although I had plenty of pass protection. Give all the credit to the receivers. When you get guys like Gifford, Shofner, and Aaron Thomas catching, all you have to do is throw the ball at them. I was just feeling my way on short passes for the first quarter, trying to find out how the Cardinals would react. Then in the second, I found I could go for the long one, and I did.”
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