One touchdown away at the Polo Grounds.

Eight wins, one loss, one tie. Five shutouts. If you grew up on stories about Giants defense, the 1944 season gives you plenty to recognize.

The war was still going on. Arnie Herber had come out of retirement to play for New York, and now the championship put him against his former team, Green Bay.

The Giants had earned a title game at the Polo Grounds. They would have to find enough offense to go with the defense that brought them there.

A chance through the fourth quarter.

Ted Fritsch scored both Green Bay touchdowns before halftime. The Giants trailed 14–0 and held the Packers scoreless the rest of the way.

Ward Cuff scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Fourteen to seven. There was the opening, with the game still close enough to imagine one more drive changing everything.

Joe Laws intercepted three passes and helped Green Bay hold onto the lead.

I look at that finish and think about the particular strain of a one-score game. You keep turning it over in your mind. The defense gets another stop and you start trying to see the touchdown before it happens.

For these Giants, the last chance passed. A defense that had spent the season keeping teams off the scoreboard had helped carry them all the way to the final. They finished one touchdown short of another championship.

That is worth remembering on its own terms. Those five shutouts were real. So was how close they came.