Blowing out the Candle: On Monday night, the San Francisco 49ers defeated Atlanta 34-24 in the final regular-season game at Candlestick Park. San Francisco will move to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California next season. The 49ers have called Candlestick home since 1971 and Monday marked the 36th time the stadium has hosted Monday Night Football, the most of any stadium in NFL history. The NFL stadiums to host the most Monday Night Football Games in NFL history: Candlestick Park – 36 Sun Life Stadium – 32 Giants Stadium – 30 Texas Stadium – 28 Soldier Field – 25 Qualcomm Stadium – 25 John Fennelly, Lead Writer The football Giants played at Candlestick 18 times (7 wins, 11 losses), including five playoff games (2-3) and four on Monday nights (1-3). Highs include two NFC Championship Game victories (1991, 2012) and two memorable MNF games: a 21-17 win on 12/1/86 in which TE Mark Bavaro carried what seemed to be the entire 49er secondary on his back; and a 7-3 loss on 12/3/90 in what has to be one of the physical battles in NFL history. That game, if you recall, ended with an on-field confrontation between Phil Simms and SF safety Ronnie Lott. Lows include a devastating 44-3 playoff loss in 1994, which also happened to be the final game of both Simms’ and Lawrence Taylor’s careers. The other was the complete collapse in a 1/5/03 Wildcard game where the Giants lost a 24 point lead in the last quarter and a half. Source: Continue reading...
