1970 New York Giants season

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1970 New York Giants season
Head coachAlex Webster
Home fieldYankee Stadium
Results
Record9–5
Division place2nd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

The 1970 New York Giants season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League. This was the first season for the Giants after the AFL–NFL merger, in which ten American Football League teams joined the National Football League. The team was led by second-year head coach Alex Webster. The Giants finished the season 9–5 for their first winning season in 7 years (1963), but they missed the playoffs by losing their season finale against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 31–3. The Giants finished second in the NFC East, a game behind the Dallas Cowboys. They were also only one game out of a wild-card playoff spot, won by the Detroit Lions.

Probably more damaging to the Giants' playoff hopes than the loss to the Rams were two devastating losses to two of the NFL's worst teams:

  • The first was a 14–10 loss at New Orleans in week three. The Giants were the victims of a blown call by head linesman Bruce Finlayson, who ruled tight end Aaron Thomas to be out of bounds on what would have been a game-winning touchdown pass from Fran Tarkenton in the closing minutes. Replays showed Thomas had both feet down in bounds with control of the ball. The Saints' only other win of 1970 came five weeks later when Tom Dempsey kicked a then-NFL record 63-yard field goal for a 19-17 decision over the Detroit Lions, ironically the team that beat out the Giants for the final playoff spot in the NFC.
  • The second was a 23–20 setback at Philadelphia on Monday Night Football in week 10, the Giants' only setback in a 10-week stretch following the loss to the Saints. The game at Franklin Field was more memorable for the antics in the broadcast booth, where Howard Cosell vomited on Don Meredith's cowboy boots. Cosell took a taxi back to the hotel at halftime, leaving Meredith to finish the game with Keith Jackson.

The Saints finished with the NFL's second-worst record at 2–11–1 (the Giants beat the NFL's worst team of 1970, the 2–12 Boston Patriots); the Eagles were barely better at 3–10–1. The Giants also lost at home to the 6-8 Chicago Bears.

This was the closest the Giants came to qualifying for the playoffs in the 1970s. The franchise enjoyed only one other winning season in the decade, going 8–6 in 1972. Big Blue did not return to the playoffs until 1981, ending a drought which dated back to the 1963 NFL Championship.

Offense[]

The 1970 Giants offense was led by Pro Bowl performers, quarterback Fran Tarkenton, and running back Ron Johnson. The team was in the top ten in several offensive categories including points, yards, and first downs. The team had over one hundred rushing yards in eleven of its fourteen games, including 202 yards in a week eight win against the Dallas Cowboys. The offense struggled when the team failed to run the ball well, as in the week fourteen loss to the Los Angeles Rams in which the Giants rushed for only 50 yards. When the team was able to run the ball and play defense they were able to win. In all their wins, they had at least 100 yards rushing. The leading passer was Fran Tarkenton, the leading rusher was Ron Johnson, and the leading receiver was Clifton McNeil.[1]

Defense[]

The best defensive game by far for the Giants was the shutout of the Boston Patriots (2–12) in a week 5 victory. In that game, the Giants allowed only 155 total offensive yards against one of the weakest teams in the league. The team leader in interceptions for the Giants was Willie Williams, who had 6 interceptions for 114 total interception yards.

The backbone of New York's defense was a stout front four featuring ends Fred Dryer and Jim Kanicki and tackle Bob Lurtsema. Williams was part of a solid secondary which also included Tom Longo, Scott Eaton and Spider Lockhart. First round draft pick Jim Files moved in at the starting middle linebacker spot for the departed Henry Davis, who moved on to Pittsburgh.

Special teams[]

The kicker for the Giants that season was Pete Gogolak. Gogolak was a perfect 32 of 32 in extra points but hit only 25 of 41 field goals attempted on the year, with his longest being a kick of 54 yards in week eight vs. the Cowboys, a kick which came on the same day Tom Dempsey set an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal for the Saints vs. the Lions, and 43-year-old George Blanda hit a 53-yard field goal at the gun to lift Oakland over Cleveland 23–20.

Bill Johnson and Ernie Koy shared punting duties for the Giants, and each was average for the position. Bobby Duhon and Les Shy were the main kick and punt returners, though neither returned a kick for a touchdown.

1970 NFL Draft[]

This is a list of draft picks, taken by the Giants in the 1970 NFL Draft. This list includes the round taken, school, and position of the player selected.[2]

Round Pick Player Position College
1 13 Jim Files Linebacker Oklahoma
4 97 Wes Grant Defensive end UCLA
5 117 Guard Tennessee State
6 142 Duane Miller Wide receiver Drake
9 221 Pat Hughes Center Boston University
10 246 Defensive end Fairmont State
11 273 Running back Oregon
12 298 Linebacker Wyoming
13 325 Gary Inskeep Tackle Wisconsin–Stout
14 350 Rodney Brand Center Arkansas
15 377 Running back South Carolina
16 402 Defensive back Xavier
17 429 Defensive tackle Grambling

Roster[]

1970 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks
  • 19 Ed Baker
  • 11 Dick Shiner
  • 10 Fran Tarkenton

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 19 Chicago Bears L 16–24 0–1 Yankee Stadium 62,936
2 September 27 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–28 0–2 Cotton Bowl 57,236
3 October 4 at New Orleans Saints L 10–14 0–3 Tulane Stadium 69,126
4 October 11 Philadelphia Eagles W 30–23 1–3 Yankee Stadium 62,820
5 October 18 at Boston Patriots W 16–0 2–3 Harvard Stadium 39,091
6 October 25 St. Louis Cardinals W 35–17 3–3 Yankee Stadium 62,984
7 November 1 at New York Jets W 22–10 4–3 Shea Stadium 63,903
8 November 8 Dallas Cowboys W 23–20 5–3 Yankee Stadium 62,938
9 November 15 Washington Redskins W 35–33 6–3 Yankee Stadium 62,915
10 November 23 at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–23 6–4 Franklin Field 59,117
11 November 29 at Washington Redskins W 27–24 7–4 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 50,415
12 December 6 Buffalo Bills W 20–6 8–4 Yankee Stadium 62,870
13 December 13 at St. Louis Cardinals W 34–17 9–4 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,845
14 December 20 Los Angeles Rams L 3–31 9–5 Yankee Stadium 62,870

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings[]

NFC East
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys 10 4 0 .714 5–3 7–4 299 221 W5
New York Giants 9 5 0 .643 6–2 6–5 301 270 L1
St. Louis Cardinals 8 5 1 .615 5–3 6–5 325 228 L3
Washington Redskins 6 8 0 .429 3–5 4–7 297 314 W2
Philadelphia Eagles 3 10 1 .231 1–7 1–9–1 241 332 W1

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

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "1970 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  2. ^ "1970 New York Giants". Database Football. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
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