1970 New York Giants season

1970 New York Giants season
Head coach	Alex Webster
Home field	Yankee Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1970 New York Giants was the 46th season for the professional American football franchise. 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, missing 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 a pair of stinkers to two of the NFL's bottom feeders. The first was a 14–10 loss at New Orleans in week three; 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 Eagles were barely better at 3–10–1.

This would be 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 shown in a 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 games, as shown by the fact that in all their wins, they had a hundred or more rushing yards. 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 tound 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	Claude Brumfield	Guard	Tennessee State
6	142	Duane Miller	Wide receiver	Drake
9	221	Pat Hughes	Center	Boston University
10	246	Matt Fortier	Defensive end	Fairmont State
11	273	Alan Pitcaithley	Running back	Oregon
12	298	Larry Nels	Linebacker	Wyoming
13	325	Gary Inskeep	Tackle	Wisconsin–Stout
14	350	Rodney Brand	Center	Arkansas
15	377	Warren Muir	Running back	South Carolina
16	402	Vic Nolting	Defensive back	Xavier
17	429	Walter Breaux	Defensive tackle	Grambling

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	1970-09-19	Chicago Bears	L 24–16	Yankee Stadium	62,936
2	1970-09-27	at Dallas Cowboys	L 28–10	Cotton Bowl	57,236
3	1970-10-04	at New Orleans Saints	L 14–10	Tulane Stadium	69,126
4	1970-10-11	Philadelphia Eagles	W 30–23	Yankee Stadium	62,820
5	1970-10-18	at Boston Patriots	W 16–0	Harvard Stadium	39,091
6	1970-10-25	St. Louis Cardinals	W 35–17	Yankee Stadium	62,984
7	1970-11-01	at New York Jets	W 22–10	Shea Stadium	63,903
8	1970-11-08	Dallas Cowboys	W 23–20	Yankee Stadium	62,938
9	1970-11-15	Washington Redskins	W 35–33	Yankee Stadium	62,915
10	1970-11-23	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 23–20	Franklin Field	59,117
11	1970-11-29	at Washington Redskins	W 27–24	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	50,415
12	1970-12-06	Buffalo Bills	W 20–6	Yankee Stadium	62,870
13	1970-12-13	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–17	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,845
14	1970-12-20	Los Angeles Rams	L 31–3	Yankee Stadium	62,870

Standings

NFC East
	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.

References

↑ "1970 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
↑ "1970 New York Giants". Database Football. Retrieved 2008-03-12.

New York Giants

Founded in 1925 Based and headquartered in East Rutherford, New Jersey

Franchise	Franchise Seasons Coaches First-round draft picks Quarterbacks

History	1925–78 1979–93 1994–present Financial history

Stadiums	Polo Grounds Yankee Stadium Yale Bowl Shea Stadium Giants Stadium MetLife Stadium

Culture and Lore	Cleveland Bulldogs The Duke Sneakers Game The Greatest Game Ever Played The Fumble Crunch Bunch Gatorade shower Big Blue Wrecking Crew I'm going to Disney World! Wide Right Little Giants This team is going to the playoffs! One Wild Finish New York Groove We Fly High The Helmet Catch Bob Sheppard Jim Hall Yankee Stadium Legacy License Plate Guy The Comeback 2007 New England Patriots–New York Giants game Big Fan

Rivalries	Philadelphia Eagles Dallas Cowboys Washington Redskins San Francisco 49ers New York Jets

Key personnel	Owners: John Mara, Steve Tisch General Manager: Jerry Reese Head Coach: Ben McAdoo

Division championships (16)	1933 1934 1935 1938 1939 1941 1941 1944 1946 1986 1989 1990 1997 2000 2005 2008 2011

Conference championships (11)	1956 1958 1959 1961 1962 1963 1986 1990 2000 2007 2011

League championships (8)	1927 1934 1938 1956 1986 (XXI) 1990 (XXV) 2007 (XLII) 2011 (XLVI)

Retired numbers	1 4 7 11 14 14 16 32 40 42 50 56

Ring of Honor	Jessie Armstead Carl Banks Tiki Barber Mark Bavaro Al Blozis Rosey Brown Harry Carson Charlie Conerly Frank Gifford Pete Gogolak Mel Hein Jim Lee Howell Sam Huff Dave Jennings Tuffy Leemans Dick Lynch Jack Mara Tim Mara Wellington Mara George Martin Joe Morrison Charlie Conerly Steve Owen Bill Parcells Andy Robustelli Phil Simms Michael Strahan Ken Strong Lawrence Taylor Bob Tisch Y. A. Tittle Amani Toomer Emlen Tunnell Brad Van Pelt Alex Webster George Young

Media	Radio network Bob Papa Carl Banks Howard Cross

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division

Seasons (91)	1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1941 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

New York Giants seasons

1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1970 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Boston	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Buffalo	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
Miami	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets			Washington

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