1978 New York Giants season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New York Giants 1978 6–10 5th NFC East John McVay Wellington Mara Giants Stadium Did not qualify LB Brad van PeltLB Harry CarsonP Dave Jennings Giants seasons The 1978 New York Giants season was the franchise's 54th season in the National Football League. In their first ever season that had a sixteen-game schedule, the Giants looked to improve on their 5–9 record from 1977. The season saw the Giants get off to a hot start. They beat newcomer Tampa Bay in Tampa 19–13, despite being a 1 point underdog. After a close loss to the rival Cowboys 34–24 the next week, the Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs 26–10 and the San Francisco 49ers 27–10 to start the season 3–1, their first 3–1 start since 1969. However, the Giants then started to struggle, losing to the Atlanta Falcons 23–20 and the Cowboys again 24–3. Following wins at home against the Buccaneers and Redskins, the Giants went on a downfall, which saw them lose their next 6 games and 7 of their last 8. In week 12, the Giants played their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a crucial game that saw the Giants fumble away the game on Joe Pisarcik’s fumble and Herm Edwards fumble recovery for a touchdown that won the game for Philadelphia, 19–17. The play was dubbed the Miracle at the Meadowlands. The Giants never recovered from this game, getting pummeled on the road to the Bills, 41–17, despite having a 10 point lead in the 3rd quarter. In their final game, a rematch with Philadelphia, the Giants lost 20–3 to end the season 6–10. Offseason Draft 1978 NFL draft 1978 New York Giants 1 10 Gordon King OT Stanford yes 2 37 Odis McKinney DB Colorado yes 4 90 Billy Taylor RB Texas Tech yes 5 120 Terry Jackson DB San Diego St yes 5 132 Jim Krahl DT Texas Tech yes 5 137 Brian DeRoo WR Redlands 6 147 Randy Pass OG Georgia Tech 7 174 Dan Doornink RB Washington St yes 8 201 Jeff Grady LB Florida A&M 9 232 Bill Swiacki TE Amherst 10 253 Greg Jorgensen OG Nebraska 11 286 Dennis Helm DT SW Missouri St 12 313 Greg Lawson RB Western Illinois The Football Database. Retrieved 2016-Nov-01. Roster 1978 New York Giants 17 Fred Besana 15 Randy Dean 12 Jerry Golsteyn  9 Joe Pisarcik 39 Larry Csonka 35 Dan Doornink y 33 Bobby Hammond 44 Doug Kotar 31 Willie Spencer 38 Billy Taylor running back, born 1956 y 80 Emery Moorehead 86 Johnny Perkins 82 Ernie Pough 85 Jimmy Robinson American football 84 Al Dixon 87 Gary Shirk 73 Bill Bain American football T 60 Brad Benson T 56 Jim Clack C 71 Gordon Gravelle T 76 Jim Pietrzak T 52 Leo Tierney C 68 J. T. Turner G 63 Doug Van Horn G 77 Troy Archer DT 79 Larry Gillard y DT 81 Jack Gregory defensive end DE 74 Jim Krahl y DT 75 George Martin American football DE 64 John Mendenhall American football DT 53 Harry Carson MLB 59 Randy Coffield OLB 55 Brian Kelley American football OLB 54 Dan Lloyd American football OLB 51 Frank Marion American football OLB 57 John Skorupan MLB 10 Brad Van Pelt OLB 24 Terry Jackson cornerback y CB 31 Ernie Jones defensive back FS 34 Larry Mallory SS 23 Odis McKinney y CB/S 22 Ray Rhodes CB 25 Maurice Tyler FS 18 Joe Danelo K 13 Dave Jennings American football P 28 Beasley Reece S IR -- Brian DeRoo y WR IR 70 Gary Jeter DT IR 72 Gordon King American football y T IR 36 Alvin Maxson RB IR 62 Ron Mikolajczyk T IR 89 James Thompson American football y WR IR Regular season The Miracle at the Meadowlands The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978 NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no timeouts left. Everyone watching expected quarterback Joe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullback Larry Csonka and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score. Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 2 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 19–13 1–0 67,456 2 September 10 Dallas Cowboys L 24–34 1–1 73,265 3 September 17 Kansas City Chiefs W 26–10 2–1 70,546 4 September 24 San Francisco 49ers W 27–10 3–1 71,536 5 October 1 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–23 3–2 47,765 6 October 8 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–24 3–3 63,420 7 October 15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–14 4–3 68,025 8 October 22 Washington Redskins W 17–6 5–3 76,192 9 October 29 at New Orleans Saints L 17–28 5–4 59,807 10 November 5 at St. Louis Cardinals L 10–20 5–5 48,820 11 November 12 at Washington Redskins L 13–16 5–6 53,271 12 November 19 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–19 5–7 70,318 13 November 26 at Buffalo Bills L 17–41 5–8 28,496 14 December 3 Los Angeles Rams L 17–20 5–9 62,629 15 December 10 St. Louis Cardinals W 17–0 6–9 52,226 16 December 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 3–20 6–10 56,396 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 4 Television Network: CBS Announcers: Don Criqui and Tom Matte Joe Pisarcik threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Al Dixon early in the game and Bobby Hammond set up two other touchdowns with long runs as the Giants are so far surprising the football world with a 3-1 record with a win over winless San Francsico. New York's Larry Csonka became the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 7,000 yards and he himself scored a 1-yard touchdown run in period 1 while Willie Spencer of the Giants scored a 1-yard touchdown run in period 3 while Joe Danelo kicked two field goals of 28 and 52 yards to provide the Giants scoring that day. Week 12 Miracle at the Meadowlands 1978 Philadelphia Eagles season Eagles–Giants rivalry New York Giants 1978 2;text-align:center; autocollapse Philadelphia Eagles (6–5) at New York Giants (5–6) November 19 1:00 p.m. EST Eagles 0 6 0 13 Giants 14 0 3 0 Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, New Jersey 49 F • Wind 14 mph on 70,318 Cal Lepore Pro-Football-Reference.com Eagles Ron Jaworski15/31, 164 Yds, 3 INT Wilbert Montgomery22 Rush, 88 Yds, TD Harold Carmichael5 Rec, 105 Yds Giants Joe Pisarcik13/24, 181 Yds, 2 TD, INT Doug Kotar13 Rush, 36 Yds Jim Robinson4 Rec, 73 Yds PHI NYG collapsed 1 Giants RecTD Hammond Pisarcik 19 good Danelo run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 7 1 Giants RecTD Perkins Pisarcik 30 good Danelo run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 14 2 Eagles RushTD Montgomery 8 no good run/pass good/failed/incomplete 6 14 3 Giants FG 37 Danelo 6 17 4 Eagles RushTD Hogan 1 no good run/pass good/failed/incomplete 12 17 4 0:20 Eagles FumbleTD Herm Edwards 26 good Michel run/pass good/failed/incomplete 19 17 19 17 Week 13 New York Giants 1978 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Thirteen: New York Giants (5–7) at Buffalo Bills (3–9) November 26, 1978 1:00 p.m. EDT Giants 7 3 7 0 Bills 7 0 7 27 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 28,496 23 F C Red Cashion CBS Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier Box Score First quarter NYG – Al Dixon 31-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 7–0. BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Tie 7–7. Second quarter NYG – Joe Danelo 27-yard field goal. Giants 10–7. Third quarter NYG – Doug Kotar 19-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 17–7. BUF – Roland Hooks 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Giants 17–14. Fourth quarter BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 21–17. BUF – Lou Piccone 9-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 28–17. BUF – Terry Miller 39-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 35–17. BUF – Terry Miller 13-yard run (kick failed). Bills 41–17. Top passers NYG – Joe Pisarcik – 15/24, 230 yards, 2 TD, INT BUF – Joe Ferguson – 9/15, 106 yards, TD, INT Top rushers NYG – Bobby Hammond – 15 rushes, 60 yards BUF – Terry Miller – 21 rushes, 208 yards, 2 TD Top receivers NYG – Al Dixon – 2 receptions, 78 yards, TD BUF – Bob Chandler – 5 receptions, 75 yards Standings See also List of New York Giants seasons References External links New York Giants at Pro-Football-Reference.com Giants at jt-sw.com Category:New York Giants seasons New York Giants New York Giants Category:20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Category:Meadowlands Sports Complex