1970 New York Giants season

NFL sports team season August 2023 March 2026 1970-giants-mediaguide.jpg New York Giants 1970 Alex Webster Wellington Mara Yankee Stadium 9–5 2nd NFC East Did not qualify QB Fran TarkentonRB Ron Johnson Giants seasons The 1970 New York Giants season was the franchise's 46th season in the NFL. This was the first season for the Giants after the AFL–NFL merger, in which ten American Football League teams joined the NFL. The team was led by second-year head coach Alex Webster. The Giants finished the season 9–5 for their first winning season since 1963, but they missed the playoffs after 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 also finished 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 losses to two of the NFL's weakest 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 during their season 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 (the first Giant to rush for 1,000 yards in a season; 1,027), and the leading receiver was Clifton McNeil.https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/1970.htm?redir 1970 New York Giants Pro Football Reference 2008-03-12 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 the team which finished the season with the league's worst record. The team leader in interceptions for the Giants was Willie Williams, who had six 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 tackles Bob Lurtsema and Jerry Shay. 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. Draft 1970 NFL draft 1970 New York Giants 1 13 Jim Files LB Oklahoma yes 4 97 Wes Grant DE UCLA 5 117 Claude Brumfield OG Tennessee St 6 142 Duane Miller WR Drake 9 221 Pat Hughes C Boston 10 246 Matt Fortier DE Fairmont St 11 273 Alan Pitcaithley RB Oregon 12 298 Larry Nels LB Wyoming 13 325 Gary Inskeep OT Wisconsin–Stout 14 350 Rodney Brand C Arkansas 15 377 Warren Muir RB South Carolina 16 402 Vic Notling DB Xavier 17 429 Walter Breaux DT Grambling http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=NYG&yr=1970&lg=nfl 1970 New York Giants Database Football 2008-03-12 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20080411133624/http://databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=NYG&lg=nfl&yr=1970 2008-04-11 Undrafted free agents + 1970 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBob ConnorsDefensive backNortheastern Roster 1970 New York Giants 11 Dick Shiner 10 Fran Tarkenton 28 Bobby Duhon 24 Tucker Frederickson 30 Ron Johnson running back 40 Joe Morrison 23 Ernie Koy Jr. P 34 Les Shy 85 Don Herrmann 84 Rich Houston 18 Clifton McNeil 88 Aaron Thomas American football 38 Bob Tucker American football 77 Rich Buzin T 65 Pete Case G 61 Charlie Harper American football G 56 Pat Hughes American football y C 53 Greg Larson C 63 Doug Van Horn G 69 Willie Young offensive tackle, born 1943 T 72 John Baker defensive lineman, born 1942 DE 74 Dennis Crane DT 89 Fred Dryer DE 73 Jim Kanicki DT 71 Bob Lurtsema DE 75 Jerry Shay DT 51 John Douglas linebacker OLB 58 Jim Files y MLB 64 Matt Hazeltine OLB 55 Ralph Heck OLB 52 John Kirby American football OLB 21 Otto Brown FS 20 Scott Eaton American football CB 33 Joe Green American football y CB/S 43 Spider Lockhart FS 44 Tom Longo SS 41 Willie Williams cornerback, born 1941 CB 26 Kenny Parker CB  3 Pete Gogolak K 36 Bill Johnson punter P 34 Junior Coffey RB IR -- Wes Grant y DE IR 60 Willie Banks American football T 19 Ed Baker quarterback y QB 87 Rich Kotite TE -- Vernon Vanoy y DT Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 19, 1970 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, 1970 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 Season summary Week 1 vs Bears New York Giants 1970 2; text-align:center collapsed Week One: Chicago Bears (0–0) at New York Giants (0–0) September 19 8:00 p.m. EDT Bears 7 3 7 7 Giants 10 3 0 3 Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York Clear, 71 F C Fred Silva WBBM Brent Musburger and Jerry Kramer Box Score First quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 25-yard field goal. Giants 3–0. CHI – Cecil Turner 95-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick). Bears 7–3. NYG – Ron Johnson 12-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick). Giants 10–7. Second quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 20-yard field goal. Giants 13–7. CHI – Mac Percival 28-yard field goal. Giants 13–10. Third quarter CHI – Jack Concannon 1-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 17–13. Fourth quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 45-yard field goal. Bears 17–16. CHI – Dick Gordon 19-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick). Bears 24–16. Top passers CHI – Jack Concannon – 15/29, 148 yards, TD, INT NYG – Fran Tarkenton – 23/39, 277 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers CHI – Gale Sayers – 17 rushes, 43 yards NYG – Ron Johnson – 13 rushes, 24 yards, TD Top receivers CHI – Bob Wallace – 6 receptions, 82 yards NYG – Ron Johnson – 8 receptions, 85 yards, TD See also List of New York Giants seasons References External links 1970 New York Giants at Pro Football Reference 1970 New York Giants at jt-sw.com New York Giants Category:New York Giants seasons New York Giants Category:1970s in the Bronx Category:Events at Yankee Stadium