# 1982 New York Giants season

The 1982 New York Giants season was the franchise's 58th season in the National Football League, but was shortened to nine games due to the 1982 NFL Players Strike.
The season saw the Giants attempting to improve on a 9–7 record from 1981, a season in which they had made the playoffs for the first time since 1963 and also clinched their first winning record since 1972. However, the Giants stumbled out the gates early, starting 0–2 before the strike occurred. After the strike ended, the Giants won four of their last seven games, but missed the playoffs because of losing two tiebreakers against the Saints and the Lions (who both ended with identical 4–5 records). The Giants lost the tiebreakers based on best conference record. The Lions went 4–4 against NFC teams, while the Giants and Saints both went 3–5 against NFC teams. The Lions won the tiebreaker over the Saints, thus eliminating the Saints and Giants from playoff contention and putting the Lions into the playoffs as the final wild card spot in the NFC. This was the nineteenth season out of the last twenty that the Giants missed the playoffs.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 18 | Butch Woolfolk | Running back | University of Michigan |
| 2 | 45 | Joe Morris | Running back | Syracuse University |
| 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | 102 | Gerry Raymond | Guard | Boston College |
| 5 | 129 | Rich Umphrey | Center | Colorado |
| 6 | 156 | Darrell Nicholson | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 7 | 186 | Jeff Wiska | Guard | Michigan State |
| 8 | 213 | Robert Hubble | Tight end | Rice |
| 9 | 240 | John Higgins | Defensive back | UNLV |
| 10 | 270 | Rich Baldinger | Tackle | Wake Forest |
| 11 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | 323 | Mark Seale | Defensive tackle | Richmond |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 12 | Atlanta Falcons | L 14–16 | 0–1 | Giants Stadium | 74,286 | Recap |
| 2 | September 20 | Green Bay Packers | L 19–27 | 0–2 | Giants Stadium | 68,405 | Recap |
| 3 | — | at Pittsburgh Steelers | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 4 | — | at Dallas Cowboys | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 5 | — | St. Louis Cardinals | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 6 | — | Cincinnati Bengals | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 7 | — | at Philadelphia Eagles | Rescheduled to January 2 | Rescheduled to January 2 | Rescheduled to January 2 | Rescheduled to January 2 | Rescheduled to January 2 |
| 8 | — | Dallas Cowboys | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 9 | — | at Cleveland Browns | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 10 | — | at Los Angeles Rams | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike | Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike |
| 11 | November 21 | Washington Redskins | L 17–27 | 0–3 | Giants Stadium | 70,766 | Recap |
| 12 | November 25 | at Detroit Lions | W 13–6 | 1–3 | Pontiac Silverdome | 64,348 | Recap |
| 13 | December 5 | Houston Oilers | W 17–14 | 2–3 | Giants Stadium | 71,184 | Recap |
| 14 | December 11 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 23–7 | 3–3 | Giants Stadium | 66,053 | Recap |
| 15 | December 19 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–15 | 3–4 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | 50,030 | Recap |
| 16 | December 26 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 21–24 | 3–5 | Busch Stadium | 39,824 | Recap |
| 17 | January 2 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 26–24 | 4–5 | Veterans Stadium | 55,797 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Washington Redskins$^{(1)}$ | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 6–1 | 8–1 | 190 | 128 | W4 |
| Dallas Cowboys$^{(2)}$ | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 226 | 145 | L2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals$^{(6)}$ | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3–1 | 5–4 | 135 | 170 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 2–3 | 3–5 | 164 | 160 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 191 | 195 | L1 |
NFCvte :
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| Seeded postseason qualifiers |||||||||
| 1 | Washington Redskins | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 190 | 128 | W4 |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 226 | 145 | L2 |
| 3 | Green Bay Packers | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | 226 | 169 | L1 |
| 4 | Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 187 | 198 | W1 |
| 5 | Atlanta Falcons | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 183 | 199 | L2 |
| 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 135 | 170 | L1 |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 158 | 178 | W3 |
| 8 | Detroit Lions | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 181 | 176 | W1 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason |||||||||
| 9 | New Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 129 | 160 | W1 |
| 10 | New York Giants | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 164 | 160 | W1 |
| 11 | San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 209 | 206 | L1 |
| 12 | Chicago Bears | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 141 | 174 | L1 |
| 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 191 | 195 | L1 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 200 | 250 | W1 |
| Tiebreakers |||||||||
| 1 2 3 4 Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. 1 2 3 Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). 1 2 3 San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5). |||||||||

## Season summary
### Week 12 at Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Lions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
* Date: November 25, 1982
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 46-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive:
Second quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 44-yard field goal. Lions 6–0. Drive:
Third quarter
NYG – Joe Danelo 34-yard field goal. Lions 6–3. Drive:
NYG – Joe Danelo 40-yard field goal. Tie 6–6. Drive:
Fourth quarter
NYG – Lawrence Taylor 97-yard interception return (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 13–7.
Top passers
NYG – Scott Brunner – 12/28, 136 yards, 2 INT
DET – Gary Danielson – 12/19, 125 yards, 3 INT
Top rushers
NYG – Butch Woolfolk – 21 rushes, 87 yards
DET – Billy Sims – 26 rushes, 114 yards
Top receivers
NYG – Johnny Perkins – 5 receptions, 80 yards
DET – Mark Nichols – 3 receptions, 49 yards :

### Week 14 vs Eagles

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Giants | 3 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: December 11
* Game time: 12:30 p.m.
* Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C)
* Game attendance: 66,053
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck play-by-play, Hank Stram color commentator
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
NYG – Joe Danelo 37-yard field goal. Giants 3–0. Drive:
PHI – Harold Carmichael 23-yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Tony Franklin kick). Eagles 7–3. Drive:
Second quarter
NYG – Butch Woolfolk 5-yard pass from Scott Brunner (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 10–7. Drive:
NYG – Earnest Gray 16-yard pass from Scott Brunner (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 17–7. Drive:
Third quarter
NYG – Joe Danelo 34-yard field goal. Giants 20–7. Drive:
Fourth quarter
NYG – Joe Danelo 29-yard field goal. Giants 23–7. Drive:
Top passers
PHI – Ron Jaworski – 17/29, 218 yards, TD, INT
NYG – Scott Brunner – 17/26, 272 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
PHI – Wilbert Montgomery – 7 rushes, 23 yards
NYG – Rob Carpenter – 26 rushes, 58 yards
Top receivers
PHI – Harold Carmichael – 4 receptions, 57 yards, TD
NYG – Floyd Eddings – 5 receptions, 148 yards :

### Week 17 at Eagles

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 3 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 26 |
| Eagles | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: January 2, 1983
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C)
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall play-by-play, John Madden color commentator
* Box Score
Ray Perkins last game as Giants head coach