1970 New York Giants season
The 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 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. 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. Schedule. Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.