1974 New York Giants season

Summary

The 1974 New York Giants season was the franchise's 50th season in the National Football League. The Giants finished in last place in the National Football Conference East Division with a 2–12 record, the team's worst since 1966.[1][2]

1974 New York Giants season
OwnerTimothy J. Mara,
Wellington Mara
Head coachBill Arnsparger
Home fieldYale Bowl
Results
Record2–12
Division place5th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

The Giants’ home venue in 1974 was the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut,[3] and they were winless at home in seven games. They won only one of twelve games at the Yale Bowl in 1973 and 1974. The Giants played at Shea Stadium in Queens in 1975 and opened Giants Stadium in New Jersey in October 1976.[3][4]

The 1974 Giants hold the distinction of being the first team to lose a regular season game in overtime.[5] In week nine, the 2–6 Giants welcomed the cross-town rival Jets to the Yale Bowl. With the Giants leading 20–13 in the fourth quarter, Joe Namath faked a handoff to Emerson Boozer, then ran into the end zone for a touchdown which tied the score at 20–20, forcing overtime;[6] previously, a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos had ended in a 35–35 tie.[5] The Giants were denied a game-winning score when Pete Gogolak missed a 42-yard field goal attempt, despite protests from Gogolak that he had made the kick. The Jets subsequently won 26–20 on a five-yard pass from Namath to Boozer after 6:53 of play in the extra period.[6]

Offseason edit

Draft edit

1974 New York Giants draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 3 John Hicks  Guard Ohio State
2 28 Tom Mullen  Guard Southwest Missouri State
3 55 Rick Dvorak  Defensive tackle Wichita State
4 80 Carl Summerell  Quarterback East Carolina
5 107 Don Clune  Wide receiver Penn
5 119 Clyde Powers  Defensive back Oklahoma
6 132 Jim Pietrzak  Center Eastern Michigan
7 159 Marty Woolbright  Tight end South Carolina
8 184 Ezil Bibbs  Defensive end Grambling State
9 211 Jim Rathje  Running back Northern Michigan
10 236 Ray Rhodes  Defensive back Tulsa
11 263 Bobby Brooks  Defensive back Bishop
12 288 Jimmy Sims  Linebacker USC
13 315 Dennis Colvin  Tackle Southwest Texas State
14 340 Mike Hayes  Tackle Virginia State
15 367 Larry Jones  Wingback Northeast Missouri State
16 392 Buddy Brown  Guard Alabama Signed with Birmingham Americans (WFL)
17 419 Steve Crosby  Running back Fort Hays State
      Made roster  

[7]

Roster edit

1974 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule edit

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 15 Washington Redskins L 10–13 0–1 Yale Bowl 49,849 Recap
2 September 22 New England Patriots L 20–28 0–2 Yale Bowl 44,082 Recap
3 September 29 at Dallas Cowboys W 14–6 1–2 Texas Stadium 45,841 Recap
4 October 6 Atlanta Falcons L 7–14 1–3 Yale Bowl 42,379 Recap
5 October 13 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–35 1–4 Veterans Stadium 64,801 Recap
6 October 20 at Washington Redskins L 3–24 1–5 RFK Stadium 53,879 Recap
7 October 27 Dallas Cowboys L 7–21 1–6 Yale Bowl 57,381 Recap
8 November 3 at Kansas City Chiefs W 33–27 2–6 Arrowhead Stadium 61,437 Recap
9 November 10 New York Jets L 20–26 (OT) 2–7 Yale Bowl 64,327 Recap
10 November 17 at Detroit Lions L 19–20 2–8 Tiger Stadium 40,431 Recap
11 November 24 St. Louis Cardinals L 21–23 2–9 Yale Bowl 40,615 Recap
12 December 1 at Chicago Bears L 13–16 2–10 Soldier Field 18,802 Recap
13 December 8 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–20 2–11 Yale Bowl 21,170 Recap
14 December 15 at St. Louis Cardinals L 14–26 2–12 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,414 Recap
  • Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries edit

Week 3 at Cowboys edit

New York Giants (1–1) at Dallas Cowboys (1–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 14 0014
Cowboys 0 0 066

at Texas StadiumIrving, Texas

  • Date: September 29
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C) • Wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
  • Game attendance: 45,841[8]
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 9 vs Jets edit

Week Nine: New York Jets (1–7) at New York Giants (2–6)
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Jets 7 3 37626
Giants 3 10 70020

at Yale Bowl, New Haven, Connecticut

  • Date: November 10, 1974
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C)
  • Game attendance: 64,327[9]
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 11 vs Cardinals edit

St. Louis Cardinals (8–2) at New York Giants (2–8)
Period 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 6 0 71023
Giants 0 7 7721

at Yale BowlNew Haven, Connecticut

  • Date: November 24
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C) • Wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
  • Game attendance: 40,615[9]
  • Box Score
Game information

Standings edit

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
St. Louis Cardinals 10 4 0 .714 7–1 8–3 285 218 W1
Washington Redskins 10 4 0 .714 5–3 8–3 320 196 W2
Dallas Cowboys 8 6 0 .571 4–4 6–5 297 235 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 7 0 .500 3–5 5–6 242 217 W3
New York Giants 2 12 0 .143 1–7 1–10 195 299 L6 See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "1974 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  2. ^ "New York Giants Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Malafronte, Chip (October 8, 2012). "New Haven 200: New York Giants called Yale Bowl home from 1973–74". New Haven Register. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  4. ^ Canavan, Tom (January 1, 2010). "Giants Stadium was symbol of sports in New Jersey". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "NFL's First Experiment With OT". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Gross, Andrew (September 6, 2018). "Giants vs. Jets at Yale Bowl: Namath's bootleg a keepsake". Newsday. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "1974 New York Giants Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  8. ^ 75 Cowboys. Dallas Cowboys. 1975. p. 72. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "The Yale Bowl and the Giants". Newsday. September 5, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2019.