1974 New York Giants season
NFL team season
- ← 1973
- Giants seasons
- 1975 →
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]
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
Draft
| 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 | |||||
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| Reserve lists
Practice squad
| ||||||
Schedule
| 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
Week 3 at Cowboys
New York Giants (1–1) at Dallas Cowboys (1–1)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
at Texas Stadium • Irving, 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Scoring summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Week 9 vs Jets
Week Nine: New York Jets (1–7) at New York Giants (2–6)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| Giants | 3 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week 11 vs Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals (8–2) at New York Giants (2–8)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 6 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
at Yale Bowl • New 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Standings
| 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
References
- ^ "1974 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
- ^ "New York Giants Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Canavan, Tom (January 1, 2010). "Giants Stadium was symbol of sports in New Jersey". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ a b "NFL's First Experiment With OT". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Gross, Andrew (September 6, 2018). "Giants vs. Jets at Yale Bowl: Namath's bootleg a keepsake". Newsday. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ "1974 New York Giants Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ^ 75 Cowboys. Dallas Cowboys. 1975. p. 72. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "The Yale Bowl and the Giants". Newsday. September 5, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
