| 1978 New York Giants season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Wellington Mara |
| Head coach | John McVay |
| Home stadium | Giants Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 6–10 |
| Division place | 5thNFC East |
| Playoffs | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | LBBrad van Pelt LBHarry Carson PDave Jennings |
The1978New York Giantsseason was the franchise's 54th season in theNational Football League. In their first ever season that had a sixteen-game schedule, the Giants looked to improve on their 5–9 record from 1977. The season saw the Giants get off to a hot start. They beat newcomerTampa Bay in Tampa 19–13, despite being a 1 point underdog. After a close loss to the rival Cowboys 34–24 the next week, the Giants beatthe Kansas City Chiefs 26–10 andthe San Francisco 49ers 27–10 to start the season 3–1, their first 3–1 start since 1969. However, the Giants then started to struggle, losing to theAtlanta Falcons 23–20 and the Cowboys again 24–3.
Following wins at home against the Buccaneers and Redskins, the Giants went on a downfall, which saw them lose their next 6 games and 7 of their last 8. In week 12, the Giants played their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a crucial game that saw the Giants fumble away the game on Joe Pisarcik’s fumble and Herm Edwards fumble recovery for a touchdown that won the game for Philadelphia, 19–17. The play was dubbed theMiracle at the Meadowlands. The Giants never recovered from this game, getting pummeled on the road to the Bills, 41–17, despite having a 10 point lead in the 3rd quarter. In their final game, a rematch with Philadelphia, the Giants lost 20–3 to end the season 6–10.
| 1978 New York Giants draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Gordon King | OT | Stanford | |
| 2 | 37 | Odis McKinney | DB | Colorado | |
| 4 | 90 | Billy Taylor | RB | Texas Tech | |
| 5 | 120 | Terry Jackson | DB | San Diego St | |
| 5 | 132 | Jim Krahl | DT | Texas Tech | |
| 5 | 137 | Brian DeRoo | WR | Redlands | |
| 6 | 147 | Randy Pass | OG | Georgia Tech | |
| 7 | 174 | Dan Doornink | RB | Washington St | |
| 8 | 201 | Jeff Grady | LB | Florida A&M | |
| 9 | 232 | Bill Swiacki | TE | Amherst | |
| 10 | 253 | Greg Jorgensen | OG | Nebraska | |
| 11 | 286 | Dennis Helm | DT | SW Missouri St | |
| 12 | 313 | Greg Lawson | RB | Western Illinois | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least onePro Bowl during career | |||||
| Quarterbacks(QB) Running backs(RB) Wide receivers(WR) Tight ends(TE) | Offensive linemen(OL) | Linebackers(LB)
Defensive backs(DB) Special teams(ST) | Reserve
|
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used bysportscasters andPhiladelphia Eagles fans for afumble recovery bycornerbackHerman Edwards that he returned for atouchdown at the end of a November 19,1978NFL game against theNew York Giants inGiants Stadium. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had notimeouts left. Everyone watching expectedquarterbackJoe Pisarcik to take one moresnap andkneel with the ball, thusrunning out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off tofullbackLarry Csonka and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2 | atTampa Bay Buccaneers | W 19–13 | 1–0 | 67,456 |
| 2 | September 10 | Dallas Cowboys | L 24–34 | 1–1 | 73,265 |
| 3 | September 17 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 26–10 | 2–1 | 70,546 |
| 4 | September 24 | San Francisco 49ers | W 27–10 | 3–1 | 71,536 |
| 5 | October 1 | atAtlanta Falcons | L 20–23 | 3–2 | 47,765 |
| 6 | October 8 | atDallas Cowboys | L 3–24 | 3–3 | 63,420 |
| 7 | October 15 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 17–14 | 4–3 | 68,025 |
| 8 | October 22 | Washington Redskins | W 17–6 | 5–3 | 76,192 |
| 9 | October 29 | atNew Orleans Saints | L 17–28 | 5–4 | 59,807 |
| 10 | November 5 | atSt. Louis Cardinals | L 10–20 | 5–5 | 48,820 |
| 11 | November 12 | atWashington Redskins | L 13–16 | 5–6 | 53,271 |
| 12 | November 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | L17–19 | 5–7 | 70,318 |
| 13 | November 26 | atBuffalo Bills | L 17–41 | 5–8 | 28,496 |
| 14 | December 3 | Los Angeles Rams | L 17–20 | 5–9 | 62,629 |
| 15 | December 10 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 17–0 | 6–9 | 52,226 |
| 16 | December 17 | atPhiladelphia Eagles | L 3–20 | 6–10 | 56,396 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text.
Joe Pisarcik threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Al Dixon early in the game and Bobby Hammond set up two other touchdowns with long runs as the Giants are so far surprising the football world with a 3-1 record with a win over winless San Francsico. New York's Larry Csonka became the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 7,000 yards and he himself scored a 1-yard touchdown run in period 1 while Willie Spencer of the Giants scored a 1-yard touchdown run in period 3 while Joe Danelo kicked two field goals of 28 and 52 yards to provide the Giants scoring that day.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 19 |
| Giants | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
atGiants Stadium •East Rutherford, New Jersey
| Game information | ||
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| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 41 |
atRich Stadium,Orchard Park, New York
| Game information | ||
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| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Dallas Cowboys(2) | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 7–1 | 9–3 | 384 | 208 | W6 |
| Philadelphia Eagles(5) | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 270 | 250 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 273 | 283 | L5 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3–5 | 6–6 | 248 | 296 | W1 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–6 | 5–9 | 264 | 298 | L1 |
