1970 New York Giants season

The 1970 New York Giants season was the franchise's 46th season in the NFL. This was the first season for the Giants after the AFL–NFL merger, in which ten American Football League teams joined the NFL. The team was led by second-year head coach Alex Webster. The Giants finished the season 9–5 for their first winning season since 1963, but they missed the playoffs after 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 also finished 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 losses to two of the NFL's weakest teams:

• The first was a 14–10 loss at New Orleans in week three. The Giants were the victims of a blown call by head linesman Bruce Finlayson, who ruled tight end Aaron Thomas to be out of bounds on what would have been a game-winning touchdown pass from Fran Tarkenton in the closing minutes. Replays showed Thomas had both feet down in bounds, with control of the ball. The Saints' only other win of 1970 came five weeks later when Tom Dempsey kicked a then-NFL record 63-yard field goal for a 19–17 decision over the Detroit Lions, ironically the team that beat out the Giants for the final playoff spot in the NFC.

• The second was a 23–20 setback at Philadelphia on Monday Night Football in week 10, the Giants' only setback in a 10-week stretch following the loss to the Saints. The game at Franklin Field was more memorable for the antics in the broadcast booth, where Howard Cosell vomited on Don Meredith's cowboy boots. Cosell took a taxi back to the hotel at halftime, leaving Meredith to finish the game with Keith Jackson.

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.