I think we all pretty much agree that the 1970s was the worst long stretch of Giants football. From 1970 through 1980, the record was 45-100-1. Pretty bad.
Within that time, from 1973 through 1977, the record was 17-52-1. Really pathetic win percentage of less than 25%.
By comparison, from 2017 through 2021, the record was 22-59. The win percentage was about 27%. Not quite as bad as the mid-1970s but close. I sure hope we never see anything like that again.
'The Fumble' was so bad that my old man-the man who made me a diehard-didn't watch a second of the Giants in '79 because he was so disgusted after that game. & to be fair to him, he was in law school.
There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference.
Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along?
Agree MOOPS, those were the worst years for me as a Giants fan!
I went to every one of those Yale Bowl games in 73. Do you remember that blizzard they played in getting blown out against the Vikings on the last game of the season? Those were some cold seats.
Silly me, my dad also had tickets to the Jets game so he gave me the choice, and of course I wanted to go to the Giants and wouldn’t even consider the Jets game even though that was the game OK made history and broke 2000 yards for the first time ever in the NFL
2021, with the horrific last two games. Judge's 11-minute diatribe about old players calling him up and asking to come back, the awful quarterback sneaks. Thank goodness 2022 helped get that taste out of my mouth.
2003, with Fassel's uncanny ability to blow games in stupefying ways. The first games were so ridiculously fluky. The kick out of bounds against the Cowboys, the kick in-bounds against the Eagles, the Dolphins game where Bryant got injured and Fassel decided to trot out Feagles who had never kicked a field goal before. Completely non-competitive in the last eight games, including against a Kurt Kittner-led Falcons. Fassel quit two games before the end of the season but for some reason ownership let him coach as a lame duck...probably because there were no other competent coaches left on the staff.
Can we stop rewriting history. Eli was never benched. They wanted to start him and let the other QBs play the second half. Eli didn't want to do that and he chose to sit. HE took himself out of the lineup.
Eli could have started to preserve his streak but he had more pride than that.
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and in the 70's I was going to the games as a kid. Driving up to Yale to watch them lose games was just an absolute waste of a Sunday
I went to every one of those Yale Bowl games in 73. Do you remember that blizzard they played in getting blown out against the Vikings on the last game of the season? Those were some cold seats.
Silly me, my dad also had tickets to the Jets game so he gave me the choice, and of course I wanted to go to the Giants and wouldn’t even consider the Jets game even though that was the game OK made history and broke 2000 yards for the first time ever in the NFL
I dont remember too many details of those games. I was 7yrs old although was a serious fan at that age going to every game.
I remember we were at the last row at the top of that stadium in Connecticut. Then, when the new stadium opened, we had one of the 50 best seats in the new stadium. Still do.
They had a tougher schedule than the year before
The recent lost seasons have been somehow worse—especially after the highs of those two championships with Coughlin.
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Once or twice we managed to rise slightly above mediocrity but almost immediately reverted to cellar from whence we came.
There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference.
Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along?
Agree MOOPS, those were the worst years for me as a Giants fan!
Yep.And there’s nothing even CLOSE to that unless it’s pre-1956.
Drafting an Olympic track star (Henry Carr) and pairing him with a CFL and AFL castoff (Clarence Childs) to stop passes over 15 yards was NOT like having Nolan , Lynch, and Patton in the secondary.. Or even me and my bowling ball body back then.
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2017, where the team started as playoff hopefuls but McAdoo quickly showed that he was out of his depth. The year Eli got benched, the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Worst 16-game record in franchise history. Players dogged it, the coaching was an embarrassment, and ownership humiliated the franchise. A complete top-down embarrassment.
2021, with the horrific last two games. Judge's 11-minute diatribe about old players calling him up and asking to come back, the awful quarterback sneaks. Thank goodness 2022 helped get that taste out of my mouth.
2003, with Fassel's uncanny ability to blow games in stupefying ways. The first games were so ridiculously fluky. The kick out of bounds against the Cowboys, the kick in-bounds against the Eagles, the Dolphins game where Bryant got injured and Fassel decided to trot out Feagles who had never kicked a field goal before. Completely non-competitive in the last eight games, including against a Kurt Kittner-led Falcons. Fassel quit two games before the end of the season but for some reason ownership let him coach as a lame duck...probably because there were no other competent coaches left on the staff.
Can we stop rewriting history. Eli was never benched. They wanted to start him and let the other QBs play the second half. Eli didn't want to do that and he chose to sit. HE took himself out of the lineup.
I mean...okay. I'm good with replacing "Eli was benched" with "Eli refused to follow through with McAdoo's plans to tank and treat every remaining game like it was preseason."
I was going to include the late 1960s in the Wilderness Years until I looked ta the record. The mid 1960s were bad but only for a few years, mostly because the championship teams got old, and YAT retired with no real replacement. When they got Morrall and then Tarkenton, the record was okay and team was competitive, especially on offense.
There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference.
Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along?
His only saving grace was he constructed such poor teams that he got to pick early in the draft each year and we got a few no brainers.
His only saving grace was he constructed such poor teams that he got to pick early in the draft each year and we got a few no brainers.
Who were the 'no brainers'? Not Barkley, Not Daniel Jones, maybe Dexter, but a no brainer should be just that, something that does not require much thinking at all.
Andrew Thomas? Maybe a no brainer position pick, but I don't think he was the no brainer LT pick at the time. Kadarious Toney?
I think Perkins get a lot of credit and a free pass for walking out in the Giants, unlike Bill Parcells who left after WINNING 2 Super Bowls.
I will always be thankful to Ray Perkins for leading the Giants to the playoffs in 1981 and beating the Eagles in the playoffs. He also hired Bill Belichick. But the 1982 Giants started the season 0-2 before the strike started and finished 4-5. He left Parcells a mess, not a championship team. I think he was just an average HC.
I think his legacy with the Giants is fair. He ended the playoff drought and is remembered fondly for winning a playoff game. That puts him on a short list of NY Giant HCs in the Super Bowl era.
The 2012-2021 NY Giants lost weekend was the same nightmare the 1965-1978 NY Giants was for me and IMO for the same reasons.
The Mara brothers were determined to repeat the mistakes of their father and they did. It was deja vu all over again.
The 65-78 lost weekend ended when the other 50% of the ownership put an end to it. The 12-21 lost weekend ended (hopefully with similar results) when the other 50% of the ownership put an end to it. Deja vu all over again.