1981 New York Jets season
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1981 season of NFL team New York Jets
| 1981 New York Jets season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Leon Hess |
| Head coach | Walt Michaels |
| Home stadium | Shea Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–5–1 |
| Division place | 2nd AFC East |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Bills) 27–31 |
| Pro Bowlers | C Joe Fields T Marvin Powell DE Joe Klecko DE Mark Gastineau |
| |
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The 1981 New York Jets season was the 22nd season for the franchise and its twelfth in the National Football League (NFL). It began with the team trying to improve upon its 4–12 record from 1980 under head coach Walt Michaels. The Jets sputtered early, starting 0–3 and (combined with the previous season's 4–12 finish) fueling a quarterback controversy and altercation between quarterback Richard Todd and sports writer Steve Serby and speculation about Michaels’ job. After the 0–3 start, however, the Jets would catch fire, and go on a 10–2–1 run. The team ultimately finished the season with a record of 10–5–1 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1969, breaking a twelve-season drought. In the playoffs, however, they fell to their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, 31–27.
Offseason
[edit ]Draft
[edit ]Main article: 1981 NFL draft
| 1981 New York Jets draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Freeman McNeil * | RB | UCLA | |
| 2 | 30 | Marion Barber Jr. | RB | Minnesota | |
| 3 | 60 | Ben Rudolph | DT | Long Beach State | |
| 4 | 86 | Al Washington | LB | Ohio State | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Undrafted free agents
[edit ]| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Todd Benson | Linebacker | Maryland |
| Ted Blackwell | Running back | Rutgers |
| Kent Clausen | Linebacker | Montana |
| Gary England | Guard | Nebraska |
| Scott Fanz | Guard | Maryland |
| John Nitti | Running back | Yale |
| John Wojtowicz | Guard | Penn State |
Personnel
[edit ]Staff
[edit ]Front office
- Leon Hess – Owner
- Jim Kensil – President/CEO
- Mike Hickey – Director of player personnel
- Jim Royer – Director of pro personnel
- Carroll Huntress – Scout
- Connie Carberg – Personnel assistant
Head coaches
- Walt Michaels – Head coach
Offensive coaches
- Joe Walton – Offensive coordinator
- Bob Ledbetter – Running backs
- Bob Fry – Offensive line
- Pete McCulley – Receivers
- Joe Gardi – Defensive coordinator
Roster
[edit ] Quarterbacks (QB)
- 18 Kyle Grossart
- 10 Pat Ryan
- 14 Richard Todd
Running backs (RB)
- 25 Scott Dierking
- 42 Bruce Harper
- 20 Kenny Lewis
- 33 Kevin Long FB
- 24 Freeman McNeil
- 44 Tom Newton
Wide receivers (WR)
- 81 Derrick Gaffney
- 89 Bobby Jones
- 80 Lam Jones
- 87 Kurt Sohn
- 85 Wesley Walker
Tight ends (TE)
- 83 Jerome Barkum
- 82 Mickey Shuler
- 86 Steve Stephens
- 60 Dan Alexander G
- 64 Guy Bingham C
- 65 Joe Fields C
- 79 Marvin Powell T
- 66 Randy Rasmussen G
- 61 John Roman G
- 70 Stan Waldemore G
- 72 Chris Ward T
Defensive linemen (DL)
- 94 Ralph DeLoach DE
- 99 Mark Gastineau DE
- 73 Joe Klecko DT
- 93 Marty Lyons DE
- 77 Kenny Neil DE
- 76 Ben Rudolph DT
- 74 Abdul Salaam DT
- 54 Stan Blinka
- 51 Greg Buttle
- 55 Ron Crosby
- 56 Lance Mehl
- 52 Al Washington
- 57 John Woodring
Defensive backs (DB)
- 26 Donald Dykes CB
- 45 Jerry Holmes CB
- 40 Bobby Jackson CB
- 27 Jesse Johnson CB
- 29 Johnny Lynn CB
- 28 Darrol Ray FS
- 48 Ken Schroy
- 45 Kirk Springs
Special teams (ST)
- 5 Pat Leahy K
- 15 Chuck Ramsey P
Reserve
- 35 Mike Augustyniak FB (IR)
- 31 Marion Barber Jr. RB (IR)
- 45 Dwayne Crutchfield FB (IR)
- 59 Kent Clausen LB (IR)
- 53 Mike McKibben LB (IR)
- 34 John Nitti RB (IR)
- 62 Joe Pellegrini C (IR)
- 58 Marty Wetzel LB (IR)
Rookies in italics
Regular season
[edit ]Schedule
[edit ]| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 6 | at Buffalo Bills | L 0–31 | 0–1 | Rich Stadium | 79,754 | |
| 2 | September 13 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 30–31 | 0–2 | Shea Stadium | 49,454 | |
| 3 | September 20 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–38 | 0–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | 52,973 | |
| 4 | September 27 | Houston Oilers | W 33–17 | 1–3 | Shea Stadium | 50,309 | |
| 5 | October 4 | at Miami Dolphins | T 28–28 | 1–3–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 68,723 | |
| 6 | October 11 | New England Patriots | W 28–24 | 2–3–1 | Shea Stadium | 55,093 | |
| 7 | October 18 | Buffalo Bills | W 33–14 | 3–3–1 | Shea Stadium | 54,607 | |
| 8 | October 25 | Seattle Seahawks | L 3–19 | 3–4–1 | Shea Stadium | 49,678 | |
| 9 | November 1 | at New York Giants | W 26–7 | 4–4–1 | Giants Stadium | 74,740 | |
| 10 | November 8 | at Baltimore Colts | W 41–14 | 5–4–1 | Memorial Stadium | 31,521 | |
| 11 | November 15 | at New England Patriots | W 17–6 | 6–4–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 45,342 | |
| 12 | November 22 | Miami Dolphins | W 16–15 | 7–4–1 | Shea Stadium | 59,962 | |
| 13 | November 29 | Baltimore Colts | W 25–0 | 8–4–1 | Shea Stadium | 53,593 | |
| 14 | December 6 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 23–27 | 8–5–1 | Kingdome | 53,105 | |
| 15 | December 12 | at Cleveland Browns | W 14–13 | 9–5–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 56,866 | |
| 16 | December 20 | Green Bay Packers | W 28–3 | 10–5–1 | Shea Stadium | 56,340 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Season summary
[edit ]Week 15 at Browns
[edit ]Week Fifteen: New York Jets (8–5–1) at Cleveland Browns (5–9)
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
at Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio
- Date: December 12
- Game time: 12:30 p.m. EDT
- Game weather: 32 °F (0 °C) • Wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
- Game attendance: 56,866
- Referee: Jerry Seeman
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
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Playoffs
[edit ]Main article: 1981–82 NFL playoffs
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcard | December 27 | Buffalo Bills (5) | L 27–31 | 0–1 | Shea Stadium | 57,050 |
TV Announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones, Len Dawson
AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
[edit ]Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets – Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills | 17 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Jets | 0 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
at Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C), drizzle
- Game attendance: 57,050
- Referee: Bob McElwee
- TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones (play-by-play) and Len Dawson (color commentator)
| Game information |
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Standings
[edit ]| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Miami Dolphins (2) | 11 | 4 | 1 | .719 | 5–2–1 | 8–3–1 | 345 | 275 | W4 |
| New York Jets (4) | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 6–1–1 | 8–5–1 | 355 | 287 | W2 |
| Buffalo Bills (5) | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 311 | 276 | L1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 2–6 | 2–10 | 259 | 533 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 0–8 | 2–10 | 322 | 370 | L9 |
References
[edit ]External links
[edit ]
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