1981_New_York_Jets_season

1981 New York Jets season
1981 New York Jets season
Owner	Leon Hess
Head coach	Walt Michaels
Home field	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
	← 1980; Jets seasons; 1982 →;

1981 New York Jets season

1981 season of NFL team New York Jets

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.

Quick Facts New York Jets season, Owner ...

The Jets playing the Bills in the 1981 AFC wild card game.

Regular season

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Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1981 New York Jets draft
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

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


	Quarterbacks 18 Kyle Grossart 10 Pat Ryan 14 Richard Todd Running backs 25 Scott Dierking 42 Bruce Harper 20 Kenny Lewis 33 Kevin Long FB 24 Freeman McNeil 44 Tom Newton Wide receivers 81 Derrick Gaffney 89 Bobby Jones 80 Lam Jones 87 Kurt Sohn 85 Wesley Walker Tight ends 83 Jerome Barkum 82 Mickey Shuler 86 Steve Stephens		Offensive linemen 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 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		Linebackers 54 Stan Blinka 51 Greg Buttle 55 Ron Crosby 56 Lance Mehl 52 Al Washington 57 John Woodring Defensive backs 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 5 Pat Leahy K 15 Chuck Ramsey P		Reserve lists 35 Mike Augustyniak FB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 31 Marion Barber Jr. RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 45 Dwayne Crutchfield FB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 59 Kent Clausen LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 53 Mike McKibben LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 34 John Nitti RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 62 Joe Pellegrini C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 58 Marty Wetzel LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics

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.

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	0	14	0	0	14
Browns	0	3	7	3	13

1981_New_York_Jets_season

1981 New York Jets season

Offseason

Draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Season summary

Week 15 at Browns

Playoffs

AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27

Standings

References

External links

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AFC East
view talk edit	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