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1981 New York Jets season

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1981 New York Jets season
OwnerLeon Hess
Head coachWalt Michaels
Home fieldShea Stadium
Results
Record10–5–1
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs (Bills) 31–27
Pro BowlersC Joe Fields
T Marvin Powell
DE Joe Klecko
DE Mark Gastineau
The Jets playing the Bills in the 1981 AFC Wild Card game.

The 1981 New York Jets season was the 22nd season for the franchise and its twelfth in the National Football League. 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

Draft

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
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1981 New York Jets final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
1 September 6, 1981 at Buffalo Bills L 31–0 Rich Stadium
79,754
2 September 13, 1981 Cincinnati Bengals L 31–30 Shea Stadium
49,454
3 September 20, 1981 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 38–10 Three Rivers Stadium
52,973
4 September 27, 1981 Houston Oilers W 33–17 Shea Stadium
50,309
5 October 4, 1981 at Miami Dolphins T 28–28 Miami Orange Bowl
68,723
6 October 11, 1981 New England Patriots W 28–24 Shea Stadium
55,093
7 October 18, 1981 Buffalo Bills W 33–14 Shea Stadium
54,607
8 October 25, 1981 Seattle Seahawks L 19–3 Shea Stadium
49,678
9 November 1, 1981 at New York Giants W 26–7 Giants Stadium
74,740
10 November 8, 1981 at Baltimore Colts W 41–14 Memorial Stadium
31,521
11 November 15, 1981 at New England Patriots W 17–6 Schaefer Stadium
45,342
12 November 22, 1981 Miami Dolphins W 16–15 Shea Stadium
59,962
13 November 29, 1981 Baltimore Colts W 25–0 Shea Stadium
53,593
14 December 6, 1981 at Seattle Seahawks L 27–23 Kingdome
53,105
15 December 12, 1981 at Cleveland Browns W 14–13 Cleveland Municipal Stadium
56,866
16 December 20, 1981 Green Bay Packers W 28–3 Shea Stadium
56,340

Season summary

Week 15 at Browns

Week Fifteen: New York Jets (8–5–1) at Cleveland Browns (5–9)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Jets 0 14 0014
Browns 0 3 7313

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
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
Wildcard December 27, 1981 Buffalo Bills L 31–27 Shea Stadium
57,050

TV Announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones, Len Dawson

Standings

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

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