1979 New York Jets season

1979 season of NFL team New York Jets November 2013 March 2026 New York Jets 1979 8–8 3rd AFC East Walt Michaels Leon Hess Shea Stadium Did not qualify T Marvin Powell Jets seasons The 1979 New York Jets season was the 20th season for the franchise and its tenth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 8–8 record from 1978 under head coach Walt Michaels. The Jets again finished the season with a record of 8–8. Matt Robinson started the season at quarterback, but was hurt and Richard Todd started 15 games at quarterback as the Jets played .500 football, posting an 8–8 record for the second straight season, finishing in third place. With the 1979 season, the Jets became one of only three non-expansion teamsThe Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers started play in 1976. to not make the playoffs in the 1970s (the others being the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints). Richard Todd had a very poor season by throwing 2,660 yards, just 16 touchdowns, a whopping 22 interceptions, and completed just 51.2 percent of his passes to go with his 66.5 passer rating. Offseason Draft 1979 NFL draft 1979 New York Jets 1 14 Marty Lyons DT Alabama yes 2 41 Mark Gastineau DE East Central yes yes 3 68 Donald Dykes CB Southeastern Louisiana yes 4 96 Eric Cunningham T Penn State yes 4 98 Johnnie Lynn CB UCLA yes 5 123 Kelly Kirchbaum LB Kentucky 5 125 Stan Blinka LB Sam Houston State yes 6 149 Bill Dufek OG Michigan 7 179 Emmett King RB Houston 7 187 Keith Brown DB Minnesota 8 198 Marshall K. Harris DT TCU 8 205 Willie Beamon LB Boise State 9 232 Gordy Sprattler RB North Dakota State 10 262 Steve Sybeldon OT North Dakota 10 263 Ed McGlasson C Youngstown State yes 11 288 Danny Sanders QB Carson-Newman 12 314 Paul Darby WR Southwest Texas State yes Undrafted free agents + 1979 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJim BoranLinebackerColumbiaJohn GalloTackleRutgersKevin MannixRunning backRutgers Personnel Staff 1979 New York Jets 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 Walt Michaels – Head coach John Idzik – Offensive coordinator Bob Ledbetter – Running backs Bob Fry – Offensive line John Mazur – Defensive coordinator Dan Sekanovich – Defensive line Joe Gardi – Linebackers/special teams Roster New York Jets 1979 45 0 17 Matt Robinson American football  4 Pat Ryan American football 14 Richard Todd American football 34 Woody Bennett 25 Scott Dierking 21 Clark Gaines 42 Bruce Harper 33 Kevin Long running back 44 Tom Newton 84 Paul Darby y 80 Roger Farmer American football 81 Derrick Gaffney 86 Bobby Jones wide receiver 83 Jerome Barkum 82 Mickey Shuler 60 Dan Alexander offensive lineman G 68 Eric Cunningham American football y G 65 Joe Fields C 67 Ed McGlasson y C 79 Marvin Powell T 66 Randy Rasmussen American football, born 1945 G 61 John Roman T 70 Stan Waldemore C/T 72 Chris Ward American football T 99 Mark Gastineau y DE 73 Joe Klecko DT 93 Marty Lyons y DE 76 Lawrence Pillers DE 74 Abdul Salaam American football DT 71 Bob Winkel y DT 54 Stan Blinka y MLB 51 Greg Buttle OLB 55 Ron Crosby OLB 63 John Hennessy American football OLB 53 Mike McKibben y OLB 50 John Sullivan linebacker y MLB 26 Donald Dykes y CB 40 Bobby Jackson cornerback CB 29 Johnny Lynn y CB 37 Tim Moresco FS 22 Burgess Owens FS 48 Ken Schroy SS 23 Shafer Suggs SS  1 Dave Jacobs K 15 Chuck Ramsey P -- Willie Beamon no y LB IR 95 Marshall Harris y DE Left Squad 56 Larry Keller LB IR 57 Kelly Kirchbaum y LB IR  5 Pat Leahy American football K IR 31 Barrett Paige no y RB IR 20 Darnell Powell RB IR 86 Bob Raba TE IR 85 Wesley Walker WR IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 Cleveland BrownsL 22–25 (OT) 0–1 Shea Stadium 48,472 2 September 9 at New England Patriots L 3–56 0–2 Schaefer Stadium 53,113 3 September 16 Detroit Lions W 31–10 1–2 Shea Stadium 49,612 4 September 23 at Buffalo Bills L 31–46 1–3 Rich Stadium 68,731 5 September 30 Miami Dolphins W 33–27 2–3 Shea Stadium 51,496 6 October 7 at Baltimore Colts L 8–10 2–4 Memorial Stadium 32,142 7 October 15 Minnesota Vikings W 14–7 3–4 Shea Stadium 54,479 8 October 21 Oakland Raiders W 28–19 4–4 Shea Stadium 55,802 9 October 28 at Houston Oilers L 24–27 (OT) 4–5 Astrodome 45,825 10 November 4 at Green Bay Packers W 27–22 5–5 Lambeau Field 54,201 11 November 11 Buffalo Bills L 12–14 5–6 Shea Stadium 50,647 12 November 18 at Chicago Bears L 13–23 5–7 Soldier Field 52,635 13 November 26 at Seattle Seahawks L 7–30 5–8 Kingdome 59,977 14 December 2 Baltimore ColtsW 30–17 6–8 Shea Stadium 47,744 15 December 9 New England PatriotsW 27–26 7–8 Shea Stadium 45,131 16 December 15 at Miami DolphinsW 27–24 8–8 Miami Orange Bowl 49,915 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns Matt Robinson was named starting quarterback for the Jets against the Cleveland Browns but hid a thumb injury on his throwing hand from three days before the game, until swelling forced him to acknowledge the injury to an angered Walt Michaels and team president Jim Kensil. The injury was treated and Robinson had the tape taken off late in the game with the Jets leading, but a Brian Sipe drive aided by a roughing the passer call against Mark Gastineau led to a game-tying Don Cockroft field goal; forced to play in overtime, Robinson's thumb swelled again and the result was a sloppy pass that was intercepted and led to the game-winning Cockroft field goal. Michaels seethed, "You work, you plan all week, and then the kid hides an injury from you." He refused to play Robinson the rest of the season.Eskenazi, Gerald (1998). GANG GREEN: An Irreverent Look Behind The Scenes At Thirty-Eight (Well, Thirty-Seven) Seasons Of New York Jets Football Futility (New York: Simon & Schuster), pp. 146–50 0-684-84115-0 Week 2: at New England Patriots The Jets were crushed 56–3 in a game where Steve Grogan of the Patriots set a club touchdown record that would stand until Tom Brady broke it in 2007. Week 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings In the first Monday Night Football game to be broadcast from the New York City area, the Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 in front of a raucous crowd, many of whom showed up intoxicated and began throwing bottles onto the field. One Shea Stadium security worker described the scene as worse than the celebration that ensued after the Mets won the 1969 World Series. In all, more than 30 fans and three security guards were hurt and two people were arrested.Eskenazi Gerald Jets Defeat Vikings by 14-7 https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/16/archives/jets-defeat-vikings-by-147-riotous-crowd-mars-victory.html New York Times January 12, 2022 October 16, 1979 Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks Seahawks cornerback Cornell Webster blocked a punt by the Jets' Chuck Ramsey, leading to a Seattle score in a 30–7 Seahawks win. Following the game Michaels called out Ramsey in front of Jets players by snarling, "I can fart farther than you can kick!" Eskenazi, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6 References External links 1979 statistics Category:New York Jets seasons New York Jets New York Jets season Category:1970s in Queens