1981 New York Jets season

1981 season of NFL team New York Jets August 2023 March 2026 New York Jets 1981 10–5–1 2nd AFC East Walt Michaels Joe Walton Joe Gardi Leon Hess Shea Stadium Lost Wild Card Playoffs(vs. Bills) 27–31 C Joe FieldsT Marvin PowellDE Joe KleckoDE Mark Gastineau Jets seasons thumb|right|The Jets playing the Bills in the 1981 AFC wild card game. thumb|Shea Stadium in 1981 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 Draft 1981 NFL draft 1981 New York Jets 1 2 Freeman McNeil RB UCLA yes yes 2 30 Marion Barber Jr. RB Minnesota 3 60 Ben Rudolph DT Long Beach State yes 4 86 Al Washington LB Ohio State yes Undrafted free agents + 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTodd BensonLinebackerMarylandTed BlackwellRunning backRutgersKent ClausenLinebackerMontanaGary EnglandGuardNebraskaScott FanzGuardMarylandJohn NittiRunning backYaleJohn WojtowiczGuardPenn State Personnel Staff 1981 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 Joe Walton – Offensive coordinator Bob Ledbetter – Running backs Bob Fry – Offensive line Pete McCulley – Receivers Joe Gardi – Defensive coordinator Roster 1981 New York Jets 10 Pat Ryan American football 14 Richard Todd American football 25 Scott Dierking 42 Bruce Harper 33 Kevin Long running back 24 Freeman McNeil y 44 Tom Newton 81 Derrick Gaffney 89 Bobby Jones wide receiver 80 Lam Jones 87 Kurt Sohn y 85 Wesley Walker 83 Jerome Barkum 82 Mickey Shuler 86 Steve Stephens American football 60 Dan Alexander offensive lineman G 64 Guy Bingham C/G 65 Joe Fields C 79 Marvin Powell T 66 Randy Rasmussen American football, born 1945 G 61 John Roman T 70 Stan Waldemore G/C 72 Chris Ward American football T 99 Mark Gastineau DE 73 Joe Klecko DE 93 Marty Lyons DT 77 Kenny Neil y DE 76 Ben Rudolph y DT 74 Abdul Salaam American football DT 54 Stan Blinka MLB 51 Greg Buttle OLB 55 Ron Crosby OLB 56 Lance Mehl OLB 52 Al Washington y OLB 58 Marty Wetzel y OLB 57 John Woodring y MLB 26 Donald Dykes CB 47 Jerry Holmes CB 27 Jesse Johnson American football CB/S 29 Johnny Lynn CB/S 28 Darrol Ray FS 48 Ken Schroy SS 45 Kirk Springs y CB/S  5 Pat Leahy American football K 15 Chuck Ramsey P 35 Mike Augustyniak y RB IR 31 Marion Barber Jr. y RB IR 59 Kent Clausen y LB IR 40 Bobby Jackson cornerback CB IR 20 Kenny Lewis American football RB IR 53 Mike McKibben LB IR 34 John Nitti y RB IR 62 Joe Pellegrini y C IR Regular season Schedule 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, 1981 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 Week 15 at Browns New York Jets 1981 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Fifteen: New York Jets (8–5–1) at Cleveland Browns (5–9) December 12 Saturday 12:30 p.m. EDT Jets 0 14 0 0 Browns 0 3 7 3 Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio 56,866 32 F C • Wind 6 mph km/h knot Jerry Seeman NBC Dick Enberg Pro-Football-Reference.com Jets Richard Todd15/28, 159 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT Scott Dierking13 Rush, 76 Yds Johnny Lam Jones5 Rec, 83 Yds, TD Browns Brian Sipe20/35, 280 Yds, TD Mike Pruitt15 Rush, 41 Yds Ozzie Newsome5 Rec, 79 Yds NYJ CLE collapsed 2 Jets RecTD Johnny Lam Jones Richard Todd 28 good Pat Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 0 2 Browns FG 26 Matt Bahr 7 3 2 Jets RecTD Bruce Harper Richard Todd 7 good Pat Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 3 3 Browns RecTD Calvin Hill Brian Sipe 8 good Matt Bahr run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 10 4 Browns FG 20 Matt Bahr 14 13 14 13 Playoffs 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 text-align:center; AFC Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets – Game summary Bills 17 7 0 7 Jets 0 10 3 14 Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York 12:00 p.m. EST 35 °F °C, drizzle NBC Charlie Jones (play-by-play) and Len Dawson (color commentator) 57,050 Bob McElwee Scoring BUF – Romes 26 fumble return (Mike-Mayer kick) BUF 7–0 BUF – Lewis 50 pass from Ferguson (Mike-Mayer kick) BUF 14–0 BUF – field goal Mike-Mayer 29 BUF 17–0 BUF – Lewis 26 pass from Ferguson (Mike-Mayer kick) BUF 24–0 NYJ – Shuler 30 pass from Todd (Leahy kick) BUF 24–7 NYJ – field goal Leahy 26 BUF 24–10 NYJ – field goal Leahy 19 BUF 24–13 BUF – Cribbs 45 run (Mike-Mayer kick) BUF 31–13 NYJ – Jones 30 pass from Todd (Leahy kick) BUF 31–20 NYJ – Long 1 run (Leahy kick) BUF 31–27 Standings References External links 1981 statistics Category:New York Jets seasons New York Jets New York Jets season Category:1980s in Queens Category:Long stubs with short prose