1981 New York Jets season

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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.

1981 New York Jets season
OwnerLeon Hess
Head coachWalt Michaels
Home stadiumShea Stadium
Results
Record10–5–1
Division place2nd AFC East
PlayoffsLost Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Bills) 27–31
Pro BowlersC Joe Fields
T Marvin Powell
DE Joe Klecko
DE Mark Gastineau

Offseason

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

1981 undrafted free agents of note
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

Staff

1981 New York Jets staff

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
 Defensive coaches
  • Joe Gardi – Defensive coordinator



Roster

1981 New York Jets roster
Quarterbacks (QB)
  • 10 Pat Ryan
  • 14 Richard Todd

Running backs (RB)

  • 25 Scott Dierking
  • 42 Bruce Harper
  • 33 Kevin Long
  • 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
 Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 60 Dan Alexander G
  • 64 Guy Bingham C/G
  • 65 Joe Fields C
  • 79 Marvin Powell T
  • 66 Randy Rasmussen G
  • 61 John Roman T
  • 70 Stan Waldemore G/C
  • 72 Chris Ward T

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 99 Mark Gastineau DE
  • 73 Joe Klecko DE
  • 93 Marty Lyons DT
  • 77 Kenny Neil DE
  • 76 Ben Rudolph DT
  • 74 Abdul Salaam DT
 Linebackers (LB)
  • 54 Stan Blinka MLB
  • 51 Greg Buttle OLB
  • 55 Ron Crosby OLB
  • 56 Lance Mehl OLB
  • 52 Al Washington OLB
  • 58 Marty Wetzel OLB
  • 57 John Woodring MLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 26 Donald Dykes CB
  • 47 Jerry Holmes CB
  • 27 Jesse Johnson CB/S
  • 29 Johnny Lynn CB/S
  • 28 Darrol Ray FS
  • 48 Ken Schroy SS
  • 45 Kirk Springs CB/S

Special teams (ST)

  •  5 Pat Leahy K
  • 15 Chuck Ramsey P

Reserve

  • 35 Mike Augustyniak RB (IR)
  • 31 Marion Barber RB (IR)
  • 59 Kent Clausen LB (IR)
  • 40 Bobby Jackson CB (IR)
  • 20 Kenny Lewis RB (IR)
  • 53 Mike McKibben LB (IR)
  • 34 John Nitti RB (IR)
  • 62 Joe Pellegrini C (IR)
Rookies in italics

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 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

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
  • Referee: Jerry Seeman
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

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

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 17 7 0731
Jets 0 10 31427

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
  • 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

AFC East
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 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

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