1979 New York Jets season

1979 New York Jets season
Head coach	Walt Michaels
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1979 New York Jets season was the 20th season for the team and the 10th 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 finished the season with a record of 8–8.

Matt Robinson started the season at quarterback, but got hurt and Richard Todd took the bulk of the duties 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 teams^[1] to not make the playoffs in the 1970s (the others being the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints).

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	1979-09-02	Cleveland Browns	L 25–22 (OT)	Shea Stadium	48,472
2	1979-09-09	at New England Patriots	L 56–3	Schafer Stadium	53,113
3	1979-09-16	Detroit Lions	W 31–10	Shea Stadium	49,612
4	1979-09-23	at Buffalo Bills	L 46–31	Rich Stadium	68,731
5	1979-09-30	Miami Dolphins	W 33–27	Shea Stadium	51,496
6	1979-10-07	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–8	Memorial Stadium	32,142
7	1979-10-15	Minnesota Vikings	W 14–7	Shea Stadium	54,479
8	1979-10-21	Oakland Raiders	W 28–19	Shea Stadium	55,802
9	1979-10-28	at Houston Oilers	L 27–24 (OT)	The Astrodome	45,825
10	1979-11-04	at Green Bay Packers	W 27–22	Lambeau Field	54,201
11	1979-11-11	Buffalo Bills	L 14–12	Shea Stadium	50,647
12	1979-11-18	at Chicago Bears	L 23–13	Soldier Field	52,635
13	1979-11-26	at Seattle Seahawks	L 30–7	Kingdome	59,977
14	1979-12-02	Baltimore Colts	W 30–17	Shea Stadium	47,744
15	1979-12-09	New England Patriots	W 27–26	Shea Stadium	45,131
16	1979-12-15	at Miami Dolphins	W 27–24	Miami Orange Bowl	49,915

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins^(3)	10	6	0	.625	5–3	6–6	341	257	L1
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	4–4	6–6	411	326	W1
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	4–4	5–7	337	383	W3
Buffalo Bills	7	9	0	.438	4–4	5–7	268	279	L3
Baltimore Colts	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–10	271	351	W1

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.^[2]

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 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!" ^[3]

References

1. The Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers started play in 1976.
2. 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 ISBN 0-684-84115-0
3. Eskenazi, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6

External links

• 1979 statistics