1981 New York Jets season

1981 New York Jets season
Head coach	Walt Michaels
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	10–5–1
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Wildcard

The 1981 New York Jets season was the 22nd season for the team and the 12th 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. However, the Jets finished the season with a record of 10–5–1 and qualified for their first playoff appearance in twelve seasons. In the playoffs, they fell to their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, 31–27.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	1981-09-06	at Buffalo Bills	L 31–0	Rich Stadium	79,754
2	1981-09-13	Cincinnati Bengals	L 31–30	Shea Stadium	49,454
3	1981-09-20	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 38–10	Three Rivers Stadium	52,973
4	1981-09-27	Houston Oilers	W 33–17	Shea Stadium	50,309
5	1981-10-04	at Miami Dolphins	T 28–28	Miami Orange Bowl	68,723
6	1981-10-11	New England Patriots	W 28–24	Shea Stadium	55,093
7	1981-10-18	Buffalo Bills	W 33–14	Shea Stadium	54,607
8	1981-10-25	Seattle Seahawks	L 19–3	Shea Stadium	49,678
9	1981-11-01	at New York Giants	W 26–7	Giants Stadium	74,740
10	1981-11-08	at Baltimore Colts	W 41–14	Memorial Stadium	31,521
11	1981-11-15	at New England Patriots	W 17–6	Schafer Stadium	45,342
12	1981-11-22	Miami Dolphins	W 16–15	Shea Stadium	59,962
13	1981-11-29	Baltimore Colts	W 25–0	Shea Stadium	53,593
14	1981-12-06	at Seattle Seahawks	L 27–23	Kingdome	53,105
15	1981-12-12	at Cleveland Browns	W 14–13	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	56,866
16	1981-12-20	Green Bay Packers	W 28–3	Shea Stadium	56,340

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
Wildcard	1981-12-27	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

External links

• 1981 statistics