1996 New York Jets season

1996 New York Jets season
Head coach	Rich Kotite (resigned)
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	The Meadowlands
Results
Record	1–15
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1996 New York Jets season began with the team trying to improve upon its league-worst 3–13 record from 1995. However, this season proved even more calamitous as they finished 1–15, which is the worst record in franchise history. This led to the resignation of head coach Rich Kotite after the season ended.

The Jets tied an NFL record that the New Orleans Saints set in 1980 and became the fifth team and first since the 1991 Indianapolis Colts to finish a season with fifteen losses. The record would be equaled by the 2000 San Diego Chargers, 2001 Carolina Panthers, and the 2007 Miami Dolphins before the 2008 Detroit Lions eclipsed it by becoming the first team to go through a sixteen game season without a single victory.

Offseason

After three seasons with quarterback Boomer Esiason as the starter, the Jets decided to go in a different direction and released Esiason in the offseason. They signed Neil O'Donnell, who had just led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl, to replace him in the hopes he would duplicate his success with the Steelers. The Jets received the first pick in the NFL draft in April and drafted wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson out of the University of Southern California. The Jets also signed offensive tackles Jumbo Elliott and David Williams and receivers Jeff Graham and Webster Slaughter. The Jets spent $70 million in the offseason on free-agent and rookie contracts.

Season

O'Donnell was the starter for the first six games of the season, but they went 0–6 under him. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during pregame warmups before the seventh game. Longtime Buffalo Bills backup quarterback Frank Reich replaced him, but he didn't fare much better. They lost to Jacksonville and Buffalo, before the now lowly 0–8 Jets beat former Jets QB Boomer Esiason and his new team, the Arizona Cardinals (although Esiason didn't play for the game for Arizona), in Sun Devil Stadium for what would be their only win of the season, in their first game against the Cardinals since 1978.^[1] Kotite announced his resignation on December 20.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Network	Kickoff (ET)	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	at Denver Broncos	L 6–31	Mile High Stadium	NBC	4:00pm	70,595
2	September 8, 1996	Indianapolis Colts	L 7–21	Giants Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	63,534
3	September 15, 1996	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–36	Pro Player Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	68,137
4	September 22, 1996	New York Giants	L 6–13	Giants Stadium	FOX	4:00pm	58,339	Game broadcast by FOX (Mike Breen and Bill Maas)
5	September 29, 1996	at Washington Redskins	L 16–31	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	TNT	8:00pm	52,068
6	October 6, 1996	Oakland Raiders	L 13–34	Giants Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	63,611
7	October 13, 1996	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 17–21	Alltel Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	65,699
8	October 20, 1996	Buffalo Bills	L 22–25	Giants Stadium	NBC	4:00pm	49,775
9	October 27, 1996	at Arizona Cardinals	W 31–21	Sun Devil Stadium	NBC	4:00pm	28,088
10	Bye
11	November 10, 1996	New England Patriots	L 27–31	Giants Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	61,843
12	November 17, 1996	at Indianapolis Colts	L 29–34	RCA Dome	NBC	1:00pm	48,322
13	November 24, 1996	at Buffalo Bills	L 10–35	Rich Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	60,854
14	December 1, 1996	Houston Oilers	L 10–35	Giants Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	21,731
15	December 8, 1996	at New England Patriots	L 10–34	Foxboro Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	54,621
16	December 14, 1996	Philadelphia Eagles	L 20–21	Giants Stadium	FOX	12:30pm	29,176
17	December 22, 1996	Miami Dolphins	L 28–31	Giants Stadium	NBC	1:00pm	49,933

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(2) New England Patriots	11	5	0	.688	418	313	W1
^(4) Buffalo Bills	10	6	0	.625	319	266	W1
^(6) Indianapolis Colts	9	7	0	.563	317	334	L1
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	339	325	W2
New York Jets	1	15	0	.063	279	454	L7

External links

• 1996 statistics

1. Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets