Eisspeedway

1979 New York Jets season

1979 New York Jets season
OwnerLeon Hess
Head coachWalt Michaels
Home fieldShea Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersT Marvin Powell

The 1979 New York Jets season was the 20th season for the franchise and its tenth 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 again finished the season with a record of 8–8.

Matt Robinson started the season at quarterback, but was 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).

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft
1979 New York Jets draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 14 Marty Lyons  DT Alabama
2 41 Mark Gastineau *  DE East Central
3 68 Donald Dykes  CB Southeastern Louisiana
4 96 Eric Cunningham  T Penn State
4 98 Johnnie Lynn  CB UCLA
5 123 Kelly Kirchbaum  LB Kentucky
5 125 Stan Blinka  LB Sam Houston State
6 149 Bill Dufek  OG Michigan
7 179 Emmett King  RB Houston
7 187 Keith Brown  DB Minnesota
8 198 Marshall K. Harris  DT TCU
8 205 Willie Beamon  LB Boise State
9 232 Gordy Sprattler  RB North Dakota State
10 262 Steve Sybeldon  OT North Dakota
10 263 Ed McGlasson  C Youngstown State
11 288 Danny Sanders  QB Carson-Newman
12 314 Paul Darby  WR Southwest Texas State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Jim Boran Linebacker Columbia
John Gallo Tackle Rutgers
Kevin Mannix Running back Rutgers

Personnel

Staff

1979 New York Jets staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches




Roster

1979 New York Jets roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad
  • Currently vacant

Reserve

Rookies in italics
, 0 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 2 Cleveland Browns L 22–25 (OT) 0–1 Shea Stadium 48,472
2 September 9 at New England Patriots L 3–56 0–2 Schaefer Stadium 53,113
3 September 16 Detroit Lions W 31–10 1–2 Shea Stadium 49,612
4 September 23 at Buffalo Bills L 31–46 1–3 Rich Stadium 68,731
5 September 30 Miami Dolphins W 33–27 2–3 Shea Stadium 51,496
6 October 7 at Baltimore Colts L 8–10 2–4 Memorial Stadium 32,142
7 October 15 Minnesota Vikings W 14–7 3–4 Shea Stadium 54,479
8 October 21 Oakland Raiders W 28–19 4–4 Shea Stadium 55,802
9 October 28 at Houston Oilers L 24–27 (OT) 4–5 Astrodome 45,825
10 November 4 at Green Bay Packers W 27–22 5–5 Lambeau Field 54,201
11 November 11 Buffalo Bills L 12–14 5–6 Shea Stadium 50,647
12 November 18 at Chicago Bears L 13–23 5–7 Soldier Field 52,635
13 November 26 at Seattle Seahawks L 7–30 5–8 Kingdome 59,977
14 December 2 Baltimore Colts W 30–17 6–8 Shea Stadium 47,744
15 December 9 New England Patriots W 27–26 7–8 Shea Stadium 45,131
16 December 15 at Miami Dolphins W 27–24 8–8 Miami Orange Bowl 49,915
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings

In the first Monday Night Football game to be broadcast from the New York City area, the Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 in front of a raucous crowd, many of whom showed up intoxicated and began throwing bottles onto the field. One Shea Stadium security worker described the scene as worse than the celebration that ensued after the Mets won the 1969 World Series. In all, more than 30 fans and three security guards were hurt and two people were arrested.[3]

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!" [4]

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, Gerald (October 16, 1979). "Jets Defeat Vikings by 14-7". New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Eskenazi, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_New_York_Jets_season