Post by Lithfan on Oct 11, 2015 9:41:40 GMT -5
October 11, 1981
The Jets came into the 1981 season having missed the playoffs in 11 consecutive seasons. Their last playoff appearance had been a 13-6 Divisional Round loss to eventual Super Bowl IV Champion Kansas City following the 1969 season. Based upon the way the first 5 weeks of the 1981 season, it certainly did not look as if the 81 Jets would be the team to break that playoff drought. They brought a 1-3-1 record into a Week 6 matchup at Shea Stadium with the 1-4 New England Patriots.
The Jets jumped out to an early lead on this October afternoon, as Richard Todd led an early 80 yard scoring drive. He hit Bruce Harper for 19 and 12 yard completions and 20 yards to Wesley Walker before finishing the drive with a 17 yard scoring strike to Jerome Barkum. The Patriots answered when Mosi Tatupu carried one in from 2 yards out and the game was tied early in the 2nd quarter.
The Jets would get a couple of big plays out of special teams and their defense to set the offense up on some short fields in the 2nd quarter. DB Darrol Ray intercepted a Matt Cavanaugh pass in the 2nd quarter to set up Todd’s 2nd TD connection to Barkum on the day, this one covered 5 yards. DB Johnny Lynn partially blocked a Ken Hartley punt which gave the Jets possession at the NE 29 yard line. Todd would hit Wesley Walker with a TD toss on the next play from scrimmage.
The Pats took advantage of a Mike Augustyniak fumble late in the first half and responded with a 9 yard Tony Collins TD run to close the gap before half time, but both Ray and Lynn would come up big again for the Jets in the 2nd half.
Cavanaugh, who would go on to be a Jets QB coach for Mark Sanchez, looked an awful lot like his future pupil midway through the 3rd quarter when he threw his 2nd interception of the day to Darrol Ray. Ray returned it 43 yards for a TD to give the Jets a 28-14 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Cavanaugh was 8-20 with the two picks when Pats Coach Ron Erhart had seen enough. He was replaced by Steve Grogan. For years, Grogan, who had lost his starting job earlier in the season, had been known as a Jet killer, having beaten them in 8 of his last 10 starts while throwing 16 TDs and only 3 interceptions.
Darrol Ray summed up the Jets feelings on seeing Grogan enter the game. “He is the one that has played against us before and won,” he said. “He has the confidence. He can do it because he has done it before.”
Grogan would put up huge numbers in less than 20 minutes of play, hitting on 19 of 32 passes for 330 yards, but the Jets defense made just enough big plays to hold off the Pats and hold on for a 28-14 win.
The sack exchange was just coming together in that season as they sacked both Grogan and Cavanaugh four times each. They also got two more interceptions, including one by Johnny Lynn with 17 seconds left to preserve a Jets win. The Lynn interception came one play after he was called for holding to nullify a sack and set the Patriots up with first and goal at the Jets 4-yard line.
The Jets would go on to win 9 of their last 11 games to finish at 10-5-1 and finally earn a trip to the playoffs. They did it behind the devastating pass rush -- 1981 was the second and final season the NY Sack Exchange was together, featuring Joe Klecko, Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam. Klecko would get injured and miss most of the 1982 season, and Abdul Salaam would miss most of 1983 with a shoulder injury before being dealt to San Diego for a draft pick.
Source: The Schenectady Gazette and the Telegraph
The Jets came into the 1981 season having missed the playoffs in 11 consecutive seasons. Their last playoff appearance had been a 13-6 Divisional Round loss to eventual Super Bowl IV Champion Kansas City following the 1969 season. Based upon the way the first 5 weeks of the 1981 season, it certainly did not look as if the 81 Jets would be the team to break that playoff drought. They brought a 1-3-1 record into a Week 6 matchup at Shea Stadium with the 1-4 New England Patriots.
The Jets jumped out to an early lead on this October afternoon, as Richard Todd led an early 80 yard scoring drive. He hit Bruce Harper for 19 and 12 yard completions and 20 yards to Wesley Walker before finishing the drive with a 17 yard scoring strike to Jerome Barkum. The Patriots answered when Mosi Tatupu carried one in from 2 yards out and the game was tied early in the 2nd quarter.
The Jets would get a couple of big plays out of special teams and their defense to set the offense up on some short fields in the 2nd quarter. DB Darrol Ray intercepted a Matt Cavanaugh pass in the 2nd quarter to set up Todd’s 2nd TD connection to Barkum on the day, this one covered 5 yards. DB Johnny Lynn partially blocked a Ken Hartley punt which gave the Jets possession at the NE 29 yard line. Todd would hit Wesley Walker with a TD toss on the next play from scrimmage.
The Pats took advantage of a Mike Augustyniak fumble late in the first half and responded with a 9 yard Tony Collins TD run to close the gap before half time, but both Ray and Lynn would come up big again for the Jets in the 2nd half.
Cavanaugh, who would go on to be a Jets QB coach for Mark Sanchez, looked an awful lot like his future pupil midway through the 3rd quarter when he threw his 2nd interception of the day to Darrol Ray. Ray returned it 43 yards for a TD to give the Jets a 28-14 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Cavanaugh was 8-20 with the two picks when Pats Coach Ron Erhart had seen enough. He was replaced by Steve Grogan. For years, Grogan, who had lost his starting job earlier in the season, had been known as a Jet killer, having beaten them in 8 of his last 10 starts while throwing 16 TDs and only 3 interceptions.
Darrol Ray summed up the Jets feelings on seeing Grogan enter the game. “He is the one that has played against us before and won,” he said. “He has the confidence. He can do it because he has done it before.”
Grogan would put up huge numbers in less than 20 minutes of play, hitting on 19 of 32 passes for 330 yards, but the Jets defense made just enough big plays to hold off the Pats and hold on for a 28-14 win.
The sack exchange was just coming together in that season as they sacked both Grogan and Cavanaugh four times each. They also got two more interceptions, including one by Johnny Lynn with 17 seconds left to preserve a Jets win. The Lynn interception came one play after he was called for holding to nullify a sack and set the Patriots up with first and goal at the Jets 4-yard line.
The Jets would go on to win 9 of their last 11 games to finish at 10-5-1 and finally earn a trip to the playoffs. They did it behind the devastating pass rush -- 1981 was the second and final season the NY Sack Exchange was together, featuring Joe Klecko, Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam. Klecko would get injured and miss most of the 1982 season, and Abdul Salaam would miss most of 1983 with a shoulder injury before being dealt to San Diego for a draft pick.
Source: The Schenectady Gazette and the Telegraph
