Post by Lithfan on Dec 12, 2015 8:41:31 GMT -5
December 12, 1976
Amid rumors that this would be Joe Namath’s last game as a member of the NY Jets, the team took the field to close out what had been a miserable 1976 season. Rookie head coach Lou Holtz had resigned a few days earlier. The Jets, without a coach and led by an aging star whose best days were well in the past, were a team badly in need of a rebuild.
And so it was that the 3-10 Jets would play host to the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals on December 12, 1976. The Bengals took any drama out of this one early. After jumping to a 6-0 1st quarter lead, quarterback Ken Anderson hit Isaac Curtis for an 85-yard TD bomb to give the Bengals a 13 point lead early in the 2nd. The Bengals would score twice more in the quarter, converting two Namath interceptions into TDs: a 7 yard run by Boobie Clark and a 2 yard run by Stan Fritts. The Jets added a Pat Leahy FG before the half, but still trailed 27-3.
Namath suffered the indignity of being pulled in his final game in front of his home crowd. He completed just 4 passes on 15 attempts for 20 yards to his receivers. He also completed another 4 to Cincy DBs, finishing with a 4-15-20-0-4 line and a 0.0 QB rating. He gave way to Richard Todd in the 2nd half, and the rookie did not fare much better, 3 of 13 for 23 yards and 2 Ints. Todd also finished the game with a 0.0 rating. Jets QBs were sacked 4 times for 35 yards, so they finished with 8 net passing yards.
Could there possibly have been a more anemic passing attack in a game in NFL history. 7 completions for 8 net years and 6 interceptions. As bad as we have witnessed in the past 6 years, I am not sure anything comes close to that.
After adding a TD and two FGs in the second half to extend the Bengals lead to 40-3, it was only fitting that Bengal defensive lineman Coy Bacon would end the scoring with a safety after he tackled Todd in the end zone. The Jets finished the game with only 72 yards of total offense while suffering an embarrassing 42-3 loss.
When asked about his future as a Jet after the game, Joe said, “I look at the films every week of every game and think I can still play and feel good about it.” Namath continued. “I’ll sit down and think about it for a while. I don’t know if I’ll be back or not. If it is the last game, I’m sorry to see it end this way. We lost too many. I wish I could be around when it gets better.”
Jets management was non-committal on Joe’s future. “No decision will be reached around Namath until a new coach is named,” said team president Phil Iselin. “At that time the new coach, (GM) Al Ward and myself will all sit down and decide what to do.”
As we all know, that Cincinnati disaster turned out to be Joe’s final game as a Jet. He was waived in April of 1977 and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams. Joe would go 2-2 as the starter in the first 4 games of the 1977 season for the Rams. He would be replaced by Pat Haden, who led the team to 8 wins in their last 10 games and a Division Title.
“It was no fun being a second string quarterback,” said Namath upon announcing his retirement in January of 1978.
Source: St. Petersburg Times & The Prescott Courier
Amid rumors that this would be Joe Namath’s last game as a member of the NY Jets, the team took the field to close out what had been a miserable 1976 season. Rookie head coach Lou Holtz had resigned a few days earlier. The Jets, without a coach and led by an aging star whose best days were well in the past, were a team badly in need of a rebuild.
And so it was that the 3-10 Jets would play host to the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals on December 12, 1976. The Bengals took any drama out of this one early. After jumping to a 6-0 1st quarter lead, quarterback Ken Anderson hit Isaac Curtis for an 85-yard TD bomb to give the Bengals a 13 point lead early in the 2nd. The Bengals would score twice more in the quarter, converting two Namath interceptions into TDs: a 7 yard run by Boobie Clark and a 2 yard run by Stan Fritts. The Jets added a Pat Leahy FG before the half, but still trailed 27-3.
Namath suffered the indignity of being pulled in his final game in front of his home crowd. He completed just 4 passes on 15 attempts for 20 yards to his receivers. He also completed another 4 to Cincy DBs, finishing with a 4-15-20-0-4 line and a 0.0 QB rating. He gave way to Richard Todd in the 2nd half, and the rookie did not fare much better, 3 of 13 for 23 yards and 2 Ints. Todd also finished the game with a 0.0 rating. Jets QBs were sacked 4 times for 35 yards, so they finished with 8 net passing yards.
Could there possibly have been a more anemic passing attack in a game in NFL history. 7 completions for 8 net years and 6 interceptions. As bad as we have witnessed in the past 6 years, I am not sure anything comes close to that.
After adding a TD and two FGs in the second half to extend the Bengals lead to 40-3, it was only fitting that Bengal defensive lineman Coy Bacon would end the scoring with a safety after he tackled Todd in the end zone. The Jets finished the game with only 72 yards of total offense while suffering an embarrassing 42-3 loss.
When asked about his future as a Jet after the game, Joe said, “I look at the films every week of every game and think I can still play and feel good about it.” Namath continued. “I’ll sit down and think about it for a while. I don’t know if I’ll be back or not. If it is the last game, I’m sorry to see it end this way. We lost too many. I wish I could be around when it gets better.”
Jets management was non-committal on Joe’s future. “No decision will be reached around Namath until a new coach is named,” said team president Phil Iselin. “At that time the new coach, (GM) Al Ward and myself will all sit down and decide what to do.”
As we all know, that Cincinnati disaster turned out to be Joe’s final game as a Jet. He was waived in April of 1977 and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams. Joe would go 2-2 as the starter in the first 4 games of the 1977 season for the Rams. He would be replaced by Pat Haden, who led the team to 8 wins in their last 10 games and a Division Title.
“It was no fun being a second string quarterback,” said Namath upon announcing his retirement in January of 1978.
Source: St. Petersburg Times & The Prescott Courier
