The 1982 New York Jets season was the 23rd season for the franchise and its 13th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 10–5–1 record from 1981 and return to the playoffs under head coach Walt Michaels. The season was marred by an eight-week players’ strike, cancelling eight scheduled games (one game was made up at the end of the season), and eliminating divisional play for the season; the top eight teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs. The Jets finished the season with a record of 6–3 and sixth place in the American Football Conference. They defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 44–17 and Los Angeles Raiders 17–14 in the first two rounds of the playoffs to advance to their first AFC Championship Game. There, they fell to their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins, 14–0.
Offseason Draft
Undrafted free agents + 1982 undrafted free agents of note Player Position CollegeDan DeLiaDefensive backBoston University
Roster
Schedule
Regular season Week Originalweek Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 1 September 12 Miami Dolphins L 28–45 0–1 Shea Stadium 53,360 2 2 September 19 at New England Patriots W 31–7 1–1 Schaefer Stadium 53,515 — 3 September 26 at Baltimore Colts Memorial Stadium Cancelled due to 1982 NFL players strike—4 October 3 Houston Oilers Shea Stadium — 5 October 10 Denver Broncos Shea Stadium — 6 October 18 Buffalo Bills Shea Stadium — 7 October 24 at Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead StadiumPostponed — 8 October 31 New England Patriots Shea StadiumCancelled due to 1982 NFL players strike — 9 November 7 at Buffalo Bills Rich Stadium — 10 November 14 at Pittsburgh Steelers Three Rivers Stadium 3 11 November 21 Baltimore Colts W 37–0 2–1 Shea Stadium 46,970 4 12 November 28 Green Bay Packers W 15–13 3–1 Shea Stadium 53,872 5 13 at Detroit Lions W 28–13 4–1 Pontiac Silverdome 79,361 6 14 December 12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 32–17 5–1 Shea Stadium 28,147 7 15 December 19 at Miami Dolphins L 19–20 5–2 Miami Orange Bowl 67,702 8 16 December 26 at Minnesota Vikings W 42–14 6–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,672 9 17 January 2, 1983 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–37 6–3 Arrowhead Stadium 11,902 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Season summary Week 1: vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 2: at New England Patriots
Week 3: vs. Baltimore Colts
Week 4: vs Green Bay Packers
Week 5: at Detroit Lions
Week 6: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 7: at Miami Dolphins
Week 8: at Minnesota Vikings
Week 9: at Kansas City Chiefs
Postseason
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card January 9 at Cincinnati Bengals (3) W 44–17 1–0 Riverfront Stadium 57,560 Divisional at Los Angeles Raiders (1) W 17–14 2–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 90,038 AFC Championship Game January 23 at Miami Dolphins (2) L 0–14 2–1 Miami Orange Bowl 67,396
Wild card: at Cincinnati Bengals
Divisional: at Los Angeles Raiders
AFC Championship: at Miami Dolphins
The "Mud Bowl", in which the Jets were angered by the condition of the Orange Bowl’s grass field, which was not covered and was inundated with a huge amount of rainfall from a series of storms that swept through South Florida the week preceding the game (it was still overcast on the Sunday of the game but only had a minor drizzle). Don Shula responded by stating that he hadn't checked the weather reports because he was focused on getting the Dolphins ready for the game, and that both teams would face the same conditions in any case. A. J. Duhe intecepted three passes, returning the last for the game-sealing touchdown.
Standings
Awards and honors Freeman McNeil, NFL rushing leader
References