The 1981 New York Jets season was the 22nd season for the franchise and its twelfth in the National Football League (NFL). It began with the team trying to improve upon its 4–12 record from 1980 under head coach Walt Michaels. The Jets sputtered early, starting 0–3 and (combined with the previous season's 4–12 finish) fueling a quarterback controversy and altercation between quarterback Richard Todd and sports writer Steve Serby and speculation about Michaels’ job. After the 0–3 start, however, the Jets would catch fire, and go on a 10–2–1 run. The team ultimately finished the season with a record of 10–5–1 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1969, breaking a twelve-season drought. In the playoffs, however, they fell to their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, 31–27.
Offseason Draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTodd BensonLinebackerMarylandTed BlackwellRunning backRutgersKent ClausenLinebackerMontanaGary EnglandGuardNebraskaScott FanzGuardMarylandJohn NittiRunning backYaleJohn WojtowiczGuardPenn State
Personnel Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 6 at Buffalo Bills L 0–31 0–1 Rich Stadium 79,754 2 September 13 Cincinnati Bengals L 30–31 0–2 Shea Stadium 49,454 3 September 20 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–38 0–3 Three Rivers Stadium 52,973 4 September 27 Houston Oilers W 33–17 1–3 Shea Stadium 50,309 5 October 4 at Miami Dolphins T 28–28 1–3–1 Miami Orange Bowl 68,723 6 October 11 New England Patriots W 28–24 2–3–1 Shea Stadium 55,093 7 October 18 Buffalo Bills W 33–14 3–3–1 Shea Stadium 54,607 8 October 25 Seattle Seahawks L 3–19 3–4–1 Shea Stadium 49,678 9 November 1 at New York Giants W 26–7 4–4–1 Giants Stadium 74,740 10 November 8 at Baltimore Colts W 41–14 5–4–1 Memorial Stadium 31,521 11 November 15 at New England Patriots W 17–6 6–4–1 Schaefer Stadium 45,342 12 November 22 Miami Dolphins W 16–15 7–4–1 Shea Stadium 59,962 13 November 29 Baltimore Colts W 25–0 8–4–1 Shea Stadium 53,593 14 December 6 at Seattle Seahawks L 23–27 8–5–1 Kingdome 53,105 15 at Cleveland Browns W 14–13 9–5–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 56,866 16 December 20 Green Bay Packers W 28–3 10–5–1 Shea Stadium 56,340 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Season summary
Week 15 at Browns
Playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wildcard December 27 Buffalo Bills (5) L 27–31 0–1 Shea Stadium 57,050
TV Announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones, Len Dawson
AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Standings
References
External links 1981 statistics