1979 New York Jets season

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.

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

Matt Robinson started the season at quarterback, but got 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
1979 New York Jets draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 14 Marty Lyons  DT Alabama
2 41 Mark Gastineau *  DE East Central Oklahoma State
3 68 Donald Dykes  CB Southeastern Louisiana
4 96 Eric Cunningham  T Penn State
4 98 Johnnie Lynn  CB UCLA
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff
1979 New York Jets staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches
  • John Mazur – Defensive coordinator
  • Dan Sekanovich – Defensive line
  • Joe Gardi – Linebackers/special teams

Roster
1979 New York Jets final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • Currently vacant


Practice squad

  • Currently vacant


Rookies in italics
 45 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule
WeekDateOpponentResultGame siteAttendance
1 1979-09-02Cleveland BrownsL 25–22 (OT)Shea Stadium
48,472
2 1979-09-09at New England PatriotsL 56–3Schaefer Stadium
53,113
3 1979-09-16Detroit LionsW 31–10Shea Stadium
49,612
4 1979-09-23at Buffalo BillsL 46–31Rich Stadium
68,731
5 1979-09-30Miami DolphinsW 33–27Shea Stadium
51,496
6 1979-10-07at Baltimore ColtsL 10–8Memorial Stadium
32,142
7 1979-10-15Minnesota VikingsW 14–7Shea Stadium
54,479
8 1979-10-21Oakland RaidersW 28–19Shea Stadium
55,802
9 1979-10-28at Houston OilersL 27–24 (OT)Astrodome
45,825
10 1979-11-04at Green Bay PackersW 27–22Lambeau Field
54,201
11 1979-11-11Buffalo BillsL 14–12Shea Stadium
50,647
12 1979-11-18at Chicago BearsL 23–13Soldier Field
52,635
13 1979-11-26at Seattle SeahawksL 30–7Kingdome
59,977
14 1979-12-02Baltimore ColtsW 30–17Shea Stadium
47,744
15 1979-12-09New England PatriotsW 27–26Shea Stadium
45,131
16 1979-12-15at Miami DolphinsW 27–24Miami Orange Bowl
49,915

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

The Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 in the first Monday Night Football game broadcast from the New York City area.

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!" [3]

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, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6
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