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1981 New York Jets season
Head Coach Walt Michaels
Home Field Shea Stadium
Results
Record 10–5–1
Place 2nd AFC East
Playoff Finish Lost Wildcard
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1980 1982

The 1981 New York Jets season was the 22nd season for the team and the 12th in the National Football League. 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. However, the Jets finished the season with a record of 10–5–1 and qualified for their first playoff appearance in twelve seasons. In the playoffs, they fell to their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, 31–27.

Offseason[]

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
1 1981-09-06 at Buffalo Bills L 31–0 Rich Stadium
79,754
2 1981-09-13 Cincinnati Bengals L 31–30 Shea Stadium
49,454
3 1981-09-20 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 38–10 Three Rivers Stadium
52,973
4 1981-09-27 Houston Oilers W 33–17 Shea Stadium
50,309
5 1981-10-04 at Miami Dolphins T 28–28 Miami Orange Bowl
68,723
6 1981-10-11 New England Patriots W 28–24 Shea Stadium
55,093
7 1981-10-18 Buffalo Bills W 33–14 Shea Stadium
54,607
8 1981-10-25 Seattle Seahawks L 19–3 Shea Stadium
49,678
9 1981-11-01 at New York Giants W 26–7 Giants Stadium
74,740
10 1981-11-08 at Baltimore Colts W 41–14 Memorial Stadium
31,521
11 1981-11-15 at New England Patriots W 17–6 Schafer Stadium
45,342
12 1981-11-22 Miami Dolphins W 16–15 Shea Stadium
59,962
13 1981-11-29 Baltimore Colts W 25–0 Shea Stadium
53,593
14 1981-12-06 at Seattle Seahawks L 27–23 Kingdome
53,105
15 1981-12-12 at Cleveland Browns W 14–13 Cleveland Municipal Stadium
56,866
16 1981-12-20 Green Bay Packers W 28–3 Shea Stadium
56,340

Playoffs[]

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
Wildcard 1981-12-27 Buffalo Bills L 31–27 Shea Stadium
57,050

Standings[]

AFC East
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Miami Dolphins 11 4 1 .719 345 275
New York Jets 10 5 1 .656 355 287
Buffalo Bills 10 6 0 .625 311 276
Baltimore Colts 2 14 0 .125 259 533
New England Patriots 2 14 0 .125 322 370

References[]

External links[]

AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Seattle Washington Tampa Bay
1981 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XVI
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