# 1981 New York Jets season

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

1981 New York Jets draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 2 | Freeman McNeil * | RB | UCLA |
| 2 | 30 | Marion Barber Jr. | RB | Minnesota |
| 3 | 60 | Ben Rudolph | DT | Long Beach State |
| 4 | 86 | Al Washington | LB | Ohio State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Todd Benson | Linebacker | Maryland |
| Ted Blackwell | Running back | Rutgers |
| Kent Clausen | Linebacker | Montana |
| Gary England | Guard | Nebraska |
| Scott Fanz | Guard | Maryland |
| John Nitti | Running back | Yale |
| John Wojtowicz | Guard | Penn State |

## 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 | December 12 | 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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
at Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: December 12
* Game time: 12:30 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 32 °F (0 °C) • Wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
* Game attendance: 56,866
* Referee: Jerry Seeman
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Jets
Richard Todd 15/28, 159 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Scott Dierking 13 Rush, 76 Yds
Johnny Lam Jones 5 Rec, 83 Yds, TD
Browns
Brian Sipe 20/35, 280 Yds, TD
Mike Pruitt 15 Rush, 41 Yds
Ozzie Newsome 5 Rec, 79 Yds :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | NYJ | CLE |
| 2 | | | | | Jets | Johnny Lam Jones 28-yard touchdown reception from Richard Todd, Pat Leahy kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Browns | 26-yard field goal by Matt Bahr | 7 | 3 |
| 2 | | | | | Jets | Bruce Harper 7-yard touchdown reception from Richard Todd, Pat Leahy kick good | 14 | 3 |
| 3 | | | | | Browns | Calvin Hill 8-yard touchdown reception from Brian Sipe, Matt Bahr kick good | 14 | 10 |
| 4 | | | | | Browns | 20-yard field goal by Matt Bahr | 14 | 13 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 14 | 13 |

### 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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 17 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Jets | 0 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
at Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C), drizzle
* Game attendance: 57,050
* Referee: Bob McElwee
* TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones (play-by-play) and Len Dawson (color commentator)

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 4 | 1 | .719 | 5–2–1 | 8–3–1 | 345 | 275 | W4 |
| New York Jets$^{(4)}$ | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 6–1–1 | 8–5–1 | 355 | 287 | W2 |
| Buffalo Bills$^{(5)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 311 | 276 | L1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 2–6 | 2–10 | 259 | 533 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 0–8 | 2–10 | 322 | 370 | L9 |