# 1991 New York Jets season

The 1991 New York Jets season was the 32nd season for the team and the 22nd in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 6–10 record from 1990 under head coach Bruce Coslet.
The Jets finished the season with a record of 8–8, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1986 as one of three AFC Wild Card teams. In the Wild Card Round they would lose to the Houston Oilers, 17–10. The Jets would not make the playoffs again until 1998.
For the second time in their history, the Jets suffered the embarrassment of losing at home to a team which would finish 1–15. The Colts defeated the Jets 28–27 at Giants Stadium in week 11, their lone win under interim coach Rick Venturi. In 1980, the Jets lost 21–20 to the Saints at Shea Stadium in week 15.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 2 | 34 | Browning Nagle | Quarterback | Louisville |
| 3 | 63 | Mo Lewis | Linebacker | Georgia |
| 4 | 94 | Mark Gunn | Defensive tackle | Pittsburgh |
| 6 | 148 | Blaise Bryant | Running back | Iowa State |
| 6 | 160 | Mike Riley | Defensive back | Tulane |
| 7 | 175 | Doug Parrish | Defensive back | San Francisco State |
| 8 | 202 | Tim James | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 9 | 234 | Paul Glonek | Defensive tackle | Arizona |
| 10 | 261 | Al Baker | Running back | Kentucky |
| 11 | 288 | Rocen Keeton | Linebacker | UCLA |
| 12 | 315 | Mark Hayes | Offensive tackle | Arizona State |

### Undrafted free agents

1991 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Pete Balistrieri | Wide receiver | Wisconsin–Eau Claire |
| Kip Beach | Tackle | Indiana State |
| Leroy Kinard | Running back | Liberty |
| Phil Logan | Wide receiver | Kentucky |
| Reggie Moore | Wide receiver | UCLA |
| Jim Scully | Linebacker | Hofstra |
| Matt Swinson | Tight end | Maine |

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 3 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 10–24 | 0–1 | Giants Stadium | 31,577 |
| 2 | August 10 | vs. Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–19 | 0–2 | Busch Stadium | 52,935 |
| 3 | August 17 | at New York Giants | L 10–24 | 0–3 | Giants Stadium | 73,618 |
| 4 | August 24 | vs. Washington Redskins | W 13–9 | 1–3 | Williams-Brice Stadium | 69,117 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 16–13 | 1–0 | Giants Stadium | 61,204 |
| 2 | September 8 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 13–20 | 1–1 | Kingdome | 56,770 |
| 3 | September 15 | Buffalo Bills | L 20–23 | 1–2 | Giants Stadium | 65,309 |
| 4 | September 23 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–19 (OT) | 1–3 | Soldier Field | 65,255 |
| 5 | September 29 | Miami Dolphins | W 41–23 | 2–3 | Giants Stadium | 71,170 |
| 6 | October 6 | at Cleveland Browns | W 17–14 | 3–3 | Cleveland Stadium | 71,042 |
| 7 | October 13 | Houston Oilers | L 20–23 | 3–4 | Giants Stadium | 70,758 |
| 8 | October 20 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 17–6 | 4–4 | Hoosier Dome | 53,025 |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | November 3 | Green Bay Packers | W 19–16 (OT) | 5–4 | Giants Stadium | 67,435 |
| 11 | November 10 | Indianapolis Colts | L 27–28 | 5–5 | Giants Stadium | 44,792 |
| 12 | November 17 | at New England Patriots | W 28–21 | 6–5 | Foxboro Stadium | 30,743 |
| 13 | November 24 | San Diego Chargers | W 24–3 | 7–5 | Giants Stadium | 59,025 |
| 14 | December 1 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–24 | 7–6 | Rich Stadium | 80,243 |
| 15 | December 8 | at Detroit Lions | L 20–34 | 7–7 | Pontiac Silverdome | 69,304 |
| 16 | December 15 | New England Patriots | L 3–6 | 7–8 | Giants Stadium | 55,689 |
| 17 | December 22 | at Miami Dolphins | W 23–20 (OT) | 8–8 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 69,636 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Buffalo Bills | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 7–1 | 10–2 | 458 | 318 | L1 |
| $^{(6)}$ New York Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 314 | 293 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 343 | 349 | L2 |
| New England Patriots | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 4–4 | 5–9 | 211 | 305 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 1–7 | 1–11 | 143 | 381 | L6 |

## Season Game Summaries
### Week 1 (Sunday, September 1, 1991): vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers (0–1) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Jets (1–0) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
at Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: September 1, 1991
* Game time: 1:03 p.m. EDT
* Game attendance: 61,204
* Referee: Larry Nemmers
* TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton (play-by-play) and Merlin Olsen (color commentator)
| Team | Category |
| TB | Passing |
| TB | Rushing |
| TB | Receiving |
| NYJ | Passing |
| NYJ | Rushing |
| NYJ | Receiving |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | TB | NYJ |
| "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. | 13 | 16 |
* Point spread:
* Over/Under:
* Time of Game: 2 hours, 50 minutes
* Game Statistics
* First downs
* Rushes–yards
* Passing yards
* Passes
* Sacked–yards
* Net passing yards
* Total yards
* Return yards
* Punts
* Fumbles–lost
* Penalties–yards
* Time of possession

### Week 17 (Sunday, December 22, 1991): at Miami Dolphins
## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Wild Card | December 29 | at Houston Oilers | L 10–17 | Houston Astrodome | 61,485 | |