# 1994 New York Jets season

The 1994 New York Jets season was the 35th season for the team and the 25th in the National Football League. It began with the Jets trying to improve upon their 8–8 record from 1993 under new head coach Pete Carroll. The franchise’s largest home crowd at that time, 75,606, watched the Jets play the Miami Dolphins for a share of first place in the AFC East. The Jets led, 24–6, in the third quarter before Dan Marino led a furious comeback, capped by the “fake spike” touchdown pass to Mark Ingram, for the Dolphins’ 28–24 win. The Jets finished the season with a record of 6–10, losing six of their last seven games to end the season, and Carroll was fired. Following a Week 12 win at the Minnesota Vikings, the Jets would lose 33 of their next 37 games.

## Offseason

After the 1993 season, the Jets fired head coach Bruce Coslet, who had coached the team for four years, and promoted defensive coordinator Pete Carroll to Jets head coach.

### NFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 12 | Aaron Glenn | Cornerback | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 41 | Ryan Yarborough | Wide Receiver | Wyoming |
| 3 | 94 | Lou Benfatti | Defensive Tackle | Penn State |
| 4 | 117 | Orlando Parker | Wide Receiver | Troy State |
| 5 | 152 | Horace Morris | Linebacker | Tennessee |
| 6 | 173 | Fred Lester | Running Back | Alabama A&M |
| 7 | 208 | Glenn Foley | Quarterback | Boston College |

### Undrafted Free Agents

1994 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Kyle Adams | Guard | Syracuse |
| Alan Allen | Wide receiver | Idaho |
| Kyle Anderson | Linebacker | Nebraska |
| Lavar Ball | Defensive end | UCLA |
| Gary Beckford | Defensive back | Bowie State |
| Paul Burke | Tight end | Idaho |
| Lindsey Chapman | Running back | California |
| Jeff Cooke | Defensive tackle | East Carolina |
| Cecil Doggette | Defensive back | West Virginia |
| Chauncey Hogan | Wide receiver | Southern |
| David McCleod | Wide receiver | James Madison |
| Chico Nelson | Defensive back | Ohio State |
| Dan Schmidt | Center | Kansas |
| Paul Yatkowski | Defensive end | Tennessee |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponen | Result | TV Time(ET) | TV Announcers | Game site | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4, 1994 | at Buffalo Bills | W 23–3 | NBC 4:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | Rich Stadium | 79,460 |
| 2 | September 11, 1994 | Denver Broncos | W 25–22 (OT) | NBC 4:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | The Meadowlands | 73,436 |
| 3 | September 18, 1994 | at Miami Dolphins | L 28–14 | NBC 1:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | Joe Robbie Stadium | 68,977 |
| 4 | September 25, 1994 | Chicago Bears | L 19–7 | TNT 8:00pm | Gary Bender & Pat Haden | The Meadowlands | 70,806 |
| 5 | October 2, 1994 | at Cleveland Browns | L 27–7 | NBC 1:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | Cleveland Stadium | 76,188 |
| 6 | October 9, 1994 | Indianapolis Colts | W 16–6 | NBC 1:00pm | Jim Lampley & Todd Christensen | The Meadowlands | 64,934 |
| 7 | October 16, 1994 | New England Patriots | W 24–17 | NBC 1:00pm | Charlie Jones & Randy Cross | The Meadowlands | 71,123 |
| 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 9 | October 30, 1994 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 28–25 | NBC 4:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | RCA Dome | 44,350 |
| 10 | November 6, 1994 | Buffalo Bills | W 22–17 | NBC 4:00pm | Dick Enberg & Bob Trumpy | The Meadowlands | 66,949 |
| 11 | November 13, 1994 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–10 | NBC 4:00pm | Charlie Jones & Randy Cross | Lambeau Field | 58,307 |
| 12 | November 20, 1994 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 31–21 | NBC 4:00pm | Tom Hammond & Cris Collinsworth | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 60,687 |
| 13 | November 27, 1994 | Miami Dolphins | L 28–24 | NBC 1:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | The Meadowlands | 75,606 |
| 14 | December 4, 1994 | at New England Patriots | L 24–13 | NBC 1:00pm | Marv Albert & Paul Maguire | Foxboro Stadium | 60,138 |
| 15 | December 10, 1994 | Detroit Lions | L 18–7 | FOX 12:30pm | Dick Stockton & Matt Millen | The Meadowlands | 56,080 |
| 16 | December 18, 1994 | San Diego Chargers | L 21–6 | NBC 1:00pm | Tom Hammond & Cris Collinsworth | The Meadowlands | 48,213 |
| 17 | December 24, 1994 | at Houston Oilers | L 24–10 | NBC 4:00pm | Charlie Jones & Randy Cross | Astrodome | 31,176 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text ||||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 0 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| Bills | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Patriots | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| • Jets | 7 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 24 |

#### Week 13 vs Dolphins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 28 |
| Jets | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: November 27, 1994
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 33 °F (0.6 °C)
* Game attendance: 75,606
* Referee: Gary Lane
* TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
* Box Score, Box Score
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Dolphins | Passing | Dan Marino | 31/44, 359 Yds, 4 TD, 2 INT |
| Dolphins | Rushing | Bernie Parmalee | 8 Rush, 23 Yds |
| Dolphins | Receiving | Mark Ingram | 9 Rec, 117 Yds, 4 TD |
| Jets | Passing | Boomer Esiason | 26/41, 382 Yds, 2 TD, 3 INT |
| Jets | Rushing | Brad Baxter | 12 Rush, 41 Yds, TD |
| Jets | Receiving | Rob Moore | 7 Rec, 124 Yds |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | MIA | NYJ |
| 1 | 3:46 | | | | Jets | 24-yard field goal by Nick Lowery | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | 6:48 | | | | Jets | Johnny Mitchell 20-yard touchdown reception from Boomer Esiason, Nick Lowery kick good | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | 12:58 | | | | Jets | Brad Baxter 3-yard touchdown run, Nick Lowery kick good | 0 | 17 |
| 3 | 8:41 | | | | Dolphins | Mark Ingram 10-yard touchdown reception from Dan Marino, 2-point pass failed | 6 | 17 |
| 3 | 3:39 | | | | Jets | Johnny Mitchell 14-yard touchdown reception from Boomer Esiason, Nick Lowery kick good | 6 | 24 |
| 3 | 0:42 | | | | Dolphins | Mark Ingram 17-yard touchdown reception from Dan Marino, 2-point pass good | 14 | 24 |
| 4 | 10:13 | | | | Dolphins | Mark Ingram 28-yard touchdown reception from Dan Marino, Pete Stoyanovich kick good | 21 | 24 |
| 4 | 0:22 | | | | Dolphins | Mark Ingram 8-yard touchdown reception from Dan Marino, Pete Stoyanovich kick good | 28 | 24 |
| "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. | 28 | 24 |

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ Miami Dolphins | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 389 | 327 | W1 |
| $^{(5)}$ New England Patriots | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 351 | 312 | W7 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 307 | 320 | W2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 340 | 356 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 264 | 320 | L5 |

## Turning point

In Week 13, the Jets were 6–5 and were still in the hunt for a playoff berth (a win would have created a first-place tie in the AFC East) as they faced the Dolphins. With the Jets leading 24–21 late in the game, Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino was ready to spike the ball to stop the clock, but instead he tricked the Jets defense by tossing for a game-winning touchdown and a Dolphin win. The Jets never recovered as they lost the remaining four games of the season and Pete Carroll, who called the loss "a staggering defeat", subsequently lost his job as Jets head coach. This game began a nosedive for the team that spanned the remaining two seasons, as between the end of the 1994 season and the close of the 1996 NFL season; the Jets won only 4 of their next 36 games following the "fake spike".