The 1979 New York Jets season was the 20th season for the franchise and its tenth in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 8–8 record from 1978 under head coach

Walt Michaels Walter Edward Michaels (originally Majka) (October 16, 1929 – July 10, 2019) was a professional American football player and coach who was best remembered for his six-year tenure as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets from 1977 to 1982. In 1 ...

. The Jets again finished the season with a record of 8–8. 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 to not make the playoffs in the 1970s (the others being the New York Giants and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Offseason

Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Week 1: vs.
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

Matt Robinson was named starting quarterback for the Jets against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

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

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 Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

drive aided by a roughing the passer call against

Mark Gastineau Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is an American former football player who was a defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generatio ...

led to a game-tying

Don Cockroft Donald Lee Cockroft (born February 6, 1945) is a former American football punter and placekicker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He has the third most career points for a Brown behind fellow kicker ...

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.

Week 2: at New England Patriots

The Jets were crushed 56–3 in a game where

Steve Grogan Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is a former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Kansas State University and was sel ...

of the Patriots set a club touchdown record that would stand until

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

broke it in 2007.

Week 7: vs.
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

In the first Monday Night Football game to be broadcast from the New York City area, the Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 in front of a raucous crowd, many of whom showed up intoxicated and began throwing bottles onto the field. One Shea Stadium security worker described the scene as worse than the celebration that ensued after the Mets won the

1969 World Series The 1969 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1969 season. The 66th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and the National L ...

. In all, more than 30 fans and three security guards were hurt and two people were arrested.

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!" Eskenazi, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6

References

External links

1979 statistics
New York Jets seasons New York Jets New York Jets season 1970s in Queens Shea Stadium {{Americanfootball-season-stub