Relief Rally

 (Continuing my list of the Top 10 Jets wins of all time)




#8: AFC Wildcard Game Jets 35 Chiefs 15  (12/28/1986)

(full game video)

Jets fans in our age demographic remember very well how the team started the 1986 season at 10-1 and then lost the last five games to finish 10-6 and barely make the playoffs. 

But do you remember just how badly the Jets lost those last five games? The team was outscored by 67-183 (per game, that comes out to a 37-13 loss each week). The closest loss was a 17-3 defeat at the hands of the L.A. Rams where the Jets didn't score until the 4th quarter and were already behind 17-0. The last two of the five losses were embarrassments to Pittsburgh (45-22) and Cincinnati (52-21), two teams that didn't even make the playoffs that year. 

That was the heavy cloud the Jets were under when they still managed to earn home field advantage over the 10-6 Kansas City Chiefs in the Wildcard Game. The Chiefs were on an almost exact opposite trajectory, coming into the game on a three-game winning streak and with victories on the road for the final two games that included a win over the same Steelers in the season finale who had routed the Jets the week before. 

It was very hard to find anyone who thought the Jets could win this game, even after Head Coach Joe Walton replaced Ken O'Brien at QB and gave the starting job in the game to Pat Ryan. 

Even fewer fans had much hope after the Chiefs scored a TD on their first possession. To get an idea how despondent the Jets fans were, the crowd at the Meadowlands was eerily silent during that first Chiefs drive. The place was even super quiet as the Chiefs lined up for a 1st and goal at the one following an iffy Jets pass interference penalty call. The fact that the Chiefs missed the PAT to make it 6-0 instead of 7-0 was also met with the crowd's indifference.

But that all changed on the Jets ensuing drive when New York went for it on 4th and 6 from the Chief 33 and Ryan ran a QB draw for 24 yards. That got the stadium rocking and the Jets began to pour it on. 

The Jets would go on to score the next 28 points before K.C. finally got on the board again in the 4th quarter. RB Freeman McNeil had a monster game with a 135 yards rushing and a TD. Ryan threw three TD passes and no interceptions as the Jets came back from the dead. 

It was the Jets first home playoff win since the AFL Championship Game victory over the Raiders in 1968, and it came against the Chiefs, the same team that started the Jet home playoff losing streak in 1969. 

But it has to go down as the most relief-inducing victory in Jets history, and proof that hope springs eternal. 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greene Leads the Green

Image
  Shonn Greene breaks away   (Continuing my list of the Top 10 Jets wins of all time) #6: AFC Divisional Playoff Jets 17 Chargers 14  (1/17/2010) ( full game video ) The 2009 Jets were a roller coaster of a team, starting out 3-0, falling to 3-3, and finding themselves on the brink at 4-6 before eking out a 9-7 record and a 6th seed in the AFC playoffs.  After easily handling the Bengals in the wildcard round in Cincinnati, the Jets had to stay on the road to play the heavily favored 13-3 Chargers in San Diego in the divisional playoff. The game turned out to be a contest decided in the running game. The Jets held San Diego RB sensation LaDanian Tomlinson and the rest of the Chargers to just 61 yards on 18 carries. Meanwhile, New York ran for 169 on 39 carriers.  Defense was the name of the game both sides of the ball, with the score still just 7-3 San Diego going into the 4th Quarter.  The Jets edged ahead 10-7 less than two minutes into the 4th with a Mar...
Read more

... and the Countdown Continues!

Image
  (Continuing my list of the Top 10 Jets wins of all time) Nick Folk kicked the winning FG with no time left #9 AFC Wildcard Playoff: Jets 17 Colts 16    (1/8/2011) ( full game video ) Even for older fans, the significance and excitement connected to this game stands out.  It wasn't just a last-second, heart pumping victory on the road in the playoffs against Peyton Manning and the Colts. It was also probably the best execution of Head Coach Rex Ryan's "ground and pound" philosophy that focused on a strong defense and powerful running game. Jets RB's LaDainian Tomlinson and Shon Greene combined for 152 yards on 35 carries, for a nifty 4.3 yards per carry and two TDs. The defense held Manning's pass happy offense to a respectable 219 net yards.  While the divisional playoff wins of the Ryan era rank higher in importance, this was the most dramatic win of his time as Jets head coach.   
Read more

Welcome!

Image
With exactly seven weeks to go before the start of the NY Jets 2023 regular season, I woke up this morning wondering if I should start a blog for all the Jets fans around my age and older who remember the Jets at Shea, the Sack Exchange, the days when they'd hang something to cover the "Giants Stadium" sign at the Meadowlands when the Jets were home, etc.  I was still trying to make up my mind when I got sign from above: (okay it was on my phone) but it was a text from the Jets announcing the team will be wearing throwback jerseys and helmets (see above to honor the late 70's- to mid 80s "Sack Exchange Era" Jets. So welcome to a blog for all fans of the Jets, but especially those who got hooked on the team from its birth in 1960 through the early 80s.  Of course, the name of this blog honors one of the best players of that late 70's-early 80s days, Linebacker Lance Mehl . Of course, his name also jives with the hit show "Alice" during that same...
Read more