This pretty much sums it up. As I mentioned earlier in this thread the 98 team was the one...they were the best overall Jets team since 1968 and would have won the Super Bowl no doubt - in Miami no less!!! One thing Im surprised nobody has brought up - in any thread- is the article in the Daily News written by Myers I think on the morning of the Raiders game last year. The Jets were coming off of those two AFC title games and had a 2-0 record. Basically the theme of the article was ' how great of a time it was for Jets fans' or something along those lines. The Jets had good players, a good head coach, recent success.... Figures. Their record since that day is 14-18.....with a shaky future.
Reed, Marino, Sapp, there are many.... The Jets, regardless of who in in charge seem determined to avoid success at all costs. Just one dumb decision after another. I remember when Curtis Martin could barely run and Lamont Jordan was about as hot as you could get. WHy not let him touch the ball....nope.
IMO the Broncos were better; they only loss like 2 games. I vividly remember cheering for Miami to beat them, so we would not have to face them. That said, we could have beat them. The one thing that drove me crazy about that game was that guys that rarely handled the ball during the regular season had the game costing turnovers. It's once thing if it's Vinny, Martin, Johnson, Chrebet...etc. You can live with; they got you there. However, I hate the fact that we lost because of the likes of Byars and Van Dyke. I still get pissed every time I think about it.
Like I said I can live with that. He was a key cog to our success. Think of it in NBA terms. A Knick fan could live with losing game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals because Carmelo goes 1-20 in a poor shooting performance. However, there's a different kind of bitterness if you lose because a guy like Ronnie Brewer goes 1-20.
definitely. I always wonder how that game would have turned out if we could have converted a few of those early drives into touchdowns.
I became a big fan in the early 80's. The mud bowl cemented my hatred for the Fish. But '98 was the best team i've seen. Great talent, solid mix of trusted veterans, extremely well coached. The Falcons somehow beat the equally cursed Vikings (Kicker perfect on the season missed what 2 chip shots?). There was no way the Falcons would beat us or the Broncos. We had to first beat the defending Super Bowl champs on their turf, and Elways last hurrah, but we had them. 10-0 at half, team playing well. How do we fumble that game away? Curtis Martin is literally the most reliable back of all time. Look it up, no HOF RB is even close to his career fumble % and he loses one. Byars was sure handed vet as well. It still baffles me we didn't win a Super Bowl that year, and I'm convinced the team just has no luck. Then of course both Parcells and Belichick screw the team in consecutive days after we were that close.
I cant belive how long its been since we won our only Superbowl , Even the Bucs won 1 in the past 15 years, We are never gonna get back there,NEVER. This is why those two AFC title games were so important and special even though it was heartbreaking to lose both,atleast we had a shot
Didn't you bet 1000 dollars that we would be back there next year...? Where did the faith go. You forget that some franchises have NEVER won a Superbowl. At least we have a ring...
Seems like the 98 team not making the SB is the consensus. Our ring was a long time ago but at least it was the most important one.
I'll take your word. I was born mid 80's. 99 was so disappointing because we had SB expectations. And we did beat 3 playoff teams to end the season 8-8 too.
There's not much I can add to this thread - all the big disappointments that you all mentioned are the same ones for me. I'll add the 1981 Buffalo playoff game as a big one - the Jets were the hottest team in the league and roared back after being down 24-0 to fall short (sounds a lot like the Pittsburgh 2010 game). For the record, the Jets were NOT up 10-0 at halftime in '98. It was 3-0 at halftime, and the Broncos got the ball first in the 2nd half, went 3 and out (I believe) and the Jets blocked the punt. They recovered on the Broncos' 1, and went in on the first offensive play for a 10-0 lead.
I was going to start a "Favorite Jets moment" thread to offset this depressing one, but I need 150 posts to do so? WTF? Anyway - can one of you post-padders do the honors? Mucho obliged-o.
There were a lot of great moments in the 80s too especially coming off the 70s where we didn't make a single postseason/