'86 vs Cleveland. Without question that was the definition of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The '82 (my first season as a Jet fan) and '86 losses were so bad that by the time '98 rolled around, I didn't think we were in with a shout anyway. I felt the same way about facing Elway as I did facing Rodgers last weekend - we only ever had a puncher's chance against an elite QB. That is doing the '98 team a great disservice but I'd had 16 years of SOJ instilled in me by that stage. The 1998 team is probably the only entry from the poll that I would consider SB champs if they had won their respective game. The more recent losses will always poll more than the old ones, purely because of the increase in young fans. I don't consider 2010 painful because we started so goddamn badly that it was almost a miraculous win. I have a horrible feeling I'll be making posts like Champ in a few years time.
The loss to Kansas City in the 69-70 season. They would have kicked Minnestoa's ass for their second consecutive SB win.
They were all bad, but there are reasons why it should be between the Mud Bowl and the loss to Denver. As noted by others, the Mud Bowl was particularly obnoxious since Miami was the hated division rival, and they fucked with the field and got away with it. The Jets had momentum going into that game, too, with especially the previous win over Oakland that was just great. But I am not sure the Jets would have won the SB, as Miami did not. The 99 Denver game is the other candidate. Jets ahead with less than 20 to go, and then the game deflates for them, probably the thin air being a factor (as it often is in Denver as the game goes on). The NFC opponent, Atlanta, would have been very beatable. on the other hand the Jets only scored 10 points, so it's hard to get too upset bout that aspect of it. But as others have noted the dry spell by the Denver loss was much longer than the Mud Bowl was after SB III. Id say it's a tossup between those two, but the circumstances in the Mud Bowl i think made it more infuriating.
More generally as Nagle mentioned, playing the Champ Game on the road makes it more difficult. IT's not for nothing that the seeding gives the home game to the team with the better record. But for purposes of this thread there is another factor that goes into the poll question. Seeding usually contains an element that suggests the visitor is the underdog, which should lessen the expectation of a road win in the game. Sometimes the visitor has momentum, been on a winning streak that the home team, despite the overall better season record, does not have. But for the most part the visitor is the underdog, and has lower expectations of a win. That usually tempers the disappointment factor, or reasonably should. But where the visitor has momentum, its fans can also have reasonably higher expectations. I think the Mud Bowl loss was one of those. The Jets were on a big time roll going into Miami. So that's another reason I picked it.
the Jets had won 2 straight heading into the mud bowl, Miami had won 5 straight. Our 2 playoff games we won by an average of 15 PPG, Miami won their 2 by an average of 18 PPG. hard to say we were on a bigger roll than Miami. they were just better than us that year.
I was torn between 86 and 04. Doug Brien is dead to me, and right after we traded for Doug Jolly and drafted Nugent in the 2nd round. Another Ohio St. bust. Penalties however killed our chances against Cleveland. Self inflicted wounds.
That Broncos AFCCG loss was just so painful. Let's pretend the Niners haven't won a SB in decades. Repeat last season, where they lost a very tough game to Seattle last year in the NFCCG. Then they see Seattle just bitch slap a far inferior team in the SB. How upset would those Niner fans be? That is extremely similar to the frustration Jets fans experienced back then. Those Falcons had no shot at defeating whomever came out of the AFC and they already pulled off their big upset by taking down the Vikings. Watching the Broncos roll through the Falcons so easily was like rubbing salt in the wounds.
Only reason I picked 2010 is because I was there but the most painful over time has to be 98 for me. I wanted to add the most painful reg season game for me was the finale in 97. Coming off a 1 win season we had a shot to make the playoffs.... and finish 10-6 we held Barry Sanders and the Lions to like 30 yards rushing in the first half. Only to give up around 140 in the second as they carry him off and we go home.... that game stung me for weeks
That '97 Lions game wasn't fun but to me it seemed like that was going to be the beginning of something special so it doesn't bother me like some other losses. we were 1-15 the year before so to even be in the race was fun. That was our first winning record since 1988.
when did you start watching? the '87-'96 stretch was brutal and we finally were coming out of the dark ages and really we've been a good franchise ever since.
That 2005 divisional game against Pittsburgh is the most painful for me. We had the game won just had to knock down a field goal in OT and move on. Of course field goal is missed and rest is history. The second most painful is the AFC championship 2011 vs Steelers. We were down 19-0 at half and came back to loose by 2. We had beaten Pittsburgh that season and they came at us seeking revenge.
Glad someone brought this game up (Well, now that I think about it . . . not really. lol). This was such a brutal game . . . The Leon Johnson option pass near the goal-line. Not only was it a ridiculous play-call, but if there had been instant replay in the NFL that year, that play would have gotten reversed. Ouch.
My initial choice was the 'Mud Bowl' because it was the closest they came to a SB in my lifetime up to that point and I live in South Florida, so I had to put up with a lot. I voted for '98 though, because I truly believed that we were the best team in the league and I knew Parcells was not going to be long for the job...
