This is the era & players i fell in love with. So many offensive weapons & that fierce Front 7. They had their faults but before injuries took hold they won more often then they lost & so many big plays on both sides. Its the identity the Jets should return to.Long, athletic on the flanks/boundary yet built for fhe cold w downhill thumpers in the box
Regarding Walton, I don't remember specifics, but I do remember that when I was reading "Sack Exhange: The Definitive Oral History of the 80's NY Jets" (which is an excellent book for any Jets fan out there), one of the guys from the defense (I don't remember who, maybe Klecko?) blamed Walton for the late season collapse. The gist of the criticism was basically that the veteran team was beat up with injuries, but Walton continued to push them hard in practice and insist on physical practices right up until the end of the year. This obviously just made a bad situation even worse and wore the team down to a nub. I also remember that whoever made the comment said that Walton was influenced by Chuck Noll, who had once advised him to always have tough, physical practices and to never let up, to ensure that you coached a tough, physical football team. That part stuck out to me, lol. Anyway, it is a great book, esp if you remember those fun and talented 80's Jets teams. https://www.amazon.com/Sack-Exchang...ocphy=9003995&hvtargid=pla-569411868848&psc=1
Didn't some commentator say the Jets would not win another game the rest of the season. Putting further jinks on a jinks franchise.
Those 80's teams could kick the crap out of any of the teams - in the entire NFL - since 2000 playing under the rules in place now. Physicality was a central part of the game, knocking QBs and skill players out of action was the main defensive "scheme". Those guys would thrive in this much more restricted physicality today.
I wish I could claim that for myself. A brilliant post on here many years ago used that phrase and I've never forgotten it!
My friends and I all lived in the Bronx at the time. They all wanted to leave before the game ended, to get a jump on the traffic going over the GW. I drove, and I said, “We’re staying until it’s over.” I’m glad we did. We still talk about that game. Hope you got home okay. If we would have seen you on the side of the road, we would have stopped for you.
I have a confession Pat I hated your namesake the first 10 years of his career but loved him later when he became one of the best in the business
It was injuries. O'Brien got hurt and played mediocre the last 5 games, often replaced by Ryan. Klecko's career basically ended during 86 with knee injuries, and he didn't play much down the stretch (after being a probowler the year before). Gasteneau was also injured during 4 of the last 5 games and saw limited action. So the QB and sack exchange were both suffering. As I remember we also made a lot of turnovers down the stretch. Not just Ints but a lot of fumbles. I remember throwing fits over turnovers every game. But we did pull it together for the playoffs and IMO we played well both games. Beating the Chiefs was a thrilling win and I remember my friend and I partying late into the night afterwards - toasting Pat Ryan. I also remember thinking we had the Browns game in the bag during the 4th quarter. Then they scored 10 late points to tie it. That seemed to be the start of a lot of late game collapses over the next 10 years. I never really felt secure again with a Jets lead until Parcels 2nd season.
Does anyone remember the Monday night win against the Broncos that year? It was a high point. We just creamed Elway, sacking him 5 times including a safety. That win was when I started think we had a chance to go all the way.
I remember it because it was the first football game I ever attended and it was at the Meadowlands. It was the start of me rooting for the Jets. I was a freshman at Manhattan College and a bunch of my fraterity brothers had season tickets. A few had already graduated. One of them had a pregnant wife and she gave birth in-between the Bills home game and the Monday night game against the Broncos. They asked me if I wanted the rest of the tickets and I took them. That's how I became a Jets fan. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Cool story. Ya i guess it was at the Meadowlands (I watched on TV). I still have this image of the camera showing Elway on the sidelines in the 3rd quarter and he looked rattled.
If you see the replay it wasn’t all that egregious, but cost us chance to go to championship game against Denver. I think we would have had good chance! Gastineau was one of the best players on the team. We have not had edge since! Maybe Abraham was closest thing. The man was dominant in his day. And boy fun to watch klecko and him! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ColoradoContrails, well-said!! I agree 100%. The greatest/most dominant single-season team in NFL history came from smack dab in the middle of the 80's!
I know I was there because I never missed a game, but I honestly don't have a stand out memory of that one. EDIT: Oops! I couldn't have been there. This one was in Denver.
