The curious thing about Leahy is that UK Jets fans, typically starting to follow the team around 1983-1986, pretty much have memories of him being metronomic. It's always strange when you hear about the 1974-1983 Leahy being pretty shaky - and also testament to the loyalty we put into a kicker seemingly not that dependable.
In those days kickers in the NFL were given more leeway. Any FG 50 yards or longer was considered extraordinary. Leahy didn’t connect on a 50 yard FG until 1984 - he was 33 years old at that point. He went through several well noted slumps particularly in 1980 when Michaels told him he was one more missed FG away from being cut and in 1982 when he had several missed XPs and cost the Jets a key game in Miami. But the team stuck with him. After the move to the Meadowlands and with no open end to the stadium, Leahy proved more stable from 1984-1990. By the time 1991 came around when Leahy was now 40 years old he began showing his age - he blew the MNF game in Chicago - it was obvious his time was at an end. He was injured toward the end of the season and the Jets signed Raul Allegre for the final game with a playoff berth at stake. Ironically, Allegre kicked a game tying FG at the end of the fourth quarter and then the game winning FG in OT at Miami to put the Jets into the playoffs. I wonder how that would have turned out had Leahy not been injured....
^^^Excellent point Mrjet80. I remember the Browns game...and yes it does rank as one of the classic "Jets gut punch" games of all time...HOWEVER, I agree with you that the Jets were NOT going to win the Super Bowl that year, regardless of the outcome of that game. The game that still sticks in my craw is the loss to the Broncos in 98....because I am convinced that if we hold on to win that game, we WOULD have defeated the Falcons in the Super Bowl that year, for a whole host of reasons. IMO, that was the JETS YEAR to win it all....and they just let that game against Denver slip away from them in the 2nd half....so in that respect, the loss in 1998 to Denver was "worse/more painful" than the loss to the Brownies in 86.
You are correct - that was the one that slipped away. Twenty five minutes from a Super Bowl Championship - the Jets would of destroyed Atlanta.
Jerry Holmes - after the long completion to Webster Slaughter in the dying seconds in which Holmes was beaten (but did make a game saving ankle tackle on the five yard line) the Browns celebrated a little too hard wasting a lot of time in the process. With only time for one quick play to win the game outright Kosar tried to force a pass into the corner of the end zone. Holmes wasn’t beaten this time - he reached up, knocked the ball off its flight and as he fell backward the ball kinda bounced off his chest. Not an easy catch but not impossible. The Jets were that close to escaping......instead the Browns decided to kick the FG and force OT. The Jets died a slow death....
IDK, they beat the Broncos already that season. No way Simms would be setting the completion % record against the Jets like he did the Orange Crushed..
Oh no? The Jets at that point were a shell of what they were Sep-Nov. Injuries took out almost half the defense including Klecko and Mehl for the year. The OL was a wreck playing several second stringers. O’Brien has been benched and replaced with Ryan. Ryan was hurt during the Browns game resulting in O’Brien coming back in. Other than the long TD run by McNeil the Jets couldn’t score. Playing in Denver would have brought a much different result than the October MNF game at home. Had they survived and played the Giants (which they wouldn’t have) it would have resulted in an embarrassment. Something Giants fans would still crow about today trust me. Now had the October Jets played those Giants - without the injuries - possibly a different story.
I agree. No way we were going to beat Denver in Denver and definitely not the Giants in the Super Bowl. Giants were the best team in football that year. Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk
I was born in 1985 so I obviously don't remember that 1986 Jets team (although my older brother swears he had me watching every game with him since a newborn) however from reading about the 86 Jets... They remind me of the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers of just last year. From 11-0 to 12-4 (going 1-4 throughout their final 5 games). And then they lost to the CLEVELAND BROWNS during Wildcard weekend. Ending their Steelers season on a 1-5 skid. And it's hard to believe Ken O'Brien played worse than 2008 Brett Favre during his final 5 regular season games of 1986 (impossible for me to even imagine).
That team was GASHED with injuries. Eventually the injuries caught up with an otherwise very good team and Kenny O fell into a slump the last 5 games as well.
I was born in 1985 so I was only a baby 1 years old in 1986 but I mentioned this thread to my older brother just last night. I asked him what happened to our 1986 Jets? He didn't want to talk about it. He simply told me, "Mark Gastineau screwed us and cost us an AFC Championship game appearance". (My big brother is funny man you can never get him to talk about our 1998, 2009 and/or 2010 Jets too heartbreaking for him and I just found out last night you can't get him to talk about his 1986 Jets either heck I've been trying for 20 years for him to make a Jets username and post; but he just won't lol). Therefore I wanted to research for myself and this is what I found... Damn. Mark Gastineau really robbed our 86' Jets of an AFC Championship Game appearance, didn't he? Or is my older brother misremembering and the refs just made a ball call and screwed the Jets?
Also remember it was an older team.....that was really that roster’s last good chance to win a super bowl. The following year the strike fractured whatever unity the team had and by 1988 a lot of the original core was gone including the Joe brothers - Klecko to the Colts and Fields to the Giants.
That is the easiest answer - blaming Gastineau - but the real truth is the entire team collapsed in late November. The entire starting DL got injured along with Lance Mehl. Most of the starting OL was injured therefore O’Brien took a beating and the running game was non existent. The Jets lost their last 5 games and only got into the playoffs because of the 10-1 cushion they had built. Some of the players (including Gastineau) came back in time for the playoffs but Gastineau was having a bad year anyway I think he only had 2 or 3 sacks and was a little overweight. They beat KC in the WC card game at home but KC was overrated - they got into the playoffs because of some freak special teams touchdowns. The Jets were heavy underdogs going into Cleveland but did happen to play very well - they just could not put the game away. Ryan started and got the Jets an early lead but was injured forcing the slumping O’Brien back in. The DBs (some back ups like Carl Howard committed costly penalties on the Browns second to last drive (the one leading up to the two minute warning with the Jets up by ten) which isn’t talked about. The Jets then had the ball up 20-17 and a 3rd and 6 needing the 6 yards to end the game. Walton called a QB draw with O’Brien instead of a short pass or maybe a screen. That play had worked the week before with a more nimble Pat Ryan. Not this time. Then Jennings landed a punt inside the Browns ten yard line with a minute left and no timeouts but a penalty blew that. Then we had the Gastineau penalty ( Carl Howard hit Kosar in the head on the same play a spilt second after Gastineau which in my opinion really caught the ref’s attention ) Then lastly Jerry Holmes dropped a game saving INT in the EZ right before the tying FG.......They didn’t have a chance offensively in OT the only way they could have pulled in out would of been a Browns turnover deep in their own territory - they were finished psychologically. Sad but a lot of blame to go around.
@mrjet80 as usual Mr Jet excellent post and recap. Always enjoy reading your detailed insight into past Jets seasons.
@mrjet80 yeah the championship window for the core of that team was RAPIDLY CLOSING by 1986....on a week-by-week basis, basically. By 1987 it was effectively slammed shut.
@DefenseWinsChampionships The refs didnt's crew the Jets DWC. It was a good call. It was definitely a late hit (as I recall Gastineau took two full steps after Kosar had released the ball) AND Gastineau speared him in the lower back with the crown of his helmet. Just a boneheaded play.
Pat I think DWC may be referring to a pass interference call earlier in either that drive or the one before which produced the TD making it 20-17 I can’t remember which but I seem to recall another defensive penalty in the backfield which didn’t seem to be a big deal at the time but turned out to be a really big deal.....
oh okay, @mrjet80 I thought he was referring to the infamous Gastineau late hit. Sorry if I misinterpreted your post, @DefenseWinsChampionships . On an unrelated note, props to you @mrjet80 for bringing up the fact that Gastineau had a horrible season in 1986. I just looked it up on profootballreference. I had no idea that he had such little impact that year, even when healthy. as you stated only 2 sacks all season??!!! he was obviously injured, but he did play in 10 games, starting 7. That is a far cry from his performance up until 85. '86 was basically the beginning of the end of Gastineau's career. He totaled only 13.5 sacks from 86-88 his final season!!!
