With all the great responses to the "reminiscence" threads we've been reading lately, I thought it might be fun to post a revised and updated version of a "humorous" reply I posted several years ago to someone who stated that the Jets had no excuse for not winning the Super Bowl since 1969. So here you have 45 one-line explanations (some would say pathetic & lame excuses) as to why the Jets missed out of the Super Bowl for the past 45 years. Hopefully, we'll see the irony, the humor, the bad luck and the repetitive nature of the problems that have befallen the Jets in their quest to win another Super Bowl. It might be fun to see if you could catch all the references, and I hope the old ones are not too obscure. 1969 Jets play-off chances vs KC blown away by the strong winds at Shea 1970 Namath injured 1971 Namath injured 1972 Jets finish second, only 7 games behind undefeated Dolphins 1973 Namath injured 1974 Jets think season begins in Week 9 1975 Jets fail to live up to unrealistic pre-season expectations 1976 Lou Holtz thinks NFL season only lasts 13 games 1977 Not all Alabama QBs drafted in first round are the same 1978 Matt Robinson comes off bench to spark a promising 8-8 season 1979 Matt Robinson’s injury leads to a disappointing 8-8 season 1980 Jets fail to live up to unrealistic pre-season expectations 1981 Fumble on kick-off leads to unexpected Bills victory over Jets in play- offs 1982 Todd completes 20 passes, including 5 to Dolphins, in AFC championship game 1983 Walton turns cap forward, Jets take a step backward 1984 Gastineau gets O’Brien arrested @ disco, ruins Jets season 1985 Fumble on kick-off leads to unexpected Pats victory over Jets in play-offs 1986 Gastineau commits single worst penalty in Jets history, ruins Jets season 1987 Gastineau crosses picket line, ruins Jets season 1988 Gastineau quits team, ruins Jets season 1989 Coach for life Walton coaches one year too long 1990 New coach, same old Jets 1991 Blair Thomas fumbles 1992 Browning Nagle fails to live up to unrealistic pre-season expectations 1993 Jets’ failure to live up to realistic pre-season expectations gets Coslet canned 1994 Marino spikes Jets 1995 Rich Kotite 1996 Rich Kotite 1998 Parcells thinks Leon Johnson can pass 1998 Jets think AFC championship game only 40 minutes long 1999 Vinny snaps his Achilles 2000 Groh’s Cavalier attitude costs Jets 2001 Jets can’t beat Raiders two games in a row 2002 Jets can’t beat Raiders two seasons in a row 2003 Chad snaps his wrist 2004 Herm plays not to win the game vs Steelers 2005 Jets lose two QBs for season in same game 2006 Mangenius not enough for Jets to overcome Pats 2007 Mangidiot too much for Jets to overcome 2008 Favre shows his privates but hides his injury 2009 Jets think AFC championship game only 30 minutes long 2010 Jets think AFC championship game starts at 8:00 pm 2011 Eric Smith misses tackles on Tebow & Cruz, ruins Jets season 2012 Sanchez makes too many turnovers 2013 Geno makes too many turnovers
The last one for this year should be Clyde Gates drops td pass in endzone,or Lack of playmakers catches up with Jets after 5-4 start
Hey, great OP. Funny but also painful, as in the Lou Holtz and Blair Thomas references in particular. At least for me. I do have one quibble, though. I know Eric Smith was not a popular player, but to pin 2011 on him is more than a bit much. I guess I should also add your entry on 1978 is not in keeping with the rest. Robinson coming off the bench was the reason it was another failed season? Loved the 1992- 1993 sequence. Well played.
I think the point was, those two plays epitomized in a nutshell the failures at the end of the season. _
I kind of think Muck's meltdowns epitomized the way 2011 went, but I understand your point. Ftr I blame Kyle Wilson more on Cruz's reception than Smith.
In 1998 didnt we loss a punt in the wind,, Think that was David Meget. Could have been called " Gone With The Wind )
It was a kickoff. we had a 10-0 lead then the play of the game happened. A bomb from Elway to McCaffery that set up a TD to cut it to 10-7 then meggett screwed up the KO and Den recovered and tied it as we never recovered after those plays.
