First ever Jets win in St. Louis

Looks like we can cross another city off the list of futility.....the only NFL cities the Jets have never won a game in are Jacksonville ( we play there in 3 weeks) and Philadelphia.:beer:

 

The Jets lost at the St. Louis Cardinals on MNF in 1971 and then at the St. Louis Rams twice in 1998 and the last game of the 2004 season. Junc is right the Jets had played only 3 total games played in St. Louis prior to yesterdy's win.

 

True. Especially during the 90s when the Rams were just as bad - if not worse- as the Jets. At one point the Jets lost seven straight in the series including several blowouts.

 

A couple of reasons......the Jets played the Cardinals three times in the 70s ( that's actually alot of times considering they were in different conferences) but the home and away determination back then was hard to figure. In 1978 when the scheduling went from 14 to 16 games it was guaranteed that every division would play a different division in the other conference so that they would play every three years. However the team that finished last would NOT follow that format but would play a 'last place' schedule. The Jets always seemed to finish last the year before they were due to play the NFC East however the Cardinals and the Jets never seemed to finish in last place during the same season which meant they always seemed to miss their rotation. Confusing huh?

In fact the Jets played the Cardinals in 1978 - they won - but did not play them for another 18 years - which accounted for their only victory in 1996 out in Arizona. Nowadays this would never happen as both the divisions and the scheduling rotations are more balanced.

Fun fact: When the Jets beat the Cardinals in that 1978 game it was during the week the Yankees won the WS against the Dodgers. The Yankees wouldn't win another World Series for 18 years and the Jets didn't play the Cardinals for another 18 years but they both won again during the same week.....18 years later.

 

I know. Depressing. The Jets had double digit halftime leads on three different occasions against the Eagles and still couldn't put them away. Blowing a 17-0 lead in the first game back in 1973 was an onimous sign.....

 

The Jets have done surprisingly well against Minnesota (8-1) and Green Bay (8-3). Those are two damn good franchises historically and they must scratch their heads looking at their history against the Jets the same way the Jets scratch their heads when they see lifetime 4-9 against the Rams, 2-8 against Washington, and 0 for 9 with the Eagles. But once again alot of it is rotation. The Jets always seemed to have a good team whenever they played the NFC Central just like they always seemed bad when the played the NFC East. Although to be fair Green Bay was so-so for a while in the late 70s and 80s. But It is pretty damn hard to play nine games against one franchise (even when spread over almost 40 years) and not win a single time....

Even Tampa Bay. Yes they were awful much of the time but we seemed to crush them when they had good teams too.....1997 for instance.

 

This is true but back when the Cardinals were in St. Louis, one team from each division (the last place team) would be excluded from the normal rotation and put on a last place schedule. That's why the Jets and Cardinals went 18 years without playing each other. Either the Jets or the Cardinals would finish last the year before the rotation just but not both at the same time. Starting in 2002 all divisions turned into four teams and that 'last place' schedule was eliminated....