I was watching one of my games on DVD. Actually it was the Jets/Chiefs 1986 Wildcard game and during halftime they mentioned that Paul Maguire jinxed the Jets. Does anyone remember how or what he said that was the "jinx"? We did lose 5 straight games that year to end the season.
He was picking against the Jets most of the season and we kept winning then the week we were 10-1 he said we wouldn't win a game the rest of the year and we lost our last 5 reg season games before bouncing back to win the WC game over KC.
the Jets were 10-1 in '86 at the time.......then he predicted on national TV that "the Jets would not win another game this year" ......he was right. (till playoffs)....He's an ex-Buffalo Bill(an "idiot" kicker)...and a true Jet hater
He and Dick Young are the only two sports media people I ever sincerely wished death upon. Every week, he said the Jets sucked, and would collapse. When it actually happened..... I tried to send him three pounds of head cheese, and ask him to die of a heart attack, but never could find a place to send it where he might actually recieve it.
so true, and Dick Young couldn't suck up to Namath enough after Supe 3........"Joey Baby" was now respectfully called "Broadway Joe"
Does anyone remember the five teams the Jets lost to? I remember the game with the Steelers because I was with the only Steeler fan at the University of Connecticut that year, and Mark Malone was the Steeler QB, having a bad season on a bad team. The guy kept saying: "I can't believe we're winning" and I kept thinking "I can't believe Paul Maguire is going to be right!"
OK, it's not just me that hates Maguire because of 1986. (And also because he comes across as a complete and total moron...) He picked against us every week, and then when we actually started losing, he hailed himself as a genius.
No, Young and Paul Zimmerman and Larry whatshisname from the Daily News were part of the "Joe Namath Haters Fan Club." Namath hated the press and especially the non-beat guys.
Jets last five regular season games in 1986: lost 3-45 at Miami (8-8) lost 3-17 vs Rams (10-6) lost 10-24 at San Francisco (10-5-1) lost 24-45 vs Steelers (6-10) lost 21-52 at Cincinnati (10-6) The Jets scored 364 points and allowed 386. The 1986 Jets were perhaps the worst 10-6 team ever when you look at numbers and results. They squeaked by the 4-12 Bills twice. They struggled to beat New Orleans at home and they had an amazing win over an 8-8 Miami team where they overcame a horrible performance by the defense. In the end, the Jets did play well in the postseason until the final few minutes of regulation in Cleveland. In 1986, three division winners and two wild card teams made the playoffs. New England, Cleveland, and Denver won divisions. There were four 10-6 teams for two wild card spots. The Jets got the first wild card based on better conference record (8-4) than Kansas City (9-5), Seattle (7-5), and Cincinnati (7-5). Kansas City got the second wild card. The Jets most important win was their 38-7 beatdown of Seattle.
What was really scary was HOW we lost those 5 games. It started with the 45-3 thumping at Miami on MNF. The Jets were missing 5 starters on defense including their entire DL but that didn't explain being held to 3 points by a pretty bad defense which we smoked for 51 points in week 3. The next week we were held to 3 points again at home by the Rams , the folowing week we again were held to 3 points by the Niners until a garbage TD late in the game. Then came the game with Pittsburgh which we fell behind, rallied to within 17-14 in the third quarter with the ball on the one yard line and wound up having to settle for the tie. Then Joe Klecko got hurt again and the defense completely fell apart - 4 TD's for the Steelers in the final 20 minutes - and we lost 45-24. Then the finale at Cincinnati with the Jets returning the opening kickoff for a TD, only to have Cincy run their's back to tie the game. A 21-17 halftime lead turned into a humiliating 52-21 loss leaving myself and most Jet fans to wonder how a season so promising had been reduced to rubble in just 5 weeks......
I remember McGuire saying that like it was yesterday, and I've despised the man ever since. I can't stomach him on ESPN broadcasts. I mean, this bozo was a punter on a team that punted pretty much every series, so there's some credibility for you. It makes me value his opinion about as much as a ballboy on the sidelines
This had a lot more to do with it than anything McGuire said. They were also missing Reggie McElroy, starting LT, and O'Brien's immobility combined with cold and wind stalled our passing game, which was the key to the offense. Funny story--in the early 90's I was working in Western Pa, and this guy was telling me his son always kicked his ass at this video game by using the 85 Bears. He couldn't move the ball. So I asked him if the game accounted for injuries or weather and he said no. I told him then to try to 86 Jets. When I saw him a few weeks later, I asked him how it went, he said he finally beat him, passed all over them. Of course the 85 team didn't do so well vs the Bears, essentially the same guys, but it was in cold windy weather as well.
