Countdown to Camp: 81
As we look ahead to training camp in late July, we're going to take a daily retrospective look back at some random people, moments and games from Jets history...
The Current 81
Quincy Enunwa makes his return from a neck injury that caused him to miss the entire 2017 season. If he can bring the same kind of exciting playmaking in 2018 that he did in 2016, then the Jets might have one of the most exciting receiver groups in the AFC.
The Greatest
Gerry Philbin was one of the defensive leaders on the Jets team that won Super Bowl III. Unofficially, Philbin racked up 19 sacks that year and was a pro bowler a couple of times as well as being named to the All-time All-AFL team. Defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan said that Philbin should be in the hall of fame.
The other 81's
Dustin Keller, Derrick Gaffney, Terance Mathis...
The '81 season
The 1981 season was one of the most memorable in team history as the Jets finally ended a playoff drought of over a decade. This was the birth of the New York Sack Exchange with pro bowlers Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko ably assisted by Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam.
Offensive linemen Marvin Powell and Joe Fields also went to the pro bowl as they blocked for a stable of six backs that each racked up over 250 yards on the ground.
In the most memorable game of the year, a banged-up Richard Todd's late touchdown pass to Jerome Barkum gave the Jets a 16-15 win over their divisional rivals Miami, following a key short yardage stop by Salaam. That made the Jets 7-4-1 on the year and they blew out the Packers in the final game of the season a few weeks later to secure their 10th win and a wild card spot.
An early Bruce Harper fumble in the wild card game against the Bills saw the Jets fall into a big hole early and Todd's valiant comeback fell just short as the Jets got down to the 10-yard line but couldn't score, losing 31-27.
81 yards to paydirt
Here's an 81-yard touchdown from last season as Myles Jack goes all the way with a dropped lateral. The Jets still won this game, despite choking away a comfortable lead, which is hopefully a sign that they're not too far off being able to compete with the AFC's better teams.
Let us know if there's any connections to 81 that we missed...