The Thursday Top 10: Jet Killers!
First a quick Top 10 comment — I’d like to thank everyone who shared their Jet favorites two weeks back. You all brought up some great players, and I can tell you a lot of those guys were on my initial lists — players like Coles, Shuler and yes, even Nuu Faaola! I even had Don Maynard on my list, but I never really saw him play and he’s never been around the team to the extent Namath has, so I don’t have a real affinity for him. Still though, loved all the great feedback and hope it might extend to today’s post –
JET KILLERS!
Okay, let me say right up front, I don’t doubt I’m forgetting a few on this list (which is focused more on the era I’ve seen, late 70s forward), and that you all may feel certain guys should be higher or lower. Please feel free to contribute here! And when I think of Jet killers, I think of guys that at one point or another, either drove a cold, hard stake through the heart of the team, or always seemed to have great day against the green-and-white.
One other note — I purposely did not include actual Jets on this list (like Doug Brien in Pittsburgh or Keith Byars in Denver or Vinny from Elmont vs. Baltimore). Maybe another list for another day, especially since even after the draft, we have three months to training camp!
All right, on to The Top 10 Jet Killers!
10. AJ Duhe – Talk about one performance permanently wrecking a franchise! Duhe’s three interceptions of Richard Todd in the 1982 AFC championship game on Jan. 23, 1983, aka The Mud Bowl, singlehandedly knocked the Jets from a Super Bowl berth, and some might argue, the team from its course — Walt Michaels was out, Joe Walton (and his clean bathrooms) were in and although they had some success (‘85 and ‘86), it would take a while for the team to get back on track and to a conference championship game.
9. Garrison Hearst – One killer play that sticks out in recent Jets history was Hearst’s thrilling (for 49ers fans) 96-yard TD ramble to beat the Jets 36-30 in the opener of what was an otherwise very good 1998 season. He had a total of 20 carries for 187 yards in that game, and a nice 20-carry, 95-yard day in a 19-17 49ers win in 2001 in his only other game against the Jets. Total: 40 carries, 282 yards for a 7.05 yards/carry average. Thank goodness he only played them twice!
8. Mark Ingram – On Nov. 28, 1994 — a day that will live in Jets infamy — Ingram had 9 catches for 117 yards, but more importantly caught four TD passes from Dan Marino, the last of which sealed victory for the Dolphins in a play that has haunted the team ever since and made them the butt of countless jokes, not to mention added a term into the NFL lexicon: The Fake Spike.
7. Peyton Manning – Some of you kids out there may have forgotten that before 2001, the Colts were actually in the AFC East, which meant the Jets had to face Manning twice a year. He has posted solid numbers against them overall (7-3 regular season record, 233 of 373 for 2,505 yards and 13 TDs), but it was the game in the 4th week of the 2006 season — when it looked like the Jets had the eventual Super Bowl champions beat on a late Justin Miller TD kick return when Manning rallied the Colts to a last-drive score including taking the ball in for a TD himself — that puts Manning on this list.
6. Mike Vrabel - Hint: If he’s lined up by the goal line on offense, will someone — anyone – please cover this guy when he slips out?!! Oh yeah, and there’s all those timely sacks and interceptions, too. But the ‘05 Week 16 MNF game with two TD receptions and a sack, in particular, was the coup de grace in an already awful season.
5. Willis McGahee – In only six games against the Jets (not counting his first game against them, when he split with Travis Henry), McGahee has gained 760 yards on 156 carries — 127 yards game, with a healthy 4.9 yards per carry, which is well above his NFL career average of 75 yards/game and 3.9 yards/carry. He’s only scored 4 TDs versus the Jets, but it sure seems like a lot more, doesn’t it? Still, he springs to mind as the very definition of a Jet killer.
4. Bruce Smith – Here’s a guy that could take the title of “Jet killer” literally — his infamous skull-rattling blindside hit on Boomer Esiason in an October 8, 1995 29-10 victory over the Jets still makes me (and I’m sure Boomer) wince 13 years later. Esiason missed nearly a month with a concussion and the team went on to lose 13 games. Of Smith’s 200 lifetime sacks, 31 came at the expense of Jets quarterbacks. Ouch!
3. Jim Kelly – Although he lost his first NFL game 28-24 to the Jets, Kelly threw for 292 yards and 3 TDs and established himself as a tough foe. He went 15-6 as a starter against the Jets, at one stretch beating them 11 out 13, including 7 in a row. Overall, he was 383 of 655 (58% passing) for 4,783 yards and 31 TDs, more than enough to kill the Jets on numerous occasions.
2. Dan Marino – Three words: The. Fake. Spike. Oh, and of that isn’t enough to live in the Jets Hall of Infamy, he threw for more TDs versus the Jets than against anyone in NFL history (72!!), including a haunting six in one game in 1986. I know the Jets beat him a fair amount of times, but it didn’t always feel like it.
1. Tom Brady – The three Super Bowls, 12-2 as a starter against the Jets, 7-0 at the Meadowlands . . . I don’t think I need to go on, do I? And the fact that one of the Jets’ own — Mo Lewis — was the catalyst for all this with his infamous hit on Drew Bledsoe, just makes the killing even more painful.
Dishonorable Mention
Bill Belichick – Okay, as much as he’s caused misery for this team — I think you’re all familiar with his resume — I leave him off the official list for two reasons: 1. He’s not a player, and the list is player-only, and 2. When he was a Jets coordinator, you have to give him his due — he did do a very good job. Still killed them when he resigned as the HC of the NYJ, though …
Al Davis and The Oakland Raiders – From the infamous Heidi game to knocking the Jets out of the playoffs in consecutive seasons (‘01 and ‘02) to that game in 2003 where the Raiders humiliated the Jets defense by rushing on 19 straight plays, Al Davis has seemingly always gone out of his way to be a thorn in the Jets side, and often successfully. They lead the all-time series 19-14 over the Jets, but it seems as though they always manage to win at the right time. This past off-season, rumor has it he even made sure the Raiders kept a possibly fired Rob Ryan when he heard the Jets might be interested. The names change, but the black-and-silver always seems to be a pain in the Jets’ backside!
Marks Clayton & Duper – I can’t do all the math on these guys, but trust me when I tell you they had lots of big yards and TDs against the Jets over the years.
Thurman Thomas – Although he only had 9 games where he gained over 100 yards combined rushing and receiving against the Jets (including a memorable game in ‘90 where he ran for 214 yards alone), Thomas always seem to have the knack for making the big play when needed, including finding the end zone 10 times.
Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas – I don’t know if these guys are true Jet killers as much as they are just great players, but it does seem as though they need a mention here. Maybe they’re on the all-time nemesis list? Hmm . . . fodder for another day.
Thanks to Bassett, Bent, Drack and D. Rose for their input on this one!
Filed under: Main Page, Opinion/R in CT
Great Post! It’s funny how I can see most of those plays in my mind (The spike, the 96 yard run, last years 108 yard kick off return by NE) with a cry of “OH NO!!”. One killer that goes back a while is a “Stone Wall named Jackson”…
Although I don’t think there was an extensive history of this PWN-age (I guess which would make it similar to Garrison Hearst being a Jet killer), I still have nightmares of my pre-season hopes for a playoff run being completely thrown in the garbage in the first game, when the dynamic duo of PREIST HOLMES and LARRY JOHNSON ran roughshod over the JETS’ defense, gaining 20 yards on sweep plays at will.
That was a tough one to watch. Didn’t help that Chad fumbled (I think) about 3 times.
One of the most inept games I’ve ever seen. But the memory of LJ and Priest walking all over the JETS’ D is hard to forget!
Z. Thomas and J. Taylor are definetly NOT Jet killers, good players yes, but not Jet killers. If you look at the time they were with Miami, Thomas 12 years and Taylor 11, we beat the fish 17 of 24 games.
I think he fumbled closer to 6 times. He wasn’t healed yet. Damn you Herm!
I know you said Doug Brien was excluded, along with the rest of the Jets players, but it bears mention that he was the only one on offense who actually scored any points in that game in Pittsburgh. And while he certainly should have made either one of those game winners he missed, he gets a disproportionate amount of blame for the loss. Chad, the O-line, receivers, the great Curtis even, Paul Hackett and last but not least, Herm, all combined for a big, fat ZERO points.
ramble, just remember that D’Brick was only on the JETS the last 2 years.
Imagine how many sacks Taylor would have had if they came into the league the same year!
Doug Brien was who it got left to and that is why I hate him. Chad’s arm was falling off and it showed. We over achieved that game. I never liked Hackett but Chad and him were great together. Curtis got stopped by a defense that knew Chad wasn’t throwing and was great that year. Herm is an idiot. Someone needed to win that game and Brien had the best and only chances.
Ah, I do not need to be reminded of the Byars fumble! I still have no idea why he decided to leap. That was arguably the first game where I felt what it was like to be a Jet fan.
I know it was only one game, but I remember during the 2006 season, Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew each had 2 rushing td’s against the Jets.
I don’t know where that day stands in terms of Jet killer moments, but I can tell you that it was a killer of my fantasy football team. My opponent that day just happened to start both Taylor and MJD.
A Jets Killers list is not complete with Jets players, coaches, management, and owners.
Here is my short list:
1. Pat Leahy
2. Chad Pennington
3. Leon Hess
4. Rich Kotite
5. Woody Johnson
Very interesting, you cannot put AJ Duhe as 10, he cost us a SB trip, also I would put Thurman Thomas up into the top 5, Steve Grogan, S Morgan, D Marino, etc.
When you get consistently abused by a player year after year like B. Smith, T Thomas, Kelly, Reeds etc. I think that they are bigger Jet killers than some of the ones metioned, the team actually played in the 70’s and only won +/- 40 games in the decade so there were alot of killers.
You can’t say A.J. Duhe without adding Don Shula, who it is widely rumored purposely left the field uncovered to create the “Mud Bowl.”
Marino threw 72tds agains us! If you do the math, 1 out of every 6tds he threw was against the Jets! Thats scary!
Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly should be grouped together!
AJ Duhe! Hate him! The damn Fish didnt cover the field and left it all muddy making it extremely hard to run on. Which stalled our run-based offense. I cant believe that cost us a SB!
Raiders are always there to fudge it up. If we didnt lose to them in the playoffs who knows how far we could have gone!
off the topic…anyone who is a fan or even familiar with the show SOUTH PARK, needs to watch the one that was just on wednesday night. it repeats alot between now and next wednesday. Cartman mocks edward james olmos role in STAND AND DELIVER… by teaching the kids to cheet…and in rare south park form, he uses BILL BELICHEK as his example of how cheating works. the very end of the show is hysterical, when he gives his final speech by saying “look what happened when bill belicheck decided not to cheat….he lost” (or words to that effect)
the other storyline of the episode is stupid…but i promise all of u in jet land, eric cartman mocking olmos’ accent…and saying “belichek” is priceless!
After the Fake Spike, I thought, OK then, we’ll rush even if you indicate you’re going to spike it. They never did it. I thought THAT was worse!
They didn’t play often, but Barry Sanders deserves honorable mention as a Jet killer.
AJ Duhe doesn’t do what he did without Don Shula not doing what he didn’t do.
Jeff – yeah, the Raiders – good point….2 frustrating playoff losses and that late night game where we had momentum and they wheeled out the freaking golf cart with Tim Brown’s family, neighbour, dentist and goldfish on it and then scored a TD on the next play and went on to win. I know we got them in the John Hall game, but that was meaningless for them (and they eliminated us the next week). I was terrified when we faced them for a playoff place in 2006, even though they sucked.
JAGG/subwayfare – I actually watched the Steeler game again recently and – you probably won’t believe me but what the heck – Chad was actually throwing with more zip than he has at any point since the surgery. He ended up with pretty average stats, but I can’t tell you how many passes he drilled into a gap with a defensive back draped all over the defender (last year’s Chad would have completed less than 10 passes). Even the interception was partly due to a poorly designed play, Becht being slow and great play by Polamalu. What they didn’t do is throw downfield…ever. I guess with the 2 defensive TDs they just tried to cling on for the win without taking any risks. It was brutal playcalling, but maybe it was so tough for Chad because nobody had to cover deep. Since the surgery though his issue hasn’t been throwing deep, it’s been throwing hard. And he had completed a long bomb the week before to Moss. Just a bit of added perspective from an admittedly biased fan of Chad’s.
DSmizzle – That’s a funny comment, but Brick has handled Taylor really well for the most part. Certainly better than some of his predecessors.
Ramble – I agree, JT and ZT are not Jet Killers. They would probably top a list of opponents that it is the most fun to beat though!
And finally and most importantly:
r – where’s the Heidi Klum picture? Booooo.
For all the talk of Marino being a Jet killer, we beat up on him pretty good. He might have those 72 TDS, but most were earlier in his career. He also holds another record (one which he took from a Joe Willie Namath) – most interceptions returned for TDs. And it was against the JETS that he broke that record. Yeah, the Fake Spike sucked, but we got him back for it. The very next year, the 3-13 Jets beat the fins when Aaron Glenn returned a Marino pass over 90 yards for a TD. Don’t think he threw much towards Glenn after that.
Do you think Manning felt like a Jet killer after the Jets shut him out 41-0 in the playoffs? He gets a lot of credit for all his acting and pre-snap juking at the line, but I remember that the announcers were making fun of him for looking like a “confused energizer bunny” during the game.
I bet there are actually a whole lot of Jets on the Dolphin-killers list.
Bent:
D’Brick may ahve played overall decent games vs. Taylor, but I’m sure I’m not imagining Brick getting pick up and literally thrown to the ground by Taylor a few times the past 2 years.
Oh yeah, there was a memorable one in his rookie year where he absolutely schooled him, but potential future hall-of-famers will school rookies from time to time and hopefully Brick learned from that one (and I think it was one of only two tackles Taylor had on that day).
On the whole, he has done well IMO.
Sure, Marino beat the Jets when they were bad, but he lost a 6-TD game to the Jets in 1986 and Raul Allegre knocked him and the Dolphins out of the wild card in 1991. The Jets killed Marino, too. No way I would put him at no. 2, but he earned his spot for the fake spike.
You left off Steve Grogan, who humiliated the Jets in their worst loss ever, a 56-3 shellacking in 1979. He also stepped in and beat the Jets in 1986 and many times during his career. Unlike Marino, he had a knack for beating good Jets teams (the ‘79 team was 8-8). I’ll never forget when good old no. 99 took him out in ‘81. I hated Grogan more than Marino, but less than Brady and Manning.
Also, I’d forget the Bills players…so what, they dominated bad and mediocre Jets teams. How does that compare to Jim Zorn, who I don’t think ever lost to the Jets, was on a bad Seahawks team and was a good reason that the Jets couldn’t make the playoffs in ‘78 and ”79. In ‘81, he and Krieg beat the Jets twice! That kept the Jets from winning the division. If memory serves me right, Mr. Hess pushed through a rule that no team faces a non-divisional opponent anymore because of ’81’s twin debacles against the Seahawks.
And, there’s also O.J., who was, besides being a real killer, also a Jets killer. I still remember his setting the single-season rushing record against the Jets in the snow at Shea. As an aside, because of O.J.’s infamy, nobody talks anymore about how great an RB he was…he was awesome.
IMO, no list of Jets killers is complete without Grogan, Zorn and O.J.
I meant a non-divisional opponent twice in the same season anymore…the Jets 2 losses in ‘81 was, I believe, the catalyst for the rule.
I suggested OJ. Rinky must’ve thought I was joking. Well, obviously I was partially, but yes he used to run the Jets ragged – although weren’t we pretty mediocre back then too?
Sure, Peyton Manning has beat us pretty good in the regular season, but we kicked his a$$ really bad in the playoffs during the 2002 season. In fact, the Jets shut him out 41-0. That was one of the best games I’ve ever seen the Jets play, they dominated every aspect of the game. So I’m not so sure he deserves to be on the last.
Bent, the Jets were bad or mediocre, but so were the Bills, plus OJ gets bonus points for setting the record against the Jets, who all vowed to stop him.
I almost put Bert Jones up there. His Colts teams routinely killed the Jets, but when the Jets got better, the Jets started to beat Jones and the Colts. In the heyday of the Marchibroda-Jones Colts (‘75-’77), Jones killed the Jets.
AJ Duhe should be #1!
If it wasen’t for AJ Duhe the Jets would have made it to the Super Bowl that year.
Guess what guy’s… The Jets would have WON that Super Bowl Game.
The had the best defense in the league (The Best Year for the Sack Exchange) and they had Freeman McNeil who would have run for 200+ yards.
Yes, only if AJ Duhe didn’t exist and it didn’t rain that who week in Miami!!!
If ONLY…
RICKY WILLIAMS!!!! I HATE THAT GUY
You’re missing the biggest Jet killer from last year, Justin McCarriens. From his clean drop and then tip drill to ray lewis in week 2, the set the tone for giving games away.
Remember our huge(well for us) 2nd game against the Pats last year when he was the last player in the NFL to be intimidated Rodney Harrison and dropped a catchable TD in the back of the end zone? I view game film of McCariens 2007 and react the same way as Nick Nolte did in “Blue Chips” as he watch game footage of one of his players shaving points.
Also, how is Peyton so high? Because he ran in a touchdown at the end of a game in a season where the Jets still made the playoffs? How about the 41-0 whipping the Jets put on Peyton in 2003? Its our only playoff shut out in team history. How is he 7th on the list.
Give Garrison Hearst more props, the video of him destroying the Jets is the 2nd most watched Jets youtube clip behind our draft bloopers.
Give Richard Seymore some props too, it seems like everytime we lose to the Pats it seems like its him making the last sack. The stats may not support this because he’s a 3-4 lineman, but we all know he’s the most important cog to a new england line that has terrorized us since the turn of the century.
You should’ve made an “up and coming Jets Killer” section too for D’Brickashaw “The Matador” Ferguson and Brad “Hands of Stone” Smith
Hearst’s individual performance was awesome, but that’s only 2 games against the Jets. If you like stats, this is what Grogan did in ‘79:
had incredible day in leading Patriots to a record setting 56-3 win over the Jets (9-9-79), completing 13 of 18 passes (72.2%) for 315 yards and 5 TDs…
he holds the Patriots’ single-game record with a 227.8 quarterback rating, which he achieved by completing 13 of 18 passes for 315 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions (9/9/79 vs. NY Jets)
And, this was just one of many losses that Grogan handed to the Jets, not just 2 games.
Thanks for all the comments. As I said, the positions and the players are debatable, which is all the fun, right?
Bent — I totally forgot OJ somehow. My bad. X2 for forgetting about Heidi! I owe you a beer … or two.
SD99 — Great call on Grogan. Like I said in the intro, I definitely know there were guys who I was forgetting about, and he’s a big one. Zorn would’ve been a good addition.
R in CT, Zorn’s obscure, but when I was a kid, the Jets inability to beat the expansion Seahawks and Zorn pretty much encapsulated the hell of a Jets fan.
Zorn against the Jets:
1977 – W (17-0) 16/37, 219 yds, 2 Tds
1978 – W (24-17) 19/26, 191, 0 Td
1979 – W (30-7) 25/32, 285, 3 Tds
1980 – W (27-17) 17/27, 258, 0 Td
1981 – W (19-3) 13/21, 172, 1 Td
1983 – W (17-10) 7/15, 81, 0 Td
One real big day, but 6-0 — definitely a killer! Great call.
Um, how about the John Elway and the Broncos from ‘98, we should have gone on to destroy the Falcons in the Super Bowl that year, especially up 10-0 at one point. we were the best team in the AFC thatyear and with Minnesota going down ealrier in the day, we were the best team left.
Sack-
Good call on both Grogan and Bert Jones. But Jones was the rare opponent whose game I admired so much I almost forgave him for killing us. John Riggins has been quoted as saying Bert was the toughest competitor he has ever witnessed. Coming from him, that’s saying something.
For the elder Jets fan, who could forget how Daryl Lamonica and Ken Stabler would smash us. Throw in Lenny Dawson from the Chiefs – they beat the J-E-T-S in the 69-70 playoffs, preventing us from repeating as SB Champs.
I’m glad someone mentioned Grogan. He was a killer.
i’ll take credit for Grogan, good call on Stabler, could add Cliff Branch as well
oh puh-leez.
nobody remembers steve grogan and stanley morgan carving them up?
have to admit zorn was a good one. that game was a shock, but that zorn turned out to be pretty good took away some of that sting.
Stabler was the QB on championship-calibre Raiders teams when he faced mediocre and, mostly bad, Jets teams. He’s like Jim Kelly…they were killers of most AFC teams during their eras.
Another obscure Jets killer: Don Hasselbeck, the Pats 2nd string TE who cheap shotted Joe Klecko and ruined his career. Klecko was on his back with his legs in the air and Hasselbeck went into his legs like he was up against the sled at practice. Just a vicious, cowardly hit on a defenseless player out of the play. I’m getting angry all over again. I better take a walk outside.
Zorn pretty good?!? He pretty much sucked, unless he played the Jets. Here’s his lifetime stats, a 53% completion pct., 30 more INTs to TDs and a 67.3 QB rating and his Seahawks teams never cracked .500. He stunk and the Seahawks stunk; yet, he was 6-0 against the Jets. Now, I really need that walk.
Dave75,
Yes the Broncos beat us in that game, but Elway didn’t really play all that well. We lost the game due to 4 fumbles and 2 INTs in that game. Elway was 13-34 173 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks given up (also 3 rushes for 13yds). That’s not exactly a Jets Killer.
ummmmmm,, herm edwards anyone? i dont actually believe he did such a terrible job, but the fact that almost any conversation having to do with our latest personnel moves has something to do with edwards making a mess of everything really kinda makes me wonder why you arent all ranting about our old coach, who mangini felt had to completely redo the roster because of his damage.
Also i have a plan for a top ten soon. either funniest jets momoents or craziest jets names. idk why i just wanna see what you come up with
I still can’t think about 1998- that Broncos game was the only time I have teared up over over a sporting event. Granted I was completely bombed by the time the game ended but still those were legit tears.
Jason Taylor and Zack Thomas?? What are you on ludes….the Jets have destroyed these guys…yeah, they are great players, but Jet killers…I think not. These guys cry when thinking about the Jets, just like we do when we think back on Shula not covering the Orange Bowl field in ‘83.
what about jerry butler, and joe ferguson??
I moved to London on Jan 1, 1999 for 6 months. I remember watching the AFC Championship game like it was yesterday. Megget let that kick off fall in front of him, Chrebet slipping on a short post and the ball landing in the safeties arms, Byars . . . damn it Byars. You simply cannot blow a 10 point lead on the road with 1/2 hr left to get to the show. I beat up every bus stop sign between the pub and my flat that night. To top it off, my father has been a season ticket holder since they were the Titans and I had found out earlier that day that we had won two tickets in the lottery for tickets to the Super Bowl.