The 10 best and 10 worst Jets regular seasons of all-time based on Point Differential

[Jetsfan80]

I was on pro-football-reference.com looking something else up and noticed that they provide the ability to sort by Point Differential for all-time results.  Here's how the best and worst regular seasons rank, based on Point Differential.  I also included the Coach, top Passer, Rusher and Receiver on those teams, as well at the player who received the top "Appoximate Value" on the team, per the site:

Jets 10 best regular seasons

1.  1998 (12-4):  +150 Point Differential  -- Parcells, Testaverde, Martin, Keyshawn Johnson (# 1 AV:  Mo Lewis)
2.  1968 (11-3):  +139  -- Ewbank, Namath, Snell, Maynard (# 1 AV:  Maynard)
3.  1985 (11-5):  +129  -- Joe Walton, O'Brien, McNeil, Shuler  (# 1 AV:  Klecko)
4.  2009 (9-7):  +112  -- Rex Ryan, Sanchez, Thomas Jones, Cotchery  (# 1 AV:  David Harris)
5.  1969 (10-4):  +84  -- Ewbank, Namath, Snell, Maynard  (# 1 AV:  Namath)
6.  1982 (6-3):  +79  -- Walt Michaels, Richard Todd, McNeil, Wesley Walker  (# 1 AV:  Gastineau)
7.  2015 (10-6):  +73  -- Bowles, Fitzpatrick, Ivory, Marshall  (# 1 AV:  Wilkerson)
8.  2004 (10-6):  +72  --  Herm Edwards, Pennington, Martin, Moss  (# 1 AV:  Martin)
9.  1981 (10-5-1):  +68  -- Michaels, Todd, McNeil, Walker  (# 1 AV:  Klecko)
10.  2010 (11-5):  +63  -- Rex Ryan, Sanchez, Tomlinson, Braylon Edwards  (# 1 AV:  Pouha)

Jets 10 worst regular seasons

1.  1976 (3-11):  - 214 Point Differential  -- Lou Holtz/Mike Holovak, Namath, Clark Gaines, David Knight  (# 1 AV:  Gaines)
2.  1975 (3-11):  -175  -- Charlie Winner/Ken Shipp, Namath, Riggins, Rich Caster  (# 1 AV:  Riggins)
3.  1996 (1-15):  -175  -- Dick Kotite, Reich, Murrell, Chrebet  (# 1 AV:  Murrell)
4.  1989 (4-12):  -158  -- Walton, O'Brien, Johnny Hector, Jo-Jo Townsell  (# 1 AV:  Erik McMillan)
5.  1995 (3-13):  -151  -- Kotite, Esiason, Murrell, Chrebet  (# 1 AV:  Matt Brock)
6.  1963 (5-8-1):  -150  -- Ewbank, Dick Wood, Mark Smolinski, Bake Turner  (# 1 AV:  Turner)
7.  1962 (5-9):  -145  --  Bulldog Turner, Johnny Green, Dick Christy, Art Powell  (# 1 AV:  Larry Grantham)
8.  2016 (5-11):  -134  -- Bowles, Fitzpatrick, Forte, Enunwa  (# 1 AV:  Leonard Williams)
9.  2014 (4-12):  -118  -- Rex Ryan, Geno Smith, Ivory, Decker  (# 1 AV:  Sheldon Richardson)
10.  2005 (4-12);  -115  -- Edwards, Brooks Bollinger, Martin, Coles  (# 1 AV:  Ty Law)

 

My first immediate thought:  Their AV system must be highly flawed, given that Sione Pouha got the top ranking on that 2010 team.  Also David Harris had a higher score than Revis in 2009.  Strange.

I'm also surprised that 9-7 2009 team had such a better Point Differential than the 2010 team that went 11-5.  Schedule strength may have played a big factor as we went from a last place schedule to a 2nd-place schedule.  But still.

Lastly, Joe Walton was HC for our # 3 best season and also our # 4 worst season four years later.  Crazy.

[rangerous]

nice work.  not surprised about the walton differential in 1989.  wasn't that a strike year?  in any case that was walton's last season and he clearly lost the team.  but the numbers also underscore how important it is to score points.  a season's point differential is a pretty good indication of how the team is playing.  i don't know how well it applies to post season success but when i look at nba teams i feel much better about the teams with the higher point differential average than the others even if the records are the same.

[T0mShane]

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

[Beerfish]

2013 ny jets were -97.

The team that went 8-8 under rex and in which he was lauded as being a coaching genius when they were getting their asses kicked in every loss and in which they were out right handed two games by the other teams on the last play.

I still remember the big 'Rex is back!' celebration when that team was for sure not what their record said it was.  Because of that we got more time with bad rex.

[slimjasi]

15 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

Still crushes me to think about 99 and what could have been

[T0mShane]

Just now, slimjasi said:

Still crushes me to think about 99 and what could have been

It literally causes me to stare off into the distance wondering what could have been

[slimjasi]

That 98 team was so lit. 

1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

I'm also surprised that 9-7 2009 team had such a better Point Differential than the 2010 team that went 11-5.  Schedule strength may have played a big factor as we went from a last place schedule to a 2nd-place schedule.  But still.

Lastly, Joe Walton was HC for our # 3 best season and also our # 4 worst season four years later.  Crazy.

The 2009 team had stretches where it was ridiculously dominant defensively - beat up on some really bad offenses (Raiders, Bucs, Bills)

[peebag]

5 hours ago, T0mShane said:

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

Yes but a close 2nd is Pennington and Fielder going down in the same preseason game

[slimjasi]

12 minutes ago, peebag said:

Yes but a close 2nd is Pennington and Fielder going down in the same preseason game

It was a regular season game against the Jags. 

 

[funaz]

8 hours ago, Beerfish said:

2013 ny jets were -97.

The team that went 8-8 under rex and in which he was lauded as being a coaching genius when they were getting their asses kicked in every loss and in which they were out right handed two games by the other teams on the last play.

I still remember the big 'Rex is back!' celebration when that team was for sure not what their record said it was.  Because of that we got more time with bad rex.

Rex was the 2nd best coach in the Jets history. Better than Tuna, just below Ewbank. I wish we kept Rex.

[funaz]

3 hours ago, slimjasi said:

It was a regular season game against the Jags. 

 

It was against the jags, and it happened in a span of 4 plays. I was at the game, season over.

[RutgersJetFan]

It’s not too far off. Pouha was a statistical beast for that 2 year stretch. While the AV you’re pointing to is in 2010, for context consider the year prior. Look at how well the interior held up despite 2/3 of the season without Jenkins.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl2009

And the ‘10 year almost totally without Jenkins

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl2010

After Revis and Scott, Pouha might have been the most important guy on those defenses.

[nyjunc]

9 hours ago, slimjasi said:

It was a regular season game against the Jags. 

 

Yep and Chad went down twice.  He got hurt and left then fiedler came in and got hurt so Chad went back out there with another torn rotator cuff and nearly led us to the win if chrebet didn't drop the gw TD in the final minute forcing us to settle for the game tonight FG instead and we lost in OT.

[nyjunc]

14 hours ago, Beerfish said:

2013 ny jets were -97.

The team that went 8-8 under rex and in which he was lauded as being a coaching genius when they were getting their asses kicked in every loss and in which they were out right handed two games by the other teams on the last play.

I still remember the big 'Rex is back!' celebration when that team was for sure not what their record said it was.  Because of that we got more time with bad rex.

He did an incredible job with a rookie Geno and not a lot of talent on that team.  

[nyjunc]

15 hours ago, rangerous said:

nice work.  not surprised about the walton differential in 1989.  wasn't that a strike year?  in any case that was walton's last season and he clearly lost the team.  but the numbers also underscore how important it is to score points.  a season's point differential is a pretty good indication of how the team is playing.  i don't know how well it applies to post season success but when i look at nba teams i feel much better about the teams with the higher point differential average than the others even if the records are the same.

The strike was in 1987

14 hours ago, slimjasi said:

Still crushes me to think about 99 and what could have been

Yep, we finished 8-8 with Ray Lucas going 6-3.  Vinny was also never the same after that injury.

14 hours ago, slimjasi said:

That 98 team was so lit. 

The 2009 team had stretches where it was ridiculously dominant defensively - beat up on some really bad offenses (Raiders, Bucs, Bills)

The 2009 D was better than the 2010 D, they dominated early, struggled a bit late then played great for 2 playoff games before gagging in the title game

[NYs Stepchild]

15 hours ago, T0mShane said:

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

1986 was the worst year I experienced and the beginning of a death spiral.

Joe Walton is still the most hated person on earth for me. 

 

[nyjunc]

8 minutes ago, NYs Stepchild said:

1986 was the worst year I experienced and the beginning of a death spiral.

Joe Walton is still the most hated person on earth for me. 

 

He deserves some blame, he obviously underachieved with those teams but they were ravaged with injury on D late in the year and the QB was brutal.

[pdxgreen]

1976 was the worst.  Hunh... well at least they were motivated!

 

[NYs Stepchild]

1 minute ago, nyjunc said:

He deserves some blame, he obviously underachieved with those teams but they were ravaged with injury on D late in the year and the QB was brutal.

He was responsible for playing hurt players and he ruined the QB. 

Watch the 85 and 86 seasons then watch the end of 86. The 87 strike was bad then check out the 88 season culminating in 89 disaster. 

Text book method for ruining a QB prospect and wasting an elite team. 

[rangerous]

52 minutes ago, nyjunc said:

The strike was in 1987

Yep, we finished 8-8 with Ray Lucas going 6-3.  Vinny was also never the same after that injury.

The 2009 D was better than the 2010 D, they dominated early, struggled a bit late then played great for 2 playoff games before gagging in the title game

i thought the strike was earlier but it was pretty clear walton lost the team as a result of it.  they gave up in 89 and then the coslet era was born.

[Scott Dierking]

See, these are almost the glory days

[Skeptable]

18 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

My first immediate thought:  Their AV system must be highly flawed, given that Sione Pouha got the top ranking on that 2010 team.  Also David Harris had a higher score than Revis in 2009.  Strange.

Revis was barely thrown at in 2009 so his numbers are skewed... 

[Skeptable]

17 hours ago, T0mShane said:

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

Lucas, and Mirer as Qbs... disgusting... Especially when Tupa (punter) comes in and shows them all up by having the best game at QB than either of them did all year. 

[peebag]

1 hour ago, pdxgreen said:

1976 was the worst.  Hunh... well at least they were motivated!

 

The entire 70's sucked.

[Jetsfan80]

9 hours ago, funaz said:

Rex was the 2nd best coach in the Jets history. Better than Tuna, just below Ewbank. I wish we kept Rex. 

lol, nope.  Just for the 1998 season alone Parcells is # 2.  We were 1-15 two years prior, for pete's sake. 

 

1) Ewbank

2) Parcells

3) Mangini (2006 and 2008 seasons, plus had a major say in us getting Mangold and Ferguson)

4) Walt Michels (final 2 seasons as HC:  16-8-1)

5) Rex Ryan

6) Joe Walton

7) Bruce Coslet

8 ) Herm Edwards

9)  Todd Bowles

10) Sammy Baugh

11) Pete Carroll

12) Bulldog Turner

13) Mike Holovak

14) Ken Shipp

15) Al Groh

16) Lou Holtz

17) Dick Kotite

18) Charlie Winner

[nyjunc]

4 hours ago, NYs Stepchild said:

He was responsible for playing hurt players and he ruined the QB. 

Watch the 85 and 86 seasons then watch the end of 86. The 87 strike was bad then check out the 88 season culminating in 89 disaster. 

Text book method for ruining a QB prospect and wasting an elite team. 

I was not a fan of Walton but how did he ruin the QB?

4 hours ago, rangerous said:

i thought the strike was earlier but it was pretty clear walton lost the team as a result of it.  they gave up in 89 and then the coslet era was born.

There was also one in 1982 but Walt Michaels was the coach and they made the AFC championship game that year.

They were 2-0 before the strike and replacement games and finished the year 6-9-1.  A year later they did go 8-7-1 before it completely fell apart in 1989.

[nyjunc]

2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

lol, nope.  Just for the 1998 season alone Parcells is # 2.  We were 1-15 two years prior, for pete's sake. 

 

1) Ewbank

2) Parcells

3) Mangini (2006 and 2008 seasons, plus had a major say in us getting Mangold and Ferguson)

4) Walt Michels (final 2 seasons as HC:  16-8-1)

5) Rex Ryan

6) Joe Walton

7) Bruce Coslet

8 ) Herm Edwards

9)  Todd Bowles

10) Sammy Baugh

11) Pete Carroll

12) Bulldog Turner

13) Mike Holovak

14) Ken Shipp

15) Al Groh

16) Lou Holtz

17) Dick Kotite

18) Charlie Winner

?? Putting mangini at #3 when he made one postseason, never one a postseason game and squandered what was an excellent shot at a SB in 2008 while not even making the playoffs.

Walt Michaels final 2 yrs were excellent, his overall results were similar.  Both he and Rex coached 6 years for us, both only had 2 under .500 seasons, both made the playoffs twice but Rex had 4 playoff wins and 2 trips to the AFC championship game while Walt had 2 playoff wins and one trip to the AFC championship game so Rex gets the edge.

 

Herm is also way too low, 3 playoff apps in 5 seasons, a rare division title and tied for second all time in playoff wins.  Herm should be no lower than 4th.

[Jetsfan80]

31 minutes ago, nyjunc said:

?? Putting mangini at #3 when he made one postseason, never one a postseason game and squandered what was an excellent shot at a SB in 2008 while not even making the playoffs.

Walt Michaels final 2 yrs were excellent, his overall results were similar.  Both he and Rex coached 6 years for us, both only had 2 under .500 seasons, both made the playoffs twice but Rex had 4 playoff wins and 2 trips to the AFC championship game while Walt had 2 playoff wins and one trip to the AFC championship game so Rex gets the edge.

  

Herm is also way too low, 3 playoff apps in 5 seasons, a rare division title and tied for second all time in playoff wins.  Herm should be no lower than 4th. 

 

Herm lived off the talent from the Parcells era.

Rex lived off the talent that the Mangini/Tannenbaum combo brought in.

My list is perfect. 

[NYs Stepchild]

37 minutes ago, nyjunc said:

I was not a fan of Walton but how did he ruin the QB?

There was also one in 1982 but Walt Michaels was the coach and they made the AFC championship game that year.

They were 2-0 before the strike and replacement games and finished the year 6-9-1.  A year later they did go 8-7-1 before it completely fell apart in 1989.

11-5 in 85. Started 10-1 in 86. Things looked pretty good for Jet fans. 

If you were watching that young QB looked pretty good before the team fell apart. 

Joe Walton was Nixon of HCs. Maybe it wasn't all his fault but that was a terrible environment for players. 

The franchise QB was never the same. 

 

[nyjunc]

19 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

Herm lived off the talent from the Parcells era.

Rex lived off the talent that the Mangini/Tannenbaum combo brought in.

My list is perfect. 

Who cares?  BP made the championship game mostly with talent leftover from the Steinberg/kotite era and he also left the Jets in cap hell.  They made the playoffs with mostly leftovers in 2001 then completed retooled in 02(thanks to cap issues) and 04 while making the playoffs each time.  Mangini couldn't win with a HOF QB, a creampuff sched and no Brady around. 

Using that logic didn't Walton inherit talent from the Michaels era? He inherited maybe the most talented young team in the AFC then won 1 playoff game in 7 years so how could Walton Be ahead of Herm? Your list is terrible

[nyjunc]

18 minutes ago, NYs Stepchild said:

11-5 in 85. Started 10-1 in 86. Things looked pretty good for Jet fans. 

If you were watching that young QB looked pretty good before the team fell apart. 

Joe Walton was Nixon of HCs. Maybe it wasn't all his fault but that was a terrible environment for players. 

The franchise QB was never the same. 

 

But how was it Walton's fault the team had so many injuries?

I think Joe was a bad coach, I'm not trying to defend him but we can't blame him for everything.

[Jet_Engine1]

21 hours ago, T0mShane said:

This is great work but, bar none, the worst Jets season is the one where Testaverde blew his Achilles out in the opener. Worse than a parent dying in your arms. Don’t at me. 

I was so excited about that season (and young, lol) that I stayed up ALL NIGHT drinking and partying with my cousins.....Vinny went down, Tupa came in, and I went to bed. 

[NYs Stepchild]

1 hour ago, nyjunc said:

But how was it Walton's fault the team had so many injuries?

I think Joe was a bad coach, I'm not trying to defend him but we can't blame him for everything.

I just think he made guys play through injuries. 

It's hard to blame the whole team when they implode. 

[nyjunc]

54 minutes ago, NYs Stepchild said:

I just think he made guys play through injuries. 

It's hard to blame the whole team when they implode. 

Back then all coaches (and doctors) pressured players to play through injuries.  We can blame Walton for how disappointing that stretch was not I can't blame him for the injury stuff.

[nyjunc]

2 hours ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I was so excited about that season (and young, lol) that I stayed up ALL NIGHT drinking and partying with my cousins.....Vinny went down, Tupa came in, and I went to bed. 

When Tupa came in we were winning, it's when he went to mirer that we blew that game.

I vividly remember that day in the stadium.  Week 1 with so much hope, Parcells had said he felt this was his best team ever coming out of training camp.  First drive of the season was a TD and it looked like the O was going to be great again then the Vinny injury and the stadium went silent.