1989 New York Jets season

The 1989 New York Jets season was the 30th season for the franchise and the 20th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 8–7–1 record from 1988 under head coach Joe Walton, hoping to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

1989 New York Jets season
Owner	Leon Hess
Head coach	Joe Walton
Home stadium	The Meadowlands
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	FS Erik McMillan
← 1988 Jets seasons 1990 →

Instead, the Jets finished the season with a record of 4–12, their worst since 1980. They lost six of their first seven games to start the year and finished with three consecutive losses, two of which were shutouts. Their last place finish in the AFC East, combined with fan discontent at the Jets’ play, led to Walton’s firing at the end of the season.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1989 NFL draft

1989 New York Jets draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Jeff Lageman	Linebacker	Virginia
2	42	Dennis Byrd	Defensive End	Tulsa
3	70	Joe Mott	Linebacker	Iowa
4	98	Ron Stallworth	Defensive End	Auburn
5	126	Tony Martin *	Wide receiver	Mesa State
6	151	Marvin Washington	Defensive End	Idaho
6	153	Titus Dixon	Wide receiver	Troy State
7	181	Stevon Moore	Safety	Ole Miss
8	209	A. B. Brown	Running Back	West Virginia
9	237	Pat Marlatt	Defensive tackle	West Virginia
10	265	Adam Bob	Linebacker	Texas A&M
11	293	Artie Holmes	Safety	Washington State
12	321	Willie Snead	Wide receiver	Florida
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1989 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Reggie Barnes	Running back	Delaware State
Eric Dahlquist	Quarterback	Kenyon (OH)
James Harris	Quarterback	Lehigh
Tim Healy	Running back	Delaware
Tony Miller	Running back	Lafayette
Irvin Smith	Defensive Back	Maryland
Greg Werner	Tight end	DePauw

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1989 New York Jets staff

Front office Owner – Leon Hess President – Steve Gutman Head coaches Head coach/general manager – Joe Walton Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/receivers coach – Rich Kotite Quarterbacks coach - Zeke Bratkowski Running backs coach - Bobby Hammond Offensive line coach - Rod Humeniuk

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Ralph Hawkins Defensive line coach = Wally Chambers Linebackers coach - Jim Vechiarella Secondary - Mike Faulkiner Special teams coaches Special teams coach - Larry Pasquale Quality control - Ray Callahan

^[1][2]

Roster

1989 New York Jets roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Tony Eason 15 Kyle Mackey  7 Ken O'Brien 10 Pat Ryan Running backs (RB) 30 Brad Baxter FB 29 A. B. Brown KR 34 Johnny Hector 24 Freeman McNeil 43 Roger Vick Wide receivers (WR) 87 Chris Burkett 89 Phil Epps 88 Al Toon 83 Jo-Jo Townsell Tight ends (TE) 84 Chris Dressel 86 Keith Neubert 83 Greg Werner

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Dan Alexander G 66 Dave Cadigan G 61 Jeff Criswell T 79 Mike Haight G 70 Jeff Oliver G/T 74 Curt Singer T 53 Jim Sweeney C Defensive linemen (DL) 90 Dennis Byrd DE 91 Paul Frase DE 94 Scott Mersereau NT 77 Gerald Nichols NT 96 Ron Stallworth DE 97 Marvin Washington DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Troy Benson OLB 52 Adam Bob ILB 59 Kyle Clifton ILB 55 Alex Gordon OLB 56 Jeff Lageman OLB 51 Joe Mott OLB 92 Ken Rose OLB Defensive backs (DB) 42 John Booty SS 35 Kerry Glenn CB 40 James Hasty CB 28 Carl Howard CB 48 Bobby Humphery CB 20 Leander Knight FS 22 Erik McMillan FS 25 George Radachowsky SS Special teams (ST)  5 Pat Leahy K  6 Joe Prokop P 75 Adam Schreiber LS

Practice squad 17 Sanjay Beach WR 69 Jon Burman T Reserve 31 Marion Barber RB (IR) 81 Billy Griggs TE (IR) 84 Michael Harper WR (IR) 93 Marty Lyons DE (IR) 57 Kevin McArthur LB (IR) 68 Reggie McElroy T (IR) 36 Rich Miano S (IR) 27 Stevon Moore S (IR) 82 Mickey Shuler TE (IR) 23 Irvin Smith CB (IR) 85 Wesley Walker WR (IR) 33 Terry Williams CB (IR) 76 Mike Withycombe G/T (IR) Rookies in italics 47 active, 13 reserve, 2 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 10	New England Patriots	L 24–27	0–1	Giants Stadium	64,541
2	September 17	at Cleveland Browns	L 24–38	0–2	Cleveland Stadium	73,516
3	September 24	at Miami Dolphins	W 40–33	1–2	Joe Robbie Stadium	65,908
4	October 1	Indianapolis Colts	L 10–17	1–3	Giants Stadium	65,542
5	October 9	Los Angeles Raiders	L 7–14	1–4	Giants Stadium	68,040
6	October 15	at New Orleans Saints	L 14–29	1–5	Louisiana Superdome	59,521
7	October 22	at Buffalo Bills	L 3–34	1–6	Rich Stadium	76,811
8	October 29	San Francisco 49ers	L 10–23	1–7	Giants Stadium	62,805
9	November 5	at New England Patriots	W 27–26	2–7	Foxboro Stadium	53,366
10	November 12	Miami Dolphins	L 23–31	2–8	Giants Stadium	65,923
11	November 19	at Indianapolis Colts	L 10–27	2–9	Hoosier Dome	58,236
12	November 26	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–7	3–9	Giants Stadium	40,429
13	December 3	at San Diego Chargers	W 20–17	4–9	Jack Murphy Stadium	38,954
14	December 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 0–13	4–10	Giants Stadium	41,037
15	December 17	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–38	4–11	Anaheim Stadium	53,063
16	December 23	Buffalo Bills	L 0–37	4–12	Giants Stadium	21,148
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills(3)	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	409	317	W1
Indianapolis Colts	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	298	301	L1
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–8	331	379	L2
New England Patriots	5	11	0	.313	4–4	5–7	297	391	L3
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	253	411	L3

Milestones

• Ken O'Brien had his third season with at least 3,000 yards passing.