1998 New York Jets season

The 1998 New York Jets season was the 39th season for the team and the 29th in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on its previous season by three games, finishing 12–4 in their second season under head coach Bill Parcells and their first playoff appearance since 1991, winning their first division title since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970; the 12–4 record was also the best in Jets history. This success came just two years after the Jets' 1–15 record in 1996.

The Jets earned a first-round bye, given to the two division winners with the best records, for the first time. They defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 34–24, in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Their attempt to reach their first Super Bowl in thirty years was halted by losing in Denver when the 14–2 Broncos scored 23 unanswered points in the second half.

The 1998 Jets are one of only two teams in NFL history^{[note 1]} to win seven games against teams that would go on to make the playoffs.^[1]

Vinny Testaverde threw for 3,256 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions in 421 pass attempts (1.7%).

The title game was the Jets' last title game appearance until 2009, although they returned to the playoffs in 2001, and qualified for the postseason four more times that decade.

Offseason

In the offseason, the Jets signed New England Patriots running back Curtis Martin to an offer sheet. The Patriots had offered Martin, their star running back, a tender deal that would net them a first-round pick and a third-round pick if a team signed him. Jets coach and general manager Bill Parcells, who had left New England two years prior and still harbored some bad blood with the team, offered Martin a very large contract that the Patriots were unwilling to match, further fueling the rivalry between the teams.

In addition, the Jets parted ways with veteran quarterback Neil O'Donnell after two seasons and signed another veteran, Vinny Testaverde, to serve as backup to Glenn Foley. Testaverde eventually succeeded Foley as the starter and led the Jets to their division title. On defense, New York added former Miami Dolphins linebacker Bryan Cox.

The offseason also saw the first major overhaul of the Jets' uniforms and logos since 1978. The team changed its primary color from kelly green to hunter green, eliminated black which had been added in 1990 as a trim color, and abandoned the solid green helmets with the modern "JETS" wordmark in favor of white helmets with two green parallel stripes down the center, as worn from 1965 to 1977, but with a green facemask. The new primary/helmet logo resembles the 1965-77 version but is oval rather than football-shaped and has a somewhat "cleaner" appearance, with starker lines defining the word "JETS" in thick sans-serif italics in front of the "NY" in serif outline lettering, and the miniature football at bottom center. This logo was also added to the jersey front, by the player's left shoulder. The jerseys and pants also resemble the 1963-77 uniforms, with alternating shoulder stripes, opposite-colored sleeves and TV numerals, and two green parallel stripes from hip to knee on each side.

NFL draft

1998 New York Jets draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	56	Dorian Boose	DE	Washington State	from Pittsburgh
3	67	Scott Frost	DB	Nebraska	from St. Louis
3	87	Kevin Williams	FS	Oklahoma State	from Pittsburgh
4	111	Jason Fabini	OT	Cincinnati
5	134	Casey Dailey	LB	Northwestern	from Philadelphia
5	141	Doug Karczewski	G	Virginia
5	146	Blake Spence	TE	Oregon	from Tampa Bay
5	149	Eric Bateman	G	BYU	from Pittsburgh
6	163	Eric Ogbogu	DE	Maryland	from Philadelphia
6	174	Chris Brazzell	WR	Angelo State
6	183	Dustin Johnson	RB	BYU	from Denver
7	195	Lawrence Hart	TE	Southern	from St. Louis
Made roster

Roster

New York Jets 1998 final roster
Quarterbacks  4 Glenn Foley  6 Ray Lucas 16 Vinny Testaverde Running backs 20 Richie Anderson FB 41 Keith Byars FB 28 Curtis Martin 22 Dave Meggett PR 33 Jerald Sowell FB Wide receivers 80 Wayne Chrebet 19 Keyshawn Johnson 86 Alex Van Dyke 89 Dedric Ward PR Tight ends 84 Fred Baxter 88 Kyle Brady 82 Blake Spence		Offensive linemen 66 Alex Bernstein G 65 Jim Bundren G 62 Todd Burger G 76 Jumbo Elliott T 69 Jason Fabini T 67 Mike Gisler C/G 71 Kerry Jenkins G/T 60 Doug Karczewski G 68 Kevin Mawae C 70 Matt O'Dwyer G Defensive linemen 97 Dorian Boose DE 72 Jason Ferguson DT 92 Bobby Hamilton DE 75 Carl Hansen DE/DT 93 Ernie Logan DT 95 Rick Lyle DE 99 Eric Ogbogu DE 98 Anthony Pleasant DE		Linebackers 53 Chad Cascadden OLB 51 Bryan Cox OLB 58 James Farrior OLB 54 Dwayne Gordon MLB/OLB 50 Rob Holmberg MLB 52 Pepper Johnson MLB 57 Mo Lewis OLB Defensive backs 44 Corwin Brown CB/S 42 Marcus Coleman CB 47 Scott Frost FS 31 Aaron Glenn CB/KR 21 Victor Green SS 30 Chris Hayes SS 26 Jerome Henderson FS 24 Ray Mickens CB 45 Otis Smith CB 23 Kevin Williams FS/KR Special teams  9 John Hall K 65 John Hudson LS 17 John Kidd P		Reserve lists 94 Casey Dailey LB (IR) 78 Terry Day DE (IR) 32 Leon Johnson RB (IR) 55 Marvin Jones LB (IR) 56 Craig Powell LB (IR) 96 David Viger DT (Military Reserve) Practice squad 61 Geno Bell DT 87 Chris Brazzell WR 34 Robert Farmer RB 83 Lawrence Hart TE 81 Brian Musso WR 53 active, 6 inactive, 5 practice squad rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 6	at San Francisco 49ers	L 30–36 (OT)	0–1	3Com Park	Recap
2	September 13	Baltimore Ravens	L 10–24	0–2	Giants Stadium	Recap
3	September 20	Indianapolis Colts	W 44–6	1–2	Giants Stadium	Recap
4	Bye
5	October 4	Miami Dolphins	W 20–9	2–2	Giants Stadium	Recap
6	October 11	at St. Louis Rams	L 10–30	2–3	Trans World Dome	Recap
7	October 19	at New England Patriots	W 24–14	3–3	Foxboro Stadium	Recap
8	October 25	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–3	4–3	Giants Stadium	Recap
9	November 1	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–17	5–3	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
10	November 8	Buffalo Bills	W 34–12	6–3	Giants Stadium	Recap
11	November 15	at Indianapolis Colts	L 23–24	6–4	RCA Dome	Recap
12	November 22	at Tennessee Oilers	W 24–3	7–4	Vanderbilt Stadium	Recap
13	November 29	Carolina Panthers	W 48–21	8–4	Giants Stadium	Recap
14	December 6	Seattle Seahawks	W 32–31	9–4	Giants Stadium	Recap
15	December 13	at Miami Dolphins	W 21–16	10–4	Pro Player Stadium	Recap
16	December 19	at Buffalo Bills	W 17–10	11–4	Rich Stadium	Recap
17	December 27	New England Patriots	W 31–10	12–4	Giants Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) New York Jets	12	4	0	.750	416	266	W6
(4) Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	321	265	L1
(5) Buffalo Bills	10	6	0	.625	400	333	W1
(6) New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	337	329	L1
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	310	444	L2

Season summary

Week 1 at 49ers

Week 11 at Colts

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Jets	Passing	Vinny Testaverde	12/28, 249 Yds, TD, INT
	Rushing	Curtis Martin	28 Rush, 134 Yds
	Receiving	Wayne Chrebet	4 Rec, 112 Yds, TD
Colts	Passing	Peyton Manning	26/44, 276 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Marshall Faulk	20 Rush, 69 Yds
	Receiving	Marvin Harrison	9 Rec, 128 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NYJ IND 1 10:17 7 19 2:36 Colts 31-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt 0 3 1 6:39 7 38 3:38 Jets 37-yard field goal by John Hall 3 3 1 3:25 6 40 3:14 Colts Torrance Small 4-yard touchdown reception from Peyton Manning, Mike Vanderjagt kick good 3 10 2 14:02 7 74 4:23 Jets Wayne Chrebet 63-yard touchdown reception from Vinny Testaverde, John Hall kick good 10 10 2 8:31 8 60 3:44 Jets 40-yard field goal by John Hall 13 10 2 0:22 12 62 5:00 Jets 25-yard field goal by John Hall 16 10 2 0:00 Jets Missed field goal returned 104 yards for touchdown by Aaron Glenn, John Hall kick good 23 10 3 6:28 4 49 1:32 Colts Marvin Harrison 38-yard touchdown reception from Peyton Manning, Mike Vanderjagt kick good 23 17 4 0:24 15 80 2:40 Colts Marcus Pollard 14-yard touchdown reception from Peyton Manning, Mike Vanderjagt kick good 23 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 24

Playoffs

Playoff Game Summaries

AFC Divisional Playoffs vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC Championship Game vs. Denver Broncos

Notes

References

External links

• 1998 team stats
• 1998 New York Jets video