1997 New York Jets: The Arrival Of Bill Parcells

Coming into 1997, the New York Jets had been barely relevant for over a decade. Since 1986, they had only made the playoffs once and that 1991 run was at 8-8. In 1996, the Jets bottomed out at 1-15. In the offseason, New York hired Bill Parcells. Not only were the Jets getting an all-time great head coach, but they were snagging him away from a division rival in the New England Patriots—who had just gone to the Super Bowl. It was a move that generated headlines, controversy—and translated into immediate improvement on the football field.

Bill Belichick was the defensive coordinator for a unit that would finish sixth in the NFL for points allowed. Aaron Glenn was a Pro Bowl corner. Otis Smith intercepted six passes at the other corner. Outside linebacker Mo Lewis produced eight sacks in the 3-4 defensive scheme. The talent didn’t jump out at you, but Belichick put it together into a cohesive unit.

Parcells consistently produced running games in his coaching career and these 1997 New York Jets were no different. Adrian Murrell ran for nearly 1,100 yards, although a mediocre offensive line kept his yards-per-carry at 3.6.

Neil O’Donnell was the primary quarterback, in spite of some brief controversy that erupted here in the second half of the season. O’Donnell was erratic and he didn’t make big plays, ranking in the lower half of starting QBs for both completion percentage and yards-per-attempt. But O’Donnell was one of the best in the league at avoiding mistakes.

Keshawn Johnson’s 70 catches for 963 yards led the receiving corps. Wayne Chrebet added 58 receptions for almost 800 yards. Jeff Graham was the third target, with his 42 catches going for 542 yards. It was all enough for the New York offense to rank 12^th in the NFL for points scored.

It didn’t take long for these Jets to make a major statement. They went to Seattle for the season opener. O’Donnell went 18/25 for 270 yards and threw five touchdown passes. Four of those came from longer than 20 yards. The Seahawks may have been a mediocre team, but the 41-3 thumping sent a loud and clear message that this year’s Jets team was different.

New York came home to face Buffalo. The Bills, after an excellent nine-year run of success, would fall hard this season without Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. You wouldn’t have known that today though. While the Jets took a 10-0 lead, they didn’t run the ball, O’Donnell was sacked eight times, and they lost 28-22.

Parcells’ return to Foxboro in Week 3 got the Sunday Night stage and the game was a thriller. Murrell ran for 110 yards. O’Donnell went 30/50 for 271 yards. Lewis had a Pick-6. But on the flip side, pass protection again completely collapsed, with O’Donnell being sacked seven times. Curtis Martin, the Patriot running back that Parcells would soon entice to New York, ran wild. The game went to overtime but ended with the Jets dropping a 27-24 decision.

A home game with lowly Oakland was shaping up to be a disaster. New York trailed 22-16 with less than a minute to play and the Raiders lining up for a lockup field goal. The Jets blocked it. Ray Mickens grabbed it out of the air and raced 72 yards for a touchdown. New York had a stunning 23-22 win that got them to 2-2 and reshaped their season.

The Jets went on the road to play mediocre Cincinnati and played well. Murrell got the rock 40 times and gained 156 yards. O’Donnell went 20/34 for 212 yards, and tossed three TD passes against no mistakes. New York controlled the ball for over 42 minutes and cruised to a 31-14 win.

A road trip to play a bad Indianapolis Colts team was next. Murrell’s 24-yard touchdown run keyed a 13-0 lead. While the offense bogged down after that, the defense intercepted three passes and salted away a 16-12 win.

Miami came to the Meadowlands. The Dolphins, coached by Jimmy Johnson and quarterbacked by Dan Marino, were a contender in the AFC East. O’Donnell went 24/37 for 319 yards and no mistakes. Chrebet caught five balls for 104 yards. But Marino was even more productive. O’Donnell was sacked five times, while the Jets couldn’t generate pressure. Nor could they run the ball in a 31-20 loss.

The running game woes continued in the home rematch with New England. O’Donnell also struggled, and the Jets trailed 12-3 in the third quarter. Parcells made a QB change and went with Glenn Foley. The move sparked the offense. Foley went 17/23 for 200 yards and pulled out a clutch 24-19 win. New York would go into their bye week at 5-3.

A home date with the Baltimore Ravens was on the far side of the bye. The Ravens were a subpar opponent, but they outrushed the Jets 159-65. New York again couldn’t pressure the quarterback, and neither O’Donnell nor Foley were particularly effective. It could have been a disaster. But the Jets didn’t turn the ball over and made red zone stops. It was enough to eke out a 19-16 overtime win.

Parcells seemed to have settled on Foley as his preferred choice when New York went south for another crack at Miami. Foley went 25/48 for 322 yards. But the Jets didn’t run the ball, nor did they force any turnovers. It added up to a 24-17 loss. The Jets were 6-4, but every loss had come to a division foe, and the tiebreaker situation would haunt them down the stretch.

A late Sunday afternoon road trip to face the woeful Chicago Bears was what New York needed. Foley threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Johnson. Smith came up with a Pick-6, one of two interceptions for him, to go with two more by defensive back Victor Green. The Jets took a 23-0 lead and won 23-15. But the victory came with bad news—Foley injured his knee was out for the year. It was O’Donnell’s job the rest of the way.

Minnesota would make the playoffs in the NFC and the game to the Meadowlands. O’Donnell went 23/34 for 242 yards, with Johnson catching nine of those passes for 104 yards. Murrell ran for 95 yards. The Jets stopped the Viking running attack, took a 23-7 lead and then held on to win 23-21.

With a record of 8-4, New York was sitting atop the AFC East, with Miami and New England one game back at 7-5. There were three wild-card spots available. The AFC West had the conference’s two best teams in the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos and were a lock for one. Jacksonville, at 8-4, led the way for another. Thus, the Jets were in good position, but the likelihood they would lose any tiebreakers left them little room for error.

The good news was that they had easy divisional games ahead, at Buffalo and at home with Indianapolis (the Colts were an AFC East team prior to the realignment of 2002). The bad news? New York completely failed to take advantage of the opportunity. They were crushed in the trenches, outrushed 197-30 by the Bills and 1983-33 by the Colts. They lost both games, 20-10 and 22-14 respectively.

By the time this disastrous sequence was over, New York was on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. New England and Miami were both 9-5. So was Jacksonville. The Jets needed some help.

They also needed to play better football against playoff-bound Tampa Bay. Smith stepped up. In the second quarter, the corner returned two interceptions for touchdowns. The second half began with Leon Johnson returning the kickoff for a score. That was the only time the kickoff return team had to be on the field. Defensive dominance keyed a 31-0 rout.

And the needed help came. While Jacksonville won, Miami and New England both lost. The AFC East was in a three-way tie at 9-6 going into the final week.

With the tiebreaker situation against them, New York officially needed help. But with the Dolphins and Patriots set to go head-to-head, that help was guaranteed. The stakes were simple for the Jets—win, and they would be a wild-card. Lose, and they were out.

As luck would have it, the Detroit Lions were facing the exact same stakes in the NFC. So we had a strange interconference dynamic of both teams playing de facto playoff games. In our own day, the Jets-Lions game would have been flexed to Sunday Night Football. In the world of 1997, this wasn’t an option for the networks, but it was still set up in the late afternoon TV window.

New York came out ready to play, getting an early field goal and then a 14-yard touchdown run from Murrell to lead 10-0. But the offense stopped moving the ball and O’Donnell was sacked four times and the Jets turned it over three times. Barry Sanders, the great Lion running back, headed for a share of the MVP award, had a big game. The defense hung in as long as they could, but they weren’t able to force turnovers and eventually succumbed in a 13-10 loss.

It was a tough way to end such a turnaround season, but it signaled that the Jets were back. In the offseason, they went out and got Martin away from the Patriots. And in 1998, New York not only made the playoffs, they reached the AFC Championship Game.