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Today in Patriots History
Grogan sets team record with 5 TD passes
Pats hand Jets their worst loss ever, 56-3
Grogan sets team record with 5 TD passes
Pats hand Jets their worst loss ever, 56-3
Sun Sept 9, 1979 at 4:00
Week 2, Game 2 at Schaefer Stadium
0-1 New York Jets at 0-1 New England Patriots
Head Coaches: Ron Erhardt, Walt Michaels
Starting QBs: Steve Grogan, Richard Todd
Weather: sunny, cool, 61º; wind: SE 13 mph
Odds: New England favored by 8
New England Patriots 56, New York Jets 3
The Patriots had lost the season opener a week earlier, 16-13 to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh. The Steeler defense harassed Steve Grogan all game that day, limiting the quarterback to an 11-33-123 performance with one touchdown, two interceptions and five sacks.
To say that Grogan and the Patriots bounced back would be a mile-wide understatement.
Grogan threw five touchdown passes - all for at least 28 yards - as Patriots annihilated division rival New York by the score of 56-3. The five TD passes equaled a franchise record set by Babe Parilli when the team played in the AFL (Nov 15, 1964 at Buffalo and Oct 15, 1967 versus Miami, in their second year of existence). That record would stand for nearly three decades, until Tom Brady threw for six at Miami when the 2007 Patriots offense was at its incredible peak.
The 56 points scored surpassed the franchise record of 55 set the previous season - with the Jets victims in that game as well. In addition, the 53-point margin of victory was also by far a team record. Both of those marks would hold for a full thirty years, until the Pats famously crushed Tennessee in the snow in 2009, 59-0.
In the first quarter Grogan connected on a 49-yard TD to Harold Jackson and a 37-yarder to Stanley Morgan before the Jets got on the scoreboard, when they had to settle for a short field goal. Then in the second quarter Andy Johnson's two-yard rush, sandwiched between a 50-yard bomb to Morgan and a 44-yard strike to Jackson gave the Pats a commanding 35-3 lead.
Grogan then connected with Jackson for his third TD reception on the day, this one for 28 yards, and Ron Erhardt decided it was time to let the backups in on the fun. Different jerseys, same results. Tom Owen threw a 14-yard TD to Don Westbrook, and Allan Clark finished the scoring with a one-yard run.
The Patriots set a team record with 597 net yards of offense, another milestone that would last for thirty years until that Titans game. Grogan may not have been the most accurate passer of his era, but he was still one of the most proficient. Despite not playing in the fourth quarter, he completed 13 of 18 attempts for 315 yards - an incredible average of 17.5 yards per pass attempt. Owen and Matt Cavanaugh added another 60 yards on a combined 5-7 during the final twenty minutes. Grogan finished with a near-perfect passer rating of 153.9 on the day, though I'm not clear on what he should have done better. Had zero incomplete passes, I suppose?
It seemed like almost every pass to Morgan or Jackson turned into a touchdown - because that's exactly what was happening. All three of Jackson's receptions went for TDs, for a total of 121 yards. Morgan had two TDs on his three catches for 102 yards. Russ Francis also had five catches for 82 yards, Sam Cunningham (81 yards rushing) averaged 5.4 yards per carry and Mosi Tatupu averaged 6.3 yards per carry, for 50 yards.
As much fun as it was to watch the offense, the New England defense had a stellar day as well. The team combined for nine sacks on Todd and Pat Ryan, the most ever other than an unofficial count of 11 against the Raiders in 1963. There were also three interceptions, by Raymond Clayborn, Ray Costict and Prentice McCray, plus three fumble recoveries for a total of six turnovers - and a blocked punt as well.
And for good measure, this game goes down in history as the Jets worst loss ever, in terms of points allowed and margin of defeat. You have to look twice at some of the stats to believe it. The difference in total yardage was 597 for the Patriots, to 134 for the Jets. Net passing yards was a whopping 365 yards to 45 in favor of New England. Even with all those passing touchdowns, the Patriots still had a more than two-to-one advantage in rushing yards, 232 to 89. The Patriots owned a 30-12 advantage in first downs as well, despite all those long scoring plays.
In all, the Patriots broke or tied 27 team and individual records.
Jets’ Worst Loss: 56‐3 to Patriots (Published 1979)
www.nytimes.com
Leon Hess, chairman of the board, and Marvin Powell, right offensive tackle, concurred. Both said the Jets played like a high school team today in losing to the New England Patriots, 56-3.
The film will show in explicit detail how the Patriots gained 597 yards; how Steve Grogan passed for 315 of those yards and five touchdowns, three to Harold Jackson; how the Jets lost three fumbles, suffered nine sackings of their two quarterbacks, threw three interceptions and allowed a punt to be blocked.
This was the most decisive defeat in the team's history. At the same time the Patriots set team records for most points scored, most yards gained, most touchdowns and most touchdowns by passing.
At halftime the Patriots had 35 points, the Jets 3 and Grogan had completed nine of 12 passes for 238 yards. The Jets did not improve in the second half, even when Grogan was cooling out on the bench and with Tom Owen and then Matt Cavanaugh at quarterback for the Patriots.
Last year the Jets were defeated here by 55-21, but three weeks later they extended the Patriots at Shea Stadium, losing by only 19-17. Ron Erhardt, the New England coach, remembered. “I'd like to bottle this one,” he said.
Why was the Patriot passing game so terrific today? “We prepared several things against the coverages they had shown,” said Erhardt, “and we weren't hesitant to go deep against them. Sometimes things work for you, and sometimes they don't.”
Foxboro Stadium History - 1979
In a year the Patriots were expected to challenge for the NFL title, they instead firmly established their reputation as underachievers that lacked both character and heart.
www.patriots.com
The following week the Patriots took out their frustration on the New York Jets, recording the biggest-margin of victory in club history with a 56-3 demolition of their division rivals. In all, the Patriots broke or tied 27 team and individual records. The New England defense sacked Jets quarterback Richard Todd nine times while the Patriots offense roared into high gear. Steve Grogan enjoyed the finest game of his career, throwing five touchdowns to tie Babe Parilli's single-game team record.
Erhardt promised to open up the Patriots offense in 1979, and the game against the Jets unveiled the new big-game passing attack. Unlike years past where the Patriots were content to run the ball down their opponent's throat, they relied on the pass to break down the opposition in 1979. Grogan led the NFL with 28 touchdown passes and had two of the finest wide receivers in all of football to work with in Harold Jackson and Stanley Morgan.
By season's end Jackson and Morgan were the first pair of teammates to each surpass the 1,000-yard mark for receptions in a season in 12 years. Morgan earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl in his third pro season thanks to a year in which he established a new club record for touchdowns in a season with an even dozen.
2:05 Highlight Video
9/9/1979 New York Jets at New England Patriots highlights, National Football League Week 2
9/9/1979 New York Jets at New England Patriots highlights, National Football League Week 2
Official Game Summary, with complete play-by-play, team & individual stats, and drive charts:
Jets vs. Patriots Box Score, September 9, 1979 | The Football Database
View the Box Score for the NFL football game between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots on September 9, 1979.
www.footballdb.com
New York Jets at New England Patriots - September 9th, 1979 | Pro-Football-Reference.com
New York Jets 3 at New England Patriots 56 on September 9th, 1979 - Full team and player stats and box score
www.pro-football-reference.com
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