The Jets are trying to do something only two NFL teams have done before them — win a Super Bowl after losing at least two consecutive conference championship games in the years before.
The only teams that pulled off the feat were the 1976 Raiders, who lost three straight title games before breaking through, and the 1994 49ers, who lost two straight.
There have been eight other teams that lost consecutive title games. One — the 2004 Eagles — made it to the Super Bowl and lost after the failures, but the other seven never cleared that title game hurdle.
After losing in the AFC Championship game the last two years, the Jets feel they are close to bringing the Lombardi Trophy home. But making it to the title game in the years before does not guarantee getting back there or beyond.
Jets defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman can give his players this lesson. Thurman went to three straight NFC Championship games with the Cowboys in the 1980-82 seasons.
“We could never get over that hump,” Thurman said last week. “We knew we were good enough, yet the frustration of not being able to get over that hump was a play here or a play there and then we’re in the Super Bowl with a chance to win it.”
Thurman knows about being a play away. Joe Montana finding Dwight Clark for “The Catch” broke the Cowboys’ hearts one year, then quarterback Danny White got injured in the 1982 title game, and Gary Hogeboom threw two interceptions against the Redskins.
“That team knew it was good enough,” Thurman said. “The plays we didn’t make kept us from doing it. It’s tough. When you get that close and yet you don’t accomplish your goal, the frustration sets in.”
CBS analyst Dan Fouts went to two straight title games with the Chargers in the 1980-81 seasons, but never played in a Super Bowl. He said those teams were hurt by instability in the coaching staff. They went through three defensive coordinators between 1979-82. Fouts believes the Jets having most of their team back together this year is a huge advantage.
“If there’s a team that can get back there, it’s the Jets,” Fouts said. “Some people don’t like them, but there’s nothing wrong with being confident and they certainly are that.”
Thurman acknowledged that the pressure grows with each year a team fails to get past that title game.
“After year two, the pressure to win it the third year was tremendous because we had been there two years prior,” he said.
➤ The Jets are asking fans to arrive 30 minutes earlier than usual for today’s game due to new security procedures that may delay entrance into MetLife Stadium.