In an interview with the Wall Street Journal today, the longtime Sports Illustrated writer confirms he offered to take a pay cut to help stem the losses at Time, Inc. Mr. King doesn't offer any details, so there's no way to tell if the magazine took him up on the offer.

Mr. King: It's something I did but I really don't want to talk about it. But I will say this: I make a ridiculous amount of money. I'm not saying I'm not worth it. But I make a stupid amount of money. Sometimes it seems a little absurd considering what's happening in our business.

He's more candid on Bill Belichick's library (800-900 books on football), Brett Favre (likes war movies; does spot-on Sling Blade impersonation); and some other former Packers who remain nameless (they were keeping a pet lion in an apartment until their coach told them not to).

It's no surprise that Favre makes the list of Mr. King's favorite interviews, and even less suprising that King takes a shot at Buffalo Bills wide receiver--and frequent King target--Terrell Owens. "I don't speak to T.O. anymore. I just think that life's too short to talk to nine-year-olds too often," King says.

The decision to sign Favre last August was an unmitigated disaster, typical of the Jets' blundering over the last quarter century. Stripped of the illusions the New York media wrapped it in, it came down to a 4-12 team that hitched their star to a 38-year-old quarterback, who despite a comeback in 2007 hadn't finished in the top five of the NFL's passers since 2001. As recently as 2006, he was ranked 25^th in the NFL.  In 2005, 31^st.

What exactly was going through the minds of owner Woody Johnson and his front office when they signed off on the deal?  Did they honestly think that Favre, several seasons past his peak, was going to catapult the Jets into the Super Bowl (which he hadn't been to, by the way, since 1998—when, incidentally his Packers lost to the underdog Denver Broncos, 31-24)? 

Were they thinking, perhaps, that with the obvious upgrades they had made in the offensive line, Favre might have a late second life?  But if so, why not keep Chad Pennington, who was five years younger than Favre and the six^th-highest-rated passer among active players, despite being the most knocked-down quarterback in the league in 2007? 

If the Jets didn't think Favre was capable of taking them to the Super Bowl last season, then why did they want him?  Surely they didn't think he would get even better in 2009 at age 40? Was there no one around to remind Johnson that Favre's $12 million salary was going to put the team in serious salary cap trouble? Most of all, did anyone think ahead a year or two and realize that they were going to be left with the task of drafting, trading for, and otherwise breaking in a brand-new quarterback?

All the Jets seemed to see was the quick millions they'd take in from the sale of jerseys and other memorabilia. (Most of which, I'm betting, you can now find at a big discount at your local shopping mall.)  Everyone saw the windfall; no one stopped to consider what it would cost the Jets in just a couple of short years—or, as it's turning out, in just one year.

Part of that cost—maybe the most significant—was the loss of a competent coach, Eric Mangini, who inherited a 4-12 team and coached them to two winning seasons. Mangini took the blame for "only" improving the Jets to a 9-7 season. The credit, somehow, went to Favre, who finished 21^st in the league in quarterback rating and led NFL passers with 22 interceptions. If you're counting, that makes 84 interceptions for Favre since 2005 against 88 TD passes. That's just a couple of throws away from certifiable mediocrity.

Brett Favre was one of the most exciting quarterbacks in pro football history.  He was also the most overrated. That he will be a first round pick for the Hall of Fame is a given—he's the NFL's all-time leader in attempts, completions and passing yards. He took his team to the Super Bowl twice, winning in 1997.  But in 16 seasons, he never lead the league in passer rating and never finished first in the most important passing statistic, the one that correlates most with winning, yards per throw.

In contrast, Kurt Warner has been to the Super Bowl three times, has led the NFL in passing twice and in yards per throw three times, all in five fewer seasons. Favre, never a particularly good big-game quarterback despite his reputation, is just 12-10 in the postseason; Warner is 8-3.  Yet, somehow, Favre is regarded as an instant HOFer while Warner's case is still being debated. 

That's the way it's always been for Brett Favre. Everyone remembers that he holds the all-time record for most TD passes (464); no one ever seems to mention that he also holds the record for most interceptions (310).

Furthermore, he has not always been the team player he's made out to be.

He held the Green Bay Packers' collective feet over a fire, vacillating over his retirement, and then tried to engineer a trade to a division rival. A couple of years ago, when asked by  a Milwaukee reporter if he thought it was time to retire—it was, by the way—Favre snickered that he was going to stick it out because "it isn't like they're going to cut me." He forced the Packers into using a valuable draft pick on an extra quarterback last year and tried to bully the team into guaranteeing him that he'd be the starter. When they wouldn't, he sulked and bitched in front of anyone who would listen.

Many a great quarterback before him—including another Packer great, Bart Starr, who won five championships to Favre's one—was content to stick around for an extra year or so and help break in his replacement. Favre obviously didn't seriously consider doing the same thing for the Jets.

The Jets are better off without Favre, a fact they must surely now realize whether or not the good old boy sports press around here does.

Arizona is, the Carolina Panthers have been hinting all week, the weakest team in the playoffs this year, and without Warner they wouldn’t have gotten close to the 9-7 regular season record they posted. Put it his way: Peyton Manning, Brees, Philip Rivers, and all the other top QBs in the league had far better blocking and rushing support (to say nothing of better coaching). Imagining Warner’s numbers if he had quarterbacked a whole season with a team like the Colts or Chargers is a little scary.

As we go to press, the Cardinals are 9 ½-point underdogs to the Panthers in this Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game, and it will probably be the end of Warner’s season. Since Warner will be 38 next year, it’s not too early to do a retrospective on one of the strangest and most remarkable careers in NFL history.

Though he didn’t get to start in the NFL until age 28, Warner, at his peak, was as good as any NFL quarterback in the last 50 years. In 1999 with the St. Louis Rams, he threw 41 touchdown passes, averaged 8.7 yards a throw, and earned a Super Bowl ring by beating the Tennessee Titans. In 2000, he posted an astonishing 9.9 YPA, the highest of any NFL quarterback since Norm Van Brocklin in 1954. To put that in perspective, think of it as a hitter in baseball with a .420 BA over a season or a pitcher posting an ERA of under 1.50. Last year, jaws dropped when New England’s Tom Brady had a YPA of 8.3 yards; that’s a mark Kurt Warner topped for three straight seasons from 1999-2001.

Injuries and the stupidity of coaches have kept Warner from becoming the same brand of household name as, say, Brett Favre – and while we’re on the subject, Warner, like Favre, has been to the Super Bowl twice and has led the league in passer rating twice to Favre’s zero.

It’s highly unlikely that a team with a defense as bad as Arizona’s is going to proceed to the NFC championship game. The Cardinals’ cheesecloth defense has allowed 35 or more points in five games this year; in three games they allowed 47 or more. This might well be Warner’s last shot at the postseason, so if you haven’t followed his career over the years, you might want to take some time this Saturday to watch what could be the last stand of an NFL great.

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The Indianapolis Colts’ 23-17 overtime loss to the San Diego Chargers last Sunday – the second consecutive season in which the Colts have been eliminated by the underdog Chargers -- has triggered yet another round of “Peyton Manning can’t win the big game” accusations. Let’s review:

Manning outpassed his San Diego counterpart, Philip Rivers, 310 yards (on 42 throws) to 217 yards (on 36 tosses). The Colts frittered away this domination by getting outrushed 167 yards to 64, being out-returned on punts 72 yards to 42, and allowing the Chargers a net punt return average of 51.7 yards, a whopping 20-yard difference between what the Colts averaged on their returns. And did I mention that Indianapolis committed six penalties on defense to San Diego’s none – three, including two rare defensive holding calls, during the Chargers’ game-ending overtime possession.

Now what exactly is it that Peyton Manning is supposed to do to overcome this kind of sloppy play? Is he supposed to double up by playing on defense and special teams?

This time last year, Manning threw for 402 yards in the Colts’ 28-24 playoff loss to the Chargers. In that game, Colts receivers tipped two passes into the air into the hands of San Diego defenders; Marvin Harrison, after a first down catch, fumbled the ball away at the San Deigo 22 to kill yet another scoring opportunity; and defensive back Marlon Jackson got caught with a senseless face mask penalty on San Diego’s go-ahead drive. Someone on the Indianapolis Colts can’t win the big game, but it isn’t their quarterback, and coach Tony Dungy, perhaps the most respected head man in the league, has to take the responsibility for this repeated sloppiness in big games.

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If you’re a Giants fan, and I am, you see a great many ominous signs for this Sunday’s game with the Eagles. The most obvious, of course, is that the Giants have lost three of their last four while the Eagles, including last Sunday’s 26-14 playoff win over Minnesota, have now taken five of their last six.

If you’re looking for yet another reason to feel uneasy, consider this: the Giants haven’t sacked Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb a single time in their two meetings this year. In fact, the Philadelphia defense has actually recorded more QB sacks, 48 to 42, than New York. The Eagles’ rushing defense has also been better than the Giants, allowing 3.5 yards per rush to New York’s 4.0. But the Giants have run the ball well on two other rushing defenses, those of the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings, that were better than the Eagles.

Those teams, though, didn’t have a shutdown cornerback like Asante Samuel, who could very well contain the Giants’ most reliable wideout, Armani Toomer. If he does, it’s unlikely the Giants will have anyone to pick up the slack, at least no one flanked out wide. New York will probably counter the Eagles’ pass rush by throwing more to their underrated (and underused) tight end Kevin Boss – at least when they’re backed up near their own goal line or close to Philadelphia’s.

Giants running backs Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward should get the ball about 40 times between them; the Eagles will counter not by keeping running back Brian Westbrook on the ground but by sending him out of the backfield to test New York linebackers. (Westbrook beat Antonio Pierce for a 40-yard touchdown pass on December 7, when the Eagles won 20-14.) The two teams’ quarterbacks had almost identical seasons; Donovan McNabb had 23 TDs and 11 interceptions while Eli Manning was 21-10. Both had undistinguished NFL passer ratings of 86.4.

The Giants were definitely the better team over the first two-thirds of the season, but that isn’t going to help them now, and if they lose to the Eagles this Sunday, all the glow of last year’s upset Super Bowl win and the glorious 11-1 start of 2008 will be gone.

And now that the Jets are dead, it’s time to begin where too many Jets seasons seem to end: with second guesses and prescriptions for better luck in the future.

Getting Favre was the right move. In a results-oriented town like New York, the risks that pay off are branded “genius” while those that don’t are castigated. But if yesterday marked Brett Favre’s final game in a Jets uniform, then the decision to bring him here deserves a fairer consideration than it figures to receive.

Four and a half months ago, the Jets had a unique opportunity to replace a brittle, underperforming player with the foremost quarterback of his generation. It was a move that the Jets had to make. They had gone to war with Pennington for six seasons, and they had two playoff wins to show for it. It wasn’t good enough. Everyone acknowledged that—even Pennington. So after a dismal 2007 campaign that saw him bothered by yet another debilitating injury, Pennington had worn out his welcome here. It was simply time to go, and the opportunity to land Favre merely underscored the need to move on. That Pennington has gone on to outperform Favre this year is largely irrelevant.

What he’s done in Miami is no indication of what he would have done in New York. And if any Jets fans find themselves wondering what would have become of this season had the Jets kept Pennington, they need only look at the last six years to have their answer. Last year, Pennington played terribly as captain of an offense with far more talent than the group with which he has enjoyed so much success in Miami.

Even now, with the Jets dead and the Dolphins preparing for a home playoff game, the Jets offensive personnel are clearly superior to that in place for the Dolphins. Were the two teams combined, it seems a fair bet that Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles would start at wide receiver; Thomas Jones, at running back; Dustin Keller, at tight end.

That Pennington has flourished with also-rans after failing with relative stars is a glaring indictment of the coaching staff; there’s simply no other way around it. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has gotten less out of more than perhaps any other coordinator in football. He had two good receivers, two Pro Bowl running backs, two Pro Bowl offensive linemen, an excellent young tight end and a Hall of Fame quarterback. There’s simply no excuse for what has happened this year. Suggestions that Favre was somehow too old to make it work are nonsense; you don’t throw six touchdown passes in a game, beat the Patriots in New England or destroy a 10-0 team on its home field if you don’t have it physically. It just didn’t work out. And for that, the coach is to blame.

The Jets organization was right to bid adieu to Mangini shortly after the loss to Miami. The team fans witnessed over the last five weeks was not simply bad; it was out of control, even somewhat disinterested at times.

For some reason that may never be known, Eric Mangini lost this team after a landmark win in Tennessee, and he never got it back. What’s worse, he never tried. Coordinators Bob Sutton and Brian Schottenheimer needed to be shown the door after a humiliating road loss to the 49ers that saw the Jets fall to 8-5. They had lost two in a row by 10 points or more, and it was plain to everyone that Sutton and Schottenheimer were not getting through to their respective units.

Perhaps it would have been impractical to fire both, but certainly at least one—particularly Sutton—ought to have been shown the door. After all, Eric Mangini’s pedigree was in defense. Further, his specialty lay in coaching the secondary, where the Jets were experiencing their greatest problems. It seemed a fairly small leap to suggest that he could replace Sutton without a hitch. If nothing else, a change would have sent a message, putting the team on notice that there was a consequence for failure.

Instead, Mangini did nothing. He was content simply to repeat his tiresome rhetoric about consistency and execution. Now he's gone, and his trust in those around him was his undoing.

Doubtless, Schottenheimer and Sutton were underqualified for their positions and never should have been hired in the first place, but that alone did not doom the Jets. In the end, it was Mangini’s failure to place his own stamp on this team that has caused his failure in New York. An NFL season is long and fraught with many unforeseen twists. It calls not only for a calculating tactician but also for a pragmatist, for adaptation, for a coach who can adjust in midstream to address the many different challenges that inevitably arise over the course of five months. Instead, Mangini has been too heavily invested in his own propaganda to make the changes that had to be made to save the Jets.

Credit GM Mike Tannenbaum. The ax that fell on Mangini should spare Tannenbaum, whose offseason moves and deft management of the salary cap gave the Jets a chance to win in 2008. A year ago at this time, as the Jets had just completed a horrific 4-12 season. By all appearances, the team was in store for yet another rebuilding process. Tannenbaum charted a daring course through free agency while engineering several high-profile trades, including the acquisition of Kris Jenkins and Brett Favre. It was a perilous route to be certain and one that few would have taken. The moves worked. They catapulted the Jets from doormats to contenders.

Say goodbye to Favre. Watching Brett Favre in a Jets uniform has been a great thrill for many fans. But as is the case with Mangini, it’s time to move on. Although Favre could probably play another season or two in the right circumstances, it seems doubtful that he’d be willing to learn yet another offense in the likely event that Schottenheimer is fired. As has been so well documented over the course of this season, Favre is not keen on changing systems, and if the Jets’ offensive system needs anything, it’s change. Schottenheimer’s San Diego system has been a disaster. The quarterbacks who have left it, whether it’s Drew Brees or Chad Pennington, have gone on to perform far better in other places. Besides, Favre will turn 40 next season, and if offseason tests reveal the existence of any damage to his throwing shoulder, his most famous asset may well become a thing of the past.

The Jets have two young quarterbacks in Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff. Clemens has been underwhelming in his brief stints as the starter, but he’s still just 25 years old. Moreover, it’s worth noting that Drew Brees’ first two years under Schottenehimer’s tutelage saw him manage 28 touchdowns to 31 interceptions en route to being labeled a draft bust. The Jets also have 23-year-old Brett Ratliff, whose considerable size and cannon arm played to rave reviews in the preseason.

It’s time to move on. Again.

That speculation was wrong.

And if that much were not apparent before last night’s stunning, season-altering 34-31 overtime win against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, then it ought to have been apparent afterward. Favre played his best, most complete game of the season, helping stake the Jets to a 24-6 lead in the first half and then rallying the team twice thereafter, once late in the fourth quarter to cap a seven-minute drive with a go-ahead touchdown and a 31-24 lead and then, most spectacularly, in overtime to win the game on the strength of Jay Feely’s 32-yard field goal.

And that’s why you get Brett Favre. You get Brett Favre because he never gives up on a game, because he never gives up on his teammates, and most importantly, because he never lets his teammates give up on themselves. He simply will not allow it. He is, above all else, a winner: a rare and worthy distinction in itself but absolutely imperative for a team whose history, fraught with bizarre, increasingly inventive failure, presides like a green-speckled albatross atop every stadium in which the Jets play.

By all appearances, Favre is not troubled in the least by what’s happened here and has little interest in having it recounted to him. So far as he’s concerned, the Bates Motel is actually a charming fixer-upper with untapped potential for expansion, brand enhancement, and future revenue growth. Favre is not scared of the Jets, and it shows. Indeed, if New York fans and national media outlets have seemed more troubled by Favre’s interceptions than Favre, himself, it’s because they are: Favre is not now--and never has been--particularly concerned with interceptions. They roll off his conscience like water off a duck’s back. He is unfazed by mistakes because he regards himself as an aggressor, as the one to be feared, not as a victim waiting to be devoured. Whereas the Jets have spent the better part of the last 40 years trying not to lose, Favre has spent his career trying to win. And their divergent results tell the tale.

Favre rescued the Jets from the Patriots, from themselves, and even from head coach Eric Mangini. But as is so often the case in sports, it is the destination, not the journey, that wins the greatest notice. And so the many trials and tribulations, some of which very nearly cost the Jets this landmark win, shall soon be forgotten, cast aside and forever obscured by the fact of victory. It is, after all, the prevailing tendency among players and fans alike to regard both wins and losses as absolute and unqualified, to find neither mitigation in defeat nor caveat in victory.

But this rule is more rightly honored in the breach. The unvarnished truth, swept away by Brett Favre and the right leg of Jay Feely, is that the Jets nearly lost this game through a series of glaring tactical errors, almost all of which were the product of the same fear-based conservatism that has marked this franchise for decades.

It began late in the first half. After Brett Favre hooked up with wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery on a 15-yard touchdown strike to push the Jets out to a 24-6 with 5:06 remaining in the second quarter, the defense quickly stopped the Patriots at their own 23 and forced a punt. The Jets took over on their own 30 with 2:33 remaining and two timeouts left. In front of them was a visibly tired, emotionally reeling Patriots defense. Rather than continue along the same course that saw his team amass an almost-surreal lead, Eric Mangini elected to sit on the football, allowing the clock to run down to the two-minute warning after Thomas Jones carried for one yard on first down. And after Favre missed Jerricho Cotchery on the next play, the Jets were flagged for a delay-of-game penalty, whose effect was to convert a makeable third and nine opportunity to a nearly impossible third and 14.

Predictably, the Jets ran the ball on third and long, failing to pick up the first down. Even more predictably, the Patriots took the ensuing possession and scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 26-13 with 20 seconds remaining in the half. The Jets had lost both their momentum and their mental edge, neither of which they would recapture until the very second that Feely’s kick sailed through the uprights in overtime.

Following a halftime that once again saw Mangini outcoached by the Machiavellian schemes of Bill Belichick, the Jets were on their heels. And after the Patriots scored a touchdown and two-point conversion in the waning seconds of the third quarter to cut the lead to 24-21, things seemed to be devolving into the same kind of debacle on which the Jets have been the league’s leading authority. But when Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 48-yard field goal with 10:22 left in the fourth quarter, things began to look especially dire.

To his everlasting credit, Favre would answer Gostkowski by leading the Jets on a methodical 14-play. 67-yard drive that would be capped by a one-yard Thomas Jones touchdown run and a 31-24 lead with 3:14 remaining in the game. The defense then forced three and out, and the Jets took over once again with just 2:33 remaining and victory near at hand. After Thomas Jones collected eight yards on two carries, the Jets faced a third down and two as the two-minute warning struck. The Patriots were out of timeouts. If the Jets were to secure a first down, the game would be over. But instead of entrusting the matter to Favre on a night when no Patriot defender had gotten even close to any of his passes, the Jets ran the ball, the apparent logic being that an incomplete pass would stop the clock, whereas even a failed run would cost the Patriots an additional 45 seconds.

Thomas Jones was stopped cold on third and two, and the Jets punted to the Patriots, who took over on their own 38 with 1:04 remaining and no timeouts left. It was then and there that Mangini nearly drove a stake through the Jets. Instead, of forcing Cassel to make difficult throws in a pressure situation, Mangini fell back into a prevent defense that could have been just as easily accomplished had the team remained in the sidelines. They allowed Cassel to go 5-5 for 67 yards, the last 14 of which were picked up on a touchdown pass to Randy Moss, who beat newly reacquired cornerback Ty Law along the sideline and sent the game to overtime.

Luckily, the Jets won the midfield toss. And luckily, they had Brett Favre, who, after being sacked on the first play of overtime and missing a pass to running back Leon Washington on second down, stepped up to deliver the ball that may very well have saved the Jets’ season. On third and 15 from his own 20, Favre dropped back and fired a bullet along the right sideline for tight end Dustin Keller, who made the catch and then dived across the first-down marker. A series of short runs and passes followed, and ten plays later, Feely stroked a 32-yard field goal that sneaked through the left upright and left the Jets winners.

Now at 7-3, the Jets are in prime position to win the AFC East and secure the second seed in the conference playoff alignment. In fact, they still have an outside chance to capture the No. 1 seed and, by extension, homefield advantage throughout the duration of the playoffs. In this respect, their win at Foxborough will begin to pay dividends almost immediately, as the Jets prepare to take on the conference-leading Tennessee Titans next week in Nashville. With their week 11 game already in the books, the Jets will now likely enjoy several days off in what will amount to a sort of mini-bye.

Meanwhile, the coaching staff will now have three extra days in which to study, scrutinize, and otherwise assess the Titans’ tendencies over their impressive, league-leading 9-0 start. The truth is that the Jets would have been an ideal candidate to hand the Titans their first loss anyway. In the age of parity, wherein individual matchups and smart gameplans often exert more influence over a particular outcome than broad talent disparities, the Jets appear to have an enviable angle on the Titans, who run the ball exceedingly well but have struggled to develop anything even remotely approximating a consistent passing attack with quarterback Kerry Collins.

The Jets, of course, have assembled a stalwart run defense but continue to struggle mightily to defend against the pass, as demonstrated conclusively and embarrassingly by last night’s 400-yard performance from Patriots starter, Matt Cassel. If the Jets can slow the Titans’ running game and force Collins into third-down passing situations, they would stand a very good chance to win the game and thereby shrink the Titans’ conference lead to two games or, should the Titans precede their meeting with the Jets losing this week to division rival Jacksonville, a single game with five left to play.

In a manner eerily reminiscent of similar episodes in the past, the Jets entered the game with high hopes fueled by two consecutive victories and a professed belief in the growing chemistry of the team. They had even received a rare stroke of organizational good luck along the way: After pasting the Arizona Cardinals 56-35 on the strength of Brett Favre’s six touchdown passes, they entered the next week’s game against the winless Cincinnati Bengals as the unintended beneficiaries of Carson Palmer’s pain-wracked elbow, which relegated the Pro Bowler to a T-shirt and shorts while his understudy, former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, stood behind center.

It was the kind of break that the Jets just never seemed to get. But they got it, and it was a good thing, too, because a week after the Palmer-led Bengals nearly beat the Dallas Cowboys, Fitzpatrick was reliably bad, totaling just 153 yards on 33 attempts and managing only seven offensive points.

Seven days later, it seemed that the Jets had struck scheduling gold for the second time in as many weeks; they would play the 1-4 Raiders, an aimless team that only last week had fired its head coach, 33-year-old Lane Kiffin, under circumstances so bizarre that only Raiders owner Al Davis could have set them into motion.

There was the obligatory circuslike press conference; an open letter wherein Davis accused Kiffin of immaturity and organizational treachery; and Davis’s stunning admission that he knew next to nothing about the man—someone named Tom Cable—whom he had just hired to replace Kiffin. The stars, it seemed, were aligned for a Jets rout, but if not that, then another humdrum victory of the kind that they had enjoyed a week earlier, when they edged the Bengals. Instead, the game quickly devolved into the same kind of inept, egg-laying performance for which this team has become infamous when faced with the prospect of a walkover victory against a league doormat.

The newfound, much ballyhooed chemistry between Favre and his receivers was absent and replaced by the head-shaking confusion and miscommunication last witnessed against the then-winless San Diego Chargers in week three. Time and again, Favre and his receivers were unable to convert third-down opportunities made manageable by the long-awaited breakout performance of Thomas Jones, who rushed for 159 yards on 23 carries.

In all, the Jets were 5 for 16 on third down against a Raiders defense that entered the game ranked 22nd against the pass. Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery were nowhere to be found, and Favre became the recipient of a disturbing number of hard hits, some of which made him slow to his feet.

Nevertheless, as had been the case a week earlier, the Jets were buoyed by the incompetence of their downtrodden opponents, who matched them misstep for misstep over the better part of 60 minutes before taking a 13-10 lead on Sebastian Janikowski’s 37-yard field goal with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Jets took the ensuing kickoff at their own 21 but were thwarted by a costly interception caused by apparent miscommunication between Favre and Jerricho Cotchery, who broke off his route just as Favre lobbed a deep ball over his head and into the waiting arms of cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who returned the ball to the Jets 40. But even then, it wasn’t over.

Three plays later, the Raiders had lost five yards and were forced to punt. The Jets would take over at their own 5-yard line with 1:24 remaining and no timeouts left. After failing to score a point since the first quarter, the Jets quickly marched down the field, enlisting the help of little-used receivers Brad Smith and Chansi Stuckey, who combined for 56 yards on the drive and set up a 52-yard Jay Feely field-goal attempt to tie the game with eight seconds remaining. Feely’s kick would clang against the right upright and then fall limply by the wayside. But even then, it wasn’t over.

This time, the help came not from the Raiders players but from their newly tapped head coach, who had called timeout just after the snap and a moment before Feely struck the ball.

It was a familiar ploy, as ill-advised as it is popular. The result: Jay Feely would get another shot at the same field goal, this time with a greater feel for the distance and wind conditions. Once again, the ball was snapped, and this time, Feely drilled the ball between the uprights. The Jets had earned a shocking tie only seconds away from a loss and would have another chance to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat in overtime. Thanks, Tom Cable! And after the Jets won the toss at midfield, they seemed a good bet to consign the game to their perilously long list of close calls.

After taking the opening kickoff at their own 22, the Jets faced a third and five at their own 49 and just 15 yards away from a reasonable field-goal attempt. But a Favre sack cost eight yards and forced a punt. But even then, it wasn’t over. The Raiders quickly went three and out, and the Jets took over once again, this time on their own 10 as a result of a booming kick from Raiders punter Shane Lechler. Once again, the Jets went three and out, and the Raiders took over on their own 45 and in prime position. But even then, it wasn’t over. The Jets held the Raiders to one yard, forcing yet another Lechler punt.

The Jets began their third possession of overtime on their own 18 and even managed a first down after Thomas Jones used a 10-yard run to convert a second and three from the Jets’ 25. But on first down from the 35, Jones was stopped for a two-yard loss, and the Jets were forced to pass. On second and 12 from their own 35, Favre escaped pressure and fired a ball deep over the middle for a wide-open Chris Baker, who, in grand Jets fashion, tripped and fell just as the ball was about to fall into his arms. On third down, Favre was forced from the pocket and wound up having to run out of bounds well short of the first-down market. The Jets would once again punt, and this time, it really was over.

On the ensuing possession, the Raiders’ JaMarcus Russell completed key passes to wide receiver Javon Walker and tight end Zach Miller, setting up a 57-yard field-goal attempt from cannon-legged kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who made the kick with room to spare.

Ugh. Same old Jets? Maybe. But at times like this, it is well to remember that the NFL season is fundamentally a developmental process in which each practice, each film session, and each game is aimed at developing the kind of cohesion and chemistry that turn seemingly ordinary teams into Super Bowl champions. The trick, of course, is to cultivate that chemistry while winning football games. There are no moral victories in the age of parity. Good teams learn hard lessons in the course of victory, not defeat. Those teams that need to lose before they see the error of their ways will watch the playoffs from home. We have 10 games left to see whether these Jets will join them.

Commit to a throw-first offense.

The wide-open attack on display during last week’s 56-35 victory over the Arizona Cardinals is not merely the best way for the Jets to play; it’s their only hope. Let’s be plain: the Jets simply lack the personnel necessary to execute the plodding, ball-control offense prized by Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. That much ought to have been obvious on the first day of training camp, and if not by that point, then certainly by the time that Brett Favre was acquired. The notion that this team, led by the foremost quarterback of his generation and possessed of two high-quality receivers, would be best served by deferring to a patchwork offensive line and a 30-year-old journeyman running back who had rarely been better than average was unrealistic if not downright foolish.

Nevertheless, the team opened the year seemingly committed to the same brand of stodgy conservatism seen over the last two seasons. Unsurprisingly, it proved a resounding failure. The team had to hit rock bottom on Monday Night Football in San Diego before the coaching staff resolved to write a bigger part for the guy with 448 career touchdown passes. One week, 56 points, and six touchdown passes later, the Jets seemed to have hit their stride. But if the trend is to continue, Mangini and Schottenehimer must resign themselves to life in a Favrecentric universe. Yes, there will be ugly interceptions, and plenty of them. Get over it. What Favre brings to an offense far outweighs what he gives away. That’s why the NFL’s all-time interception leader is also its only three-time MVP.

Split carries between Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.

If Thomas Jones’ late-career renaissance in Chicago entitled him to some indulgence following last year’s disappointing debut in New York, then the honeymoon is just about over after a similarly uninspired start to 2008. Jones, who spent the first five years of his career on three different teams, now has as little big-play ability as any starting running back in the league. Astonishingly, he has not had a regular-season run longer than 36 yards in his last 853 carries. Add the reality that he brings little as a receiving threat out of the backfield and nothing as a goal-line runner, and it’s difficult to understand why Jones continues to command the lion’s share of the playing time at tailback.

Clearly, he scares no one and does nothing to keep pressure off the passing game. His backup, Leon Washington, is arguably the Jets’ most explosive player. Last year, Washington averaged a gaudy five yards a carry behind the same porous offensive line that took the fall for Jones’s lackluster 2007. The year before that, he averaged 4.3 yards a carry behind a line that was quite possibly worse than last year’s iteration. In the worst case, he seems a safe bet to match Jones’s production. In the best case, he would represent an appreciable upgrade and afford greater credibility to the Jets’ play-action passing game.

Start the Bob Sutton Watch.

Lost amid the stirring 56-point outburst last Sunday was the reality that the Jets’ seemingly insurmountable 34-point halftime lead was whittled to an uncomfortably narrow 13-point edge after defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s defense allowed 35 second-half points. And had Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin not received the jarring hit that would cost Jets safety Eric Smith a one-game suspension and a $50,000 fine, the tally likely would have been 42 points. In a half. This, not one week removed from surrendering 48 points to the Chargers.

Clearly, allowing an average of more than 41 points in consecutive games is unacceptable for any team playing against any other teams, but when one considers the amount of talent on this defense, it becomes particularly appalling.

After spending about $60 million to acquire the likes of Kris Jenkins, Calvin Pace, and the utterly invisible Vernon Gholston, the Jets had to expect more than what they have seen thus far. The defensive line, anchored by Jenkins and veteran defensive end Shaun Ellis, is no worse than average overall. The linebacking corps, led by Pace second-year standout David Harris is probably a tick or two better than the league average. And although the secondary lacks a proven strong safety and an established second corner, it boasts two pro-bowl caliber players in young stars Darrelle Revis and Kerry Rhodes.

Last Sunday’s defensive meltdown was ultimately washed away by the good cheer that invariably follows a much-needed win. But the Jets should remain mindful that not even Favre can consistently outscore a defense as bad as the one we saw over the first quarter of this season. Something must change, and unless the team shows a major improvement over the upcoming spate of games against the lowly Bengals, Raiders, and Chiefs, the Jets should strongly consider handing Sutton his walking papers. Eric Mangini served as secondary coach and defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick in New England and is doubtless capable of coaching this unit should a change become necessary.

On the team’s second drive, and after an uninspired three-and-out to start the game, Favre took the snap on third and one from the Cardinals’ 48. Rolling right and finding no one, he heaved an astonishingly ill-advised pass back across the field, against his momentum, and into the left flat for fullback Tony Richardson, he of one catch all season. It was the kind of thing one would expect from a rookie, not an 18-year veteran whose bust in Canton is already on backorder. And as the ball fell so predictably into the hands of streaking Cardinals linebacker Chike Okeafor, the man so accustomed to unending cheers and goodwill in Green Bay met with the same ordinary boos and pessimism that defined the tenure of his many Jets predecessors.

The fans, after all, had seen that before. But it’s what they hadn’t seen that would follow for the rest of the game: a display of aerial brilliance absent since Joe Namath tossed six touchdowns in a game 36 years ago. On the very next drive, Favre took over on the Cardinals 49 following Kris Jenkins’s block of a Neil Rackers field-goal attempt. Favre marched the Jets to the Arizona 1 before a holding penalty negated a 2-yard touchdown flip to tight end Bubba Franks on first and goal. And after Favre’s second-down attempt for Laveranues Coles fell incomplete, the Jets faced third and goal from the 12. Ordinarily, this would have been where Jets mailed it in with a draw play or yet another wide-receiver screen—anything to foreclose the possibility of actually scoring a touchdown. But not this time.

For once, and to his credit, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer wasn’t content to settle for the latest in a long series of deflating field goals. Perhaps this was an outgrowth of the well-deserved criticism of his unimaginative play calling to date, but whatever the reason, Favre took full advantage, stepping up in the pocket and firing a whistling bullet to Laveranues Coles at the back of the end zone for a touchdown and an eventual seven-point lead that the team would never relinquish despite a defense seemingly committed to a Cardinals comeback.

Five more touchdown passes would follow, and were it not for a rare drop by Coles near the end of the first half, the total number would have been seven.

Remarkably, not six weeks removed from walking into Jets camp admittedly out of shape and without the slightest knowledge of the playbook, the nearly 39-year-old Favre now leads the NFL in touchdown passes and quarterback rating, which, at 110.8, is more than ten points above his single-season career high.

There have been some growing pains, of course. The early-season effort to assimilate Favre into the context of the broader offense was a predictable failure that lies at the feet of the coaching staff. The notion that Brian Schottenheimer, the 34-year-old progeny of Martyball and the steward of two utterly lackluster seasons as offensive coordinator, was going to remake the Hall of Fame quarterback by suppressing the very tendencies that made him great was as arrogant as it was stupid. Apparently, Schottenheimer lost sight of what ought to have been obvious: Brett Favre was brought here to bring the Jets up to his level, not be brought down to theirs. After all, Schottenheimer’s affection for fancy shifts, odd alignments, and game-managing quarterbacks saw the Jets rank 18th and 25th in total points in 2006 and 2007, respectively. It was time to hand the keys to Brett Favre.

Of course, it should have happened sooner. It is said that the Jets had reservations about affording Favre too much deference too soon lest they offend certain factions of the locker room by creating an air of Favre exceptionalism similar to that which purportedly prevailed in Green Bay. From the much-publicized penalty laps in training camp to the almost-forced observations that Favre was “just a regular guy,” the coaching staff seemed to protest too much.

In reality, of course, Favre is not just a regular guy. He could never be. He was brought here precisely because he wasn’t, and the Jets shouldn’t want him to be. Brett Favre’s job is to be Brett Favre at his worst and best, and to the Jets’ incredible good fortune, it appears as though he is poised to do just that over the remaining 12 games.

With one quarter of the 2008 season now complete and the team’s record even at 2-2, the maelstrom of irrational exuberance and knee-jerk negativity that defined the last four weeks has resolved into a temporary calm as the Jets enter the bye week and prepare for the remainder of the schedule, which begins with an array of eminently winnable ball games including upcoming dates with the moribund Cincinnati Bengals (0-4), the apparently coachless Oakland Raiders (1-3), and the Herm Edwards-helmed Kansas City Chiefs (1-3). By rights, the Jets ought to win all three games and head into their November 2 showdown with division-leading Buffalo at a handsome 5-2.

Of course, much can happen between now and then, just as much happened between Monday night and yesterday afternoon, but even if many questions remain, one has been answered: the man whom the Jets acquired from Green Bay was not the man who wore “Namath” on the back of a Rams uniform in 1977. Nor is he the man who wore “Unitas” in San Diego—--or even the guy who wore #19 for the Kansas City Chiefs. No, he’s the same guy he always was. He’s Brett Favre.

The bullies would be vanquished; the triumphant nerd, carried shoulder high by his adoring peers and then set down before the girl who never knew his name. All that lay between him and his new identity was the small matter of doing it, of meeting the varsity quarterback in the alley after school and letting him know there was a new world order. And it would be easier now, too. The varsity quarterback of years past was on crutches; in his place stood a faceless understudy as seemingly harmless as he was anonymous. This fight wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

But when the day came, and he was forced to stand face to face with reality, something changed deep inside. Suddenly, his confidence disappeared, and even if only in his head, he was a fat kid again. The first blow saw him struck squarely in the stomach. Bowled over and gasping, he fell to his knees and never made it back to his feet.

When the dust cleared, there he lay, red and blubbering, his glasses crushed underfoot, his underwear yanked into his nether regions hard enough to tear the elastic clear from the waistband. And they all laughed at him. As it turned out, the new world order would be the old world order.

And so it was for the New York Jets, who yesterday managed yet another loss to the New England Patriots, their latest in a seemingly interminable array of depressive, utterly listless efforts against a team that has them whipped as much mentally as physically.

There were some differences between this and losses past, of course. This time, the Patriots were without Tom Brady, the all-world quarterback who was thought to be the linchpin of their past success. Brady succumbed to a devastating knee injury in last week’s season opener against Kansas City and was replaced this week by Matt Cassel, previously known for backing up Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer before backing up Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart before backing up league MVP Tom Brady. In fact, so highly regarded was Cassel that yesterday’s game marked his first regular-season start since high school.

No matter. The Jets entered yesterday’s contest a timid, tremulous bunch defeated before they so much as stepped on the field. And after the game’s opening drive saw newly acquired kicker Jay Feely parlay a picture-perfect snap and hold into a horribly botched 31-yard field-goal attempt, the writing was on the wall. Cassel took over on his own 21 and quickly engineered a drive to within 10 feet of the goal line. When Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 21-yard field goal, the Patriots had a lead that they would never surrender, ultimately securing a 19-10 victory at the Meadowlands.

Time and again, the supposedly high-powered Jets offense failed to muster anything even remotely resembling a competent offensive drive. The running game was inconsistent, the protection poor and the passing game woefully out of sync. Worse still, the game saw yet another installment of Brian Schottenheimer’s vaunted play-not-to-lose offense, which, after nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against a hapless Dolphin team in week one, nailed the team’s coffin shut yesterday.

With his team clearly in need of an emotional lift against its arch nemesis, Schottenheimer continued to call a maddeningly vanilla offense powered by screen passes and balls thrown near or behind the line of scrimmage. In other words, more of the same from a man whose overly complex offense is predicated on fancy shifts and formations that often seem to confuse the Jets as much as they do opposing defenses.

By all indications, Schottenheimer doesn’t understand that his continuing obsession with a safe, turnover-free offense suppresses the very skills and traits that will one day see Favre enshrined in the Hall of Fame. One can’t help but wonder what sense there was in acquiring Brett Favre if Schottenheimer’s intention was to continue coaching as if he had Chad Pennington.

As for the defense, it wasn’t much better. Last week, the Jets were very nearly burned by Chad Pennington and a receiving corps that ranks among the very worst in the league. This time, they were baffled by a collegiate backup who would have likely never seen the light of day had it not been for Brady’s injury.

Yes, they stopped the run fairly well for the second straight week and succeeded in producing a credible pass rush, but there is simply no excuse for allowing Matt Cassel to post a 116 passer rating. And just as Schottenheimer must bear some responsibility for the offensive failures, so must defensive coordinator Bob Sutton be held to account for the continuing underperformance of his defense. Sutton is entering his third year as coordinator after a long but relatively undistinguished career whose pinnacle was a nine-year stint as the head coach at Army, where he managed two winning campaigns in nine seasons.

Of course, this Jets season is far from over, and things often change from one week to the next. The Jets may very well develop the chemistry and confidence necessary to overtake the Patriots, earn a playoff berth, and justify $140 million of questionable offseason spending, but the effort seen over the past two weeks leads to one conclusion: They’re still not that good.