Rest or rust?

The playoff-bound New York Jets (11-5) faced that age-old question in their 100th all-time meeting with the last-place Buffalo Bills (4-12) at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday.

Some teams opt for rest and avoiding potential injuries. Others prefer to throw that caution to the wind, in favor of playing their regulars and remaining sharp for the postseason. History suggests either option can be right.

With only a slim chance of moving up from a six seed to a five seed in the AFC playoffs, the Jets chose to rest many of their regulars.

Whether or not that was the right move remains to be seen in next week’s wild-card playoff round, but it certainly didn’t matter against Buffalo, as Gang Green Lite scored the first 17 points, and the final 21 points, to bury the Bills, 38-7, at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday.

Ironically, it was the Indianapolis Colts – the Jets’ playoff opponent next week – who rested players with a perfect season on the line last year, allowing the Jets to win their way into the playoffs, before eventually losing in Indianapolis in last season’s AFC title game.

The Colts’ last-second win over Tennessee, coupled with Kansas City’s loss to Oakland on Sunday, moved Indianapolis (10-6) up to the three seed, and into a playoff rematch with New York.

Benching several key starters for most or all of Sunday’s game against the Bills, the Jets dominated on both sides of the ball to win for just the second time in five games, while reaching eleven regular season wins for the first time in a dozen years.

New York’s offense got three touchdowns from backup quarterbacks Mark Brunell and Kellen Clemens, and a career-high 158 rushing yards from backup, rookie running back Joe McKnight.

Meanwhile, the Bills couldn’t score against the Jets’ defense, which forced six turnovers while allowing just six first downs and 162 total yards.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez played only the Jets’ first possession, without throwing a pass, to protect a slightly injured right throwing shoulder, and key Jet inactives included New York’s top two rushers, running backs Shonn Green and LaDainian Tomlinson, starting cornerback Darrelle Revis, and starting safety Eric Smith (who was previously a second-stringer, replacing the injured, usual starter Jim Leonhard, in recent weeks).

But, the Jets’ backups picked up the slack.

Veteran backup Mark Brunell (6-12, 110 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack) threw touchdown passes right before, and just after, throwing an interception that was returned for the Bills’ only score.

Later, Brunell’s backup, Kellen Clemens, one of three Jets (along with utility man Brad Smith) to play quarterback on Sunday, added a 10-yard touchdown run.

And, usual reserve, second-year cornerback Marquis Cole, who entered the game with just 17 tackles and no career interceptions or scores, led the Jets with six tackles and two interceptions, the first of which was returned for the game’s initial touchdown.

It was clear early, that it wouldn’t be Buffalo’s day, as the Jets caught a break on the opening drive of the game, when Buffalo wide receiver Stevie Johnson (5 catches, 72 yards) fumbled while trying to add extra yards to the end of a 33-yard reception to the Jets’ 18 yard-line.

The Jets recovered at their own 11 yard-line and keeping the ball solely on the ground, traveled 79 yards on 12 plays, using up exactly half of the first quarter, to take a 3-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Nick Folk, with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Utility man Brad Smith carried three times for 62 yards on the drive, including a nice 40-yard gain on an option run.

After the Bills’ first drive (which went for 55 yards, but which ended with Johnson’s fumble), Buffalo could get nothing going offensively for the rest of the game, with their own backups, Brian Brohm (whose only prior NFL start came last year, as a rookie) and rookie Levi Brown at quarterback.

Brohm, who was held to ten completions in 23 attempts, for 106 yards, was sacked three times, and threw three interceptions, while Brown went 2-for-3, for 24 yards, with an interception.

The Jets held the Bills to no more than 23 yards on any of Buffalo’s final twelve possessions, including eight single-yardage drives and five possessions that ended without positive yardage.

Early in the second quarter, linebacker Calvin Pace got in the face of Brohm, who sailed a weak pass that was intercepted by Cole and returned up the left sideline for 35-yard touchdown, to give the Jets a 10-0 lead with 9:07 left in the opening half.

Having completed just one pass (late in the first quarter) by the two-minute warning of the first half, the Jets finally moved the ball through the air with Brunell completing four of five passes during an 8-play, 59-yard drive that culminated with Brunell finding wide receiver Santonio Holmes (his only catch) on a 17-yard touchdown pass to the left, that extended the Jets’ lead to 17-0, with 15 seconds left in the half.

Three plays after halftime, safety Jarius Byrd intercepted a bad pass to the right flat by Brunell, and returned it 37 yards, to pull the Bills to within 17-7, just 1:44 into the second half.

But, Brunell rebounded two possessions later, with a 52-yard strike to wide receiver Braylon Edwards (his only catch), to put the Jets up, 24-7, with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

The Jets added two more scores in the final period, taking advantage of Bills’ interceptions each time (the first of those two picks was the second career interception for Pace).

A short, 5-play 27-yard drive ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Clemens, and on the next possession, rookie fullback John Conner (8 rushes, 44 yards, 1 TD) closed the scoring by capping a 5-play, 34-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.

Giving McKnight 32 attempts, the Jets rushed 50 times in 66 plays and held a tremendous ground advantage of 276-37 yards.

With their full compliment of starters returning next week, the Jets, who rode a five seed to Indianapolis last year, will seek revenge against the Colts while trying to begin another playoff run as the AFC’s lowest seed at the same venue where New York’s playoff run ended last year.

The Jets will battle the Colts on Saturday night, at 8 pm, in Lucas Oil Stadium, on NBC-TV.

Braylon Edwards is coming on strong, just in time for the post-season.

"Braylon, the last couple of weeks, has been awesome," Jets' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday, "just playing fast, jumping in like he did late in the year [in 2009] on scout team and he just looks like he can't get enough right now.

"I think he's hitting his stride at just the right time," Schottenheimer added.

With the playoffs just around the corner. Edwards has 14 receptions for 178 yards in the last two games and could be poised for a big post-season. That's something he didn't have a chance at in his first four seasons in the NFL, as Cleveland didn't make the playoffs in any of those seasons.

"To go from never making it to [going] two years in a row," Edwards...

The decision rests on Mark Sanchez's sore right shoulder. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was unsure Wednesday whether his quarterback, dealing with an ailing throwing arm, would play in the team's regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. "I'm leaning to think that maybe he'll play some," Ryan said.

Six days after an embarrassing loss, things got even worse for the New York Jets. The offense was inexplicably flat, the quarterback was nearly benched and -- get this -- a coach on the sideline tripped and injured a Miami Dolphins player. Not exactly one of the franchise's proudest days. "It makes you sick," Mark Sanchez said after the Jets' 10-6 loss Sunday.

Despite some typical early growing pains, the New York Jets have been very lucky to have had second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez leading their offense.

Sanchez came through as a rookie during a surprising playoff run that had the Jets 28 minutes from Super Bowl XLIV in last year’s AFC title game in Indianapolis.

This year, overcoming some struggles earlier in games, Sanchez repeatedly helped the Jets pull out several dramatic wins in the final moments, helping New York to a 9-2 record.

But after a 45-3 defeat in what was supposed to be a first-place showdown in New England, and a disappointing, rain-soaked, 10-6 loss to division rival Miami (7-6), Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan may not be feeling so lucky to have Sanchez and his signal caller anymore.

Prior to the Jets’ meeting with the Dolphins at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday, Ryan said “I think (the New England) loss was just a bump in the road. We’ll respond really well and we’ll know a lot about our team after these next four weeks.”

That “bump” just became a pretty big hill to climb as Ryan considered benching Sanchez during the third quarter of the Jets’ fourth single-digit offensive output (all losses) of the season.

The Jets’ offense has operated in extremes this year.

With Sanchez and the Jets’ offense clicking, New York (9-4) scored between 23 and 38 points, averaging 27.2 points per game, in their nine wins this season.

The Jets needed Sanchez and the offense to step up and bail out a defense that hasn’t been nearly as dominant as it was last year, when it was the top-ranked defense in the NFL.

In those nine victories, the Jets allowed 20 or more points six times.

The losses however, have been a completely different story, and that seems to have gotten to Ryan after the Jets’ first multiple-game losing streak of the season.

In three of the Jets’ four losses, New York’s defense did look like last year’s version, allowing just 10 points twice and nine points once, but Sanchez and the Jets’ offense was shut out once and never scored more than nine points in any of their four losses.

It’s now been more than nine quarters and over 139 minutes since the Jets last scored an offensive touchdown in the third quarter of a home win against Cincinnati on Thanksgiving night.

Sunday’s inaccurate and mistake-prone performance by Sanchez, affected by a steady rain throughout most of the game, was enough to prevent the Jets from beating the Dolphins even though New York held Miami to just five completed passes, 55 yards passing, and 131 total yards of offense.

It was the second time in as many seasons that Miami – which used two kickoff returns of at least 100 yards and a fumble return for a touchdown last year – beat the Jets on the road while being held to a little more than 100 yards of total offense (Miami beat New York 30-25 at Giants Stadium last November, while gaining just 104 total yards).

On Sunday, the Dolphins took a 10-0 first-quarter lead off of two Sanchez turnovers.

On the Jets’ second possession of the game, Miami converted a Sanchez interception into a 47-yard field goal. Sanchez then fumbled the next time the Jets had the ball, and Miami turned that break into the game’s only touchdown, a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chad Henne to wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

That would prove to be all the Dolphins would need, with Sanchez and the Jets’ offense sputtering for most of the game.

New York managed only 280 yards of offense themselves, while managing only a field goal in the second quarter and another in the fourth, in fifteen possessions. In addition to committing a couple of turnovers, the Jets punted eight times and turned the ball over on downs three times.

Sanchez finished the game just 17 of 44 for 216 yards, while being sacked six times.

Forty year-old quarterback Mark Brunell, who once enjoyed a successful NFL career for several years with Jacksonville before later having a sixth 3,000-yard passing season with Washington in 2005, doesn’t appear to be a better choice over Sanchez, having thrown just 31 total passes since the 2006 season.

But, that might just be how much Ryan’s level of faith has quickly diminished in his young first-string quarterback.

It would appear that it might not get any easier for Sanchez and the Jets next week, as New York travels to face a tough defense in AFC North-leading Pittsburgh (10-3), the AFC’s only team to allow less than 200 points (15.9 per game) this season.

The Steelers, winners of four straight, mostly shut down the run, however. Against the pass, Pittsburgh ranked 23rd, allowing 239.3 passing yards per game, entering this weekend. So, there may be some opportunities for Sanchez to once again prove to Ryan that he needs to stay on the field to help the Jets return to their earlier winning form.

In addition to writing for New York Sports Day, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com).

Brett Favre has faced demanding questions from the media for 20 years, never more than this season while he's been embroiled in a messy NFL investigation and struggled mightily on the field for the Minnesota Vikings. When he finally does decide to hang up the pads, which he insisted Wednesday will happen for good at the end of this long and trying season, the 41-year-old quarterback said that...

Fortunately, for the New York Jets, football isn’t like gymnastics, diving, ice skating, or ballroom dancing.

There are no style points.

Just the points on the scoreboard relative to your opponents’ and it’s all about wins, which the Jets (9-2) continue to rack up, no matter how they look.

After very nearly giving away all of five previous wins against losing teams (Minnesota, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, and Houston), the Jets again looked mostly unimpressive in sending Cincinnati (2-9) to its eighth consecutive loss, while earning their fourth straight victory on Thursday night at the New Meadowlands stadium.

This time, there were no late heroics needed, as in the Jets’ five previous wins, and as suggested by the final score of 26-10, but it certainly wasn’t that easy. Once again.

Nevertheless, New York is off to its second-best start ever (eclipsed by only the 1986 Jets, who began 10-1) after overcoming a 7-3 halftime deficit in the Jets’ first ever chance at hosting a Thanksgiving Day game.

Along theme of the holiday, the Jets mostly have seldom-used, yet all-around occasional threat, Brad Smith, and a key questionable call, to thank profusely for finding another way to win ugly.

After each team punted twice during opening quarter, the Jets drove 9 plays in 69 yards, but settled for a 3-0 second-quarter lead on a 27-yard field goal by Nick Folk. New York however, would then punt and end the half on a 44-yard missed field goal attempt by Folk.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer (17-38, 135 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 3 sacks) was intercepted twice on each of the Bengals’ next two possessions. The first pick, by safety Jim Leonhard, was New York’s first in seven games, ending the Jets’ longest drought in 31 years.

But, Palmer bounced back on Cincinnati’s next possession, completing 5 of 8 passes on a 10-play, 63-yard drive which he capped with a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Shipley (team-high 5 catches for 38 yards, 1 TD), to give the Bengals their only lead, 7-3, with 43 seconds left before halftime.

It didn’t take long after that for Smith, who entered the game with only 27 plays from scrimmage (three receiving, 24 rushing) all season, to put his stamp on the game.

Two plays into the third quarter, Smith, after a fake handoff up the middle, moved right to left, to take an end-around handoff and score on a 53-yard touchdown run, to put New York ahead to stay, 10-7, just 47 seconds into the third quarter.

After the Bengals punted, Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez (16-28, 166 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sack) was intercepted by linebacker Rey Maulaga at the Jets’ 37 yard-line.

Cincinnati moved to the New York 9 yard-line, but came away with nothing as kicker Aaron Pettrey missed a chip-shot 27-yard field goal that would have tied the game with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

The Jets then appeared to go three-and-out, but a 39-yard punt by punter Steve Weatherford to the Bengals’ 36-yard line, was ruled to have inadvertently hit the leg of kick returner Andre Caldwell, who was blocking on the play, with his back to the ball.

Television replays showed that might not have been the case, but referees allowed the Jets to recover the bouncing ball and take over at the Cincinnati 14-yard line. That set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Santonio Holmes (team-high 5 catches for 44 yards, 1 TD), two plays later, to extend the Jets’ lead to 17-7.

The teams then traded punts, before Pettrey redeemed himself with a 28-yard field goal to trim the Jets’ lead to 17-10, with 12:33 left in the game.

But, Smith (3 rushes, 55 yards, 1 rushing TD) struck again and put himself into the record books. He returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown, going more than half of that distance on a single shoe, as he became only the fourth NFL player and  first Jet to score on kick return and rushing touchdowns, each of at least 50 yards, in the same game.

The score gave the Jets a 24-10 lead, which was never threatened by the Bengals thereafter.

In fact, Cincinnati moved backwards, finishing with drives of -4, -6, -6, and 0 yards on their final four possessions. The third of those resulted in a safety when Brooklyn-born defensive end Trevor Pryce sacked Palmer in the end zone.

While Jets let the Bengals hang around a lot longer than they should have, two areas where they dominated, were in the rushing game, and defensively (particularly after halftime).

Led by running back Shonn Greene’s 70 yards on 18 carries, New York obliterated Cincinnati on the ground, 170-46, and held the Bengals to only 163 total yards, including a ridiculously low 39 yards on 30 second-half plays.

Holding the lead in the race for top spot in the AFC through their first eleven games, yet struggling to put away so many bad teams this season, the Jets are all but a sure bet to reach the playoffs while remaining an enigma as to what they might accomplish should they get there.

That question could very well be answered one way or the other, next week, with a highly anticipated AFC East showdown, between two well-rested teams, which will each be playing for the first time in eleven days, on Monday Night Football, when New York visits New England (9-2) on December 6th.

The Patriots enter that game after scoring the final 28 points to erase a 24-17 deficit and win 45-24, in Detroit, on Thanksgiving afternoon. That win gave New England sole possession of first place for just a few hours, until the Jets regained the AFC East lead by beating Cincinnati.

In addition to writing for New York Sports Day, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com)

How do you spell clutch? It’s obvious by now, that it’s J-E-T-S.

Blowing a 16-point, fourth-quarter lead at home and needing a touchdown with under a minute left might be demoralizing for most NFL teams.

But, when the New York Jets (8-2) were in that position against the Houston Texans (4-6) at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday, the Jets had the Texans right where they wanted them.

Given the events of recent weeks, it was just a matter of time before quarterback Mark Sanchez would find wide receiver Santonio Holmes to save the day for the Jets yet again.

Sure enough, the two connected on a 6-yard touchdown pass with just ten seconds left, to stun the Texans, 30-27.

It was Holmes who drew a pass interference call on a desperation fourth down heave from Sanchez to key a comeback win in Denver in Week 6. Two games later, Sanchez hit Holmes for 52 yards on the second play of overtime to set up a game-winning, overtime field goal in Detroit. Last week, Holmes beat the clock on a 37-yard touchdown catch from Sanchez with 16 seconds left in an overtime win in Cleveland.

“I swear it’s like Groundhog Day,” Sanchez told reporters after the game.

For more than three quarters, it appeared that the Jets would break that trend finally win in easy fashion.

Punt returner Jim Leonard returned a punt 30 yards to start the Jets’ first possession in great field position, at the Texans’ 29 yard-line, which set up a 37-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk, which gave the Jets an early 3-0 lead.

Houston was then able to take its first lead on an 11-play, 67-yard drive that began late in the first quarter. Running back Arian Foster (22 carries, game-high 84 yards, 2 TD) finished the march with a 2-yard touchdown run, to put the Texans up, 7-3, with 10:17 left in the first half.

New York answered though, scoring on both of its second-quarter possessions. Sanchez (22-38, 315 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 3 sacks) completed passes of 21, 26, and 27 yards on a 10-play, 78-yard drive that he finished with a 4-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Braylon Edwards (4 catches, 86 yards, 1 TD) which gave the Jets a 10-7 lead, with 5:18 left in the half.

A quick three-and-out and a short 31-yard punt ensued for Houston, setting the Jets up on the Texans’ 48 yard-line. From there, New York moved 33 yards on eight plays to grab a 13-7 halftime lead on a 33-yard field goal by Folk.

The Jets then went 30 yards on ten plays to start the third quarter, but Folk missed a 53-yard field goal.

New York scored on its next possession however, going 92 yards on nine plays, in 4:06, taking a 20-7 lead on a 41-yard strike from Sanchez to Holmes (7 catches, 126 yards, 2 TD).

Two possessions later, Foster fumbled with 1:19 left in the third quarter, and the Jets took over at the Texans’ 17 yard-line. That led to a 30-yard field goal by Folk which gave New York a seemingly comfortable 23-7 lead with 14:51 left in the game.

But, Houston stormed back as the Jets’ offense turned the ball over twice, while their defense, ranked first in the NFL last year, and which entered the game ranked fifth this year, fell apart down the stretch once again this season.

Quarterback Matt Schaub (19-33, 254, 1 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack) completed passes of 31, 14, and 13 yards to quickly move the Texans into Jets’ territory. Four plays later, kicker Neil Rackers made a 38-yard field goal to trim New York’s lead to 23-10 with 12:21 left in the game.

The Jets then moved 38 yards to the Texans’ 41 yard-line, but running back Shonn Green (15 carries, 42 yards) fumbled and Houston received the ball at the New York 43 yard-line.

The Texans got back in the game on the next play, as Schaub threw a 43-yard touchdown to tight Joel Dressen (a 6th-round pick by the Jets in 2005), who burned his former team to draw Houston to within 23-17, with 9:14 remaining.

Shortly thereafter, the Texans took the lead following a Jets’ punt. Schaub completed passes of 35 and 20 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Foster that gave Houston its first lead, 24-23, with 2:18 to go.

Two plays later, Sanchez threw his only interception of the game, which gave Houston the ball at the New York 10 yard-line.

That time, the Jets’ defense was able to hold, but Rackers made a 22-yard field goal with just 55 seconds left, to put the Texans up 27-23, and force New York to need a touchdown to win.

No problem, for the 2010 Jets, according to tight end Dustin Keller (2 catches, 7 yards). “We don’t think we’re ever out of it at all,” Keller said. “We tick ourselves off when we put ourselves in those situations, but we know that we’re always capable of coming back in any game in any situation.”

Starting from the Jets’ 28 yard-line with 49 seconds remaining, Sanchez completed passes of five and 19 yards to running back LaDainian Tomlinson (12 carries for 36 yards, 7 catches for 71 yards), who during the game, passed former Jet great Curtis Martin for seventh place on the NFL’s career yards from scrimmage list, with 17,452 combined rushing and receiving yards.

After an incompletion, Sanchez then threw a great ball to Edwards for a 42-yard gain up the right sideline, to the Texans’ 6 yard-line.

That set up the Jets’ latest miracle finish of 2010 on the next play, as Sanchez calmly found Holmes in the far left corner of the end zone for the winning score, giving New York its third straight win while handing Houston its fourth consecutive loss.

“We’re cutting it awfully close,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think anybody has any finger nails left if they’re a Jets fan.”

On one hand, credit the Jets for continually pulling games out of the fire to remain in the lead for the AFC’s top playoff seed. That’s what championship teams do, but the reality of the Jets’ season thus far, is that the comebacks might be deluding.

The flip side is that championship teams also beat up on teams with losing records, and each of the Jets’ four dramatic comebacks have come against losing teams, none of which the Jets should have struggled to beat.

A true championship caliber team might be winning those games the way the Jets had beaten the Texans through three quarters, rather than with the aid of last-minute escapes each time.

For now, Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan doesn’t seem to mind how his team plays as long as the Jets keep winning. “I want to apologize to all the Jets fans for affecting the heart here, a little bit,” he said. But, we’ll take the win. If I have to apologize for it every week from here on out, I will, all the way to the Super Bowl.”

Perhaps, next week, he won’t have to, should the Jets easily put away the Cincinnati Bengals (2-8) – New York’s 2009 playoff foe, but now, losers of seven straight – when the two teams meet at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Thanksgiving night, at 8:20pm EST.

In addition to NYSD, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A man jumped onto the field at the New Meadowlands Stadium in the third quarter of the game between the Houston Texans and New York Jets.

Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the first living Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has received a standing ovation from the crowd during the second quarter of the New York Jets' game against the Houston Texans. Giunta was brought out to one of the end zones with his wife, Jennifer, just before halftime and waved to the cheering crowd at the New Meadowlands Stadium on...