The Associated Press

FOXBORO, Mass. - The New York Jets and New England Patriots were two of the NFL's hottest teams. Now they're in trouble.

Both won five of six games heading into last weekend. Then, the Jets lost Sunday to the lowly Bears, while the Patriots played their worst game of the season in losing to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.

"You can't afford letdowns at this stage of the game," New England wide receiver David Patten said. "It just means so much."

The AFC East rivals will try to rebound when they meet tonight.

The Jets will be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose. The Patriots will win the division if they beat the Jets and then the Miami Dolphins the following Sunday.

If the Jets beat the Patriots and then the Green Bay Packers while the Patriots beat the Dolphins, the three AFC East teams all will be 9-7. In that case, New York would win the division with a better division record than Miami and a better record against common foes than New England.

"It's not like Mount Everest we're trying to climb," Patriots tight end Christian Fauria said. "Maybe Pike's Peak."

The Jets are the ones facing Everest. They're 7-7, one game behind the Patriots and 11/2 behind the Dolphins with two to play.

"This league is really crazy, and things happen all the time that you can't really explain," New York quarterback Chad Pennington said. "For us not to fight would be the craziest thing in the world."

New England has the advantages of being at home and having been through tough times. The Patriots made last season's playoffs by winning their last six games, then won three more to become Super Bowl champions.

None of that matters now.

New England's early-season vulnerability to the run - it allowed at least 136 yards on the ground in each game of a 1-4 slump - is back. The Titans ran for 238 yards, equaling the Patriots' worst performance of the season, with Eddie George getting 101 and Steve McNair rushing for two touchdowns.

But New England is confident it can stop the Jets' Curtis Martin.

"This is the NFL," Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "Things change each week. It's a new opponent, it's a new system, it's new players. Everybody's just looking to get last week behind us."

They can ensure a playoff berth by winning their next two games.

"We certainly left no room for error," Brady said.

Where does that leave the Jets?

They might have been tied with the Patriots at 8-6 had receiver Wayne Chrebet not fumbled trying to leap over defenders with about a minute left deep in Chicago territory as the Jets were driving for the tying touchdown.

"The fact that we lost to Chicago when we should have won, I mean guys are going to be fired up," New York safety Nick Ferguson said.

Return to Bengals front page...