The Jets got by without Chad Pennington, now, they're going to have to survive without John Abraham. Abraham didn't play in the second half of the win over the Texans on Sunday, and now will reportedly miss 2 to 3 weeks with a knee injury. All the Jets are saying is that Abraham will miss the Steelers game this week, but the Daily News says sources close to the team think Abraham will miss at least two weeks. So that's some bad news - here's the good news...the Jets have now allowed the fewest points in the NFL. Their defense has been very good - no we'll see if they can keep it up without Abraham. Actually, one last point on Abraham - now Bryan Thomas steps into the starting job for at least a few games, and he has played extremely well this season so far. He had a great game in Buffalo, which was overshadowed by the loss, and has played very well in the games he's been in. So I expect the Jets defense to keep it up.

A couple of other housekeeping issues - The Wife hit with Dallas Monday night, in what was quite possible the greatest game in a couple of years (too bad I was sleeping)...so she's now up to number 72 in the country. She moved up about 40 spots after a 10-6 week. Not bad. I guess that's it for the housekeeping. On to the e-mail:

"Dear JohnnyJets...

A couple questions on the same topic this week...

-Which is worse...the NFC or the NBA's Eastern Conference?

-If the Jets played in the NFC East, would they be 11-1?

-How do you feel about the possibility (likely possibility?) that a
7-9 will make the playoffs this year?

10-5 through Sunday's games,
Dave in Brighton"

Dave - congrats on the 10-5...nicely done. Too bad you're not number 72 in the country. Let's answer your questions...I don't know if the NFC is worse than the NBA's Eastern Conference. I would say the NFC is better, simply because people know it exists. I can't say the same about the NBA's East. Or West.

If the Jets were in the NFC East, they could be 11-1 - but they're the Jets..so there are no guarantees on any of these sorts of things. They could be 1-11, for all we know. Sorry I can't be more definitive...but the Jets are in the AFC East, and they're 9-3...I'm happy with that.

Finally, I haven't gone through remaining schedules for the NFC teams, but I think it's very likely a 7-9 team is making the playoffs in the NFC. At the most, the wild card team will be 8-8...and these teams are playing so poorly that 7-9 is more likely. Meanwhile, the Jets could go 13-3 (more likely 12-4 or 11-5), and barely win the wildcard.

One more thing - the Jets can clinch a playoff spot this weekend...if they win, Denver or someone lose, and the Chargers and Ravens win, I think. I'll try to get it straight....but the Jets need to beat the Steelers. That's the priority.