HALF AND HALF

The second-half Jets nearly ruined my night.

The first-half Jets were awesome. They were driving the ball up and down the field, scoring seemingly at will, making it look like another easy win. The first-half Jets were the full-game Jets from the St. Louis game - and the way they were playing, 47 points didn't necessarily look out of the question.

But then the second-half Jets showed up.

And they came early - allowing the Patriots to get on the board one more time before the half - just like the Tom Brady Patriots did so well - keeping a cold crowd in the stadium and in the game - changing the minds, I'm sure, of those who were about to leave at halftime to beat the traffic, giving them hope that the second half might be more of a game.

The second-half Jets made sure that was the case.

They lost all aggressiveness on offense. Not the Brett Favre type of aggressiveness that results in turnovers, but the aggressiveness where you say, "I'm going to go out and score on you", and then you go and score on the other team. That was the first-half Jets' attitude, and it worked well. The second-half Jets, taking a page out of the Herman Edwards playbook, sat on the ball, didn't go for the jugular, and nearly paid the price.

After the Patriots tied it, the first-half Jets showed up again, drove down the field, and took the lead again. But they left too much time on the clock, and the second-half defense still was on the field, allowing the Patriots to score with a second left. That defense gave up way too many yards in way too short an amount of time, and it's probably a good thing the Jets won the overtime coin toss.

Because by that point, the first-half Jets offense was back. The defense was not.

The Jets are all alone in first place in the AFC East because of what they did in the first half Thursday night. The first half of that game showed the Jets can hang with anyone come the post-season. The second half showed their playoff stay could be short-lived.

If the first-half Jets stick around for the second half of this season, they'll have themselves a first-round bye come January. And maybe even a berth in the Super Bowl.