After a much-needed bye that followed six straight losses, the Jets return to the Meadowlands field Sunday to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first of three Super Bowl-caliber teams on their schedule in the second half. A win in any of those games -- they are also at Dallas on Thanksgiving and at New England on Dec. 16 -- would be a major surprise. That's the only way the Jets can affect the NFL playoff race this season, however, so unless they want to tank it to improve they're draft picks, they might as well put up a fight.
Pittsburgh comes to town with a stingy defense that leads the league in fewest yards allowed (229.4). The Jets rank 30th with 380.2. Yikes. Believe it or not, the Jets' biggest advantage could come on special teams, where Leon Washington has been known to take kickoffs the distance. Pittsburgh's kick coverage units have allowed three touchdowns this season. As for ruining someone's season, safety Kerry Rhodes doesn't like the title. "We need to come out and try to get a win, not try to play spoiler," he said. "If you try to play the role of spoiler, that kind of depicts you as a loser." Having a 1-8 record also "kind of depicts" teams as losers. Good news for Kellen Clemens and the Jets offense: Laveranues Coles (concussion) expects to play.
Photo of Laveranues Coles by AP/Bill Kostroun
