The Jets are mathematically still in the thick of the AFC wild card race, but if they don’t improve their play it’s not going to matter what the numbers say. Coming off a victory over the Bills in a must-win game, the Jets look to keep things rolling when they travel to FedEx to face the Washington Redskins on Sunday.

New York narrowly avoided a loss and possibly the end of their season when Mark Sanchez found Santonio Holmes for the game winning touchdown with just over a minute left last week against the Buffalo Bills. While they got the win it was hardly a pretty game as Sanchez struggled, despite throwing for a career high four touchdowns, and the defense had trouble stopping a Bills offense which was without its best player in running back Fred Jackson.

Their play wasn’t a good sign for a team likely forced to win at least four of their last five games, if not all, to have a shot at the final playoff spot in the AFC. For the Jets to have success down the stretch, they’ll have to rely on Sanchez to improve his play and lead the team. He completed 48.6 percent of his passes for only 180 yards last week.

The once feared defense allowed the Bills to drive 90 yards down the field for the score earlier in the game, and almost let Ryan Fitzpatrick lead the Bills down the field in less than a minute for the game winning score. Had Stevie Johnson made a wide-open catch on a play during that drive, the Bills probably would’ve scored and won the game.

“We have to keep improving, there’s no question,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “We’re not going to win and we’re not going to reach our goal if we don’t get better. But we definitely plan on getting better.”

“It is funny how if we make a mistake, we’re horrible and it’s, `Oh, they’re terrible,” Ryan said. “That could be bad luck there, too. But if we make a play, it’s, `Oh, we’re just lucky.’ So, maybe it’s the green (team colors). I don’t know. I hope karma is with us. I hope we continue to be lucky, and we’ll take that.

“The old saying, `I’d rather be lucky than good.’ I’d rather be both, and I think we are.” The Jets are hoping for luck, and that they gained momentum heading into the game Sunday because their track record against the ‘Skins isn’t good. The Jets are 1-8 all time versus Washington.

Washington also hopes to keep some momentum going, coming off a close win over Seattle to snap a six game losing streak. The Redskins came back from 10 down in the fourth to score 16 unanswered points. ”That’s what you’re in this game to do, is to win,” Washington coach Mike Shanahan said. “But at the same time, when you’re around a football team that’s giving you everything they’ve got, you feel good.

“That’s why I feel good about the character of this football team, and it was nice to find a way to win because they deserved to win. Our players have been working extremely hard, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Rex Grossman is coming off of one of his best performances of the season completing over 73 percent of his passes and racking up 314 yards. To add to that, rookie running back Roy Helu earned himself the start this week rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown last week. He also caught seven passes for 54 yards as well.

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Normally the backup quarterback for the recently injured Michael Vick, Vince Young, threw a late touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to secure the 17-10 victory for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants on Sunday.

Although he threw three interceptions in the game, Young was the main man who helped to get the ball down the field for the Eagles, collecting 258 yards on 23 completed passes for two touchdowns. Receiver Riley Cooper was able to split the defense well, collecting 75 yards on five receptions for a touchdown. Steve Smith only caught one pass during the game, but from which he was able to collect 14 yards and a touchdown.

Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning helped in his team’s offense by throwing for 264 yards on 18 completed passes for one touchdown and one interception. Victor Cruz was the main target for Manning, gaining 128 yards on six receptions and one touchdown.

Philadelphia running back got a lot of action in the game, rushing for 113 yards on 23 attempts. The Giants, on the other hand, did not gain much on the running attack of Brandon Jacobs, who ran for only 21 yards on 12 attempts.

With no one able to score in the opening quarter, the Eagles were the first to get on the scoreboard with a 33-yard field goal from Alex Henery. The Eagles scored again with a minute left in the half with a 14-yard pass from Young to Smith. The Giants got the final points in the first half with Lawrence Tynes kicking a 48-yard field goal in the last second.

After the third quarter passed with no team being able to capitalize on offensive attempts, the Giants were able to tie the game up at 10-10 early in the fourth quarter off a 24-yard pass from Manning to Cruz. The Eagles would have the final say of the game, moving the ball 80 yards downfield on 18 plays and finishing up with an eight-yard pass from Young to Cooper to secure the win with two minutes left in the game.

The Philadelphia Eagles (4-6) head back home to prepare for a game against the New England Patriots, while the New York Giants (6-4) travel to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Saints on Monday.

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A 39-yard field goal off the boot of Dan Bailey helped secure the victory in overtime for the Dallas Cowboys, beating the Washington Redskins 27-24 on Sunday.

Tony Romo was another key factor to the comeback victory, throwing for 292 yards on 23 completed passes for three touchdowns. Recievers Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, and Laurent Robinson caught one touchdown pass apiece, making 10 receptions altogether for a grand total of 187 yards.

Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman also played very well throughout the game, throwing for 289 yards on 25 completed passes for two touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Jabar Gaffney was his main target, collecting 115 yards on seven receptions for one touchdown. Donte Stallworth also caught a touchdown pass, along with 51 yards on four receptions.

Running back Demarco Murray helped the Cowboys move the ball down the field, collecting 73 yards on 25 rushing attempts. Redskins’ running back Roy Helu only had eight rushing attempts, averaging four yards per carry.

After a slow start for both teams, the Cowboys were first to take the lead with a 22-yard pass from Romo to Bryant halfway through the first quarter. Bailey gave the Cowboys a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left in the second quarter after kicking a 37-yard field goal.

The Redskins got their first points of the night thanks to a four-yard rushing touchdown by Grossman with four minutes to go before halftime. Grossman then was able to hit Gaffney with a 16-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the quarter, making the score 10-14 going into halftime.

The only action in the third quarter happened in the first five minutes, when Graham Gano kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Redskins an eight-point lead going into the final quarter.

Romo shined in the fourth quarter, making a 7-yard touchdown pass to Robinson on the first drive of the quarter, then throwing a huge 59-yard pass to Witten later on to take the lead at 24-17. However, the Redskins were able to get a touchdown in the final minute of the fourth quarter, a 4-yard pass from Grossman to Stallworth, to tie the game up and bring them into overtime.

Both teams battled strong in extra time, but the Cowboys were able to defend a lead given by a 39-yard field goal from Bailey until the final whistle blew with the Cowboys winning 27-24.

The Dallas Cowboys (6-4) travel back home to face the Miami Dolphins on Thursday, while the Redskins (3-7) travel to Washington to face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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In a game of two sides who have underperformed this season, the Cleveland Browns (4-6) emerged victorious at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) in a close-fought match, the final score 14-10 to the Browns.

The Browns continue to be haunted by their lack of options at running back, with both Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty still ruled out due to injuries. The Jaguars were also missing key personnel in the form of Rashean Mathis, who was placed on Injured Reserve earlier in the week.

Although the Jaguars have been disappointing this season, they got off to the perfect start when running back Maurice Jones-Drew powered into the end zone from the six-yard line early in the second quarter.

Not to be outdone, the Browns responded in similar fashion, with running Chris Ogbonnaya getting the rushing touchdown from the one-yard line, leveling the scores as both sides headed into the halftime interval.

There was very little to separate the sides as they entered the second half, but the Browns nearly took the lead when Colt McCoy threw into the end zone from the six-yard line, only for the pass to be intercepted by Jaguars safety Dawan Landry.

Cleveland did finally propel themselves into the lead early in the fourth quarter when McCoy found wide receiver Josh Cribbs for a three-yard touchdown pass, putting the home side seven points ahead.

Although the Jaguars managed to kick a field goal and cut the deficit to four points, they couldn’t put anything else on the scoreboard and will head home disappointed to have lost to a side whose form has been as poor as their own.

Cleveland Head Coach Pat Shurmur will be pleased to have picked up the victory ahead of a tough end to the season which sees the Browns having to contend with the threat of all of their divisional rivals at least once.

The gradual improvement made by Ogbonnaya over the last few games, culminating in him running for 115 yards on 21 carries, will also please Shurmur. If Ogbonnaya can develop into a real threat running the ball, then his presence will allow McCoy to target the threats of Greg Little and Cribbs more efficiently.

With the Bengals up next for Cleveland, they will be hoping that they can welcome back some of their key injured players, as the Bengals continue to look dangerous despite losing to both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in their last two games.

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The Baltimore Ravens (7-3) moved to top position in the AFC North with a well-earned 31-24 victory over divisional rivals the Cincinnati Bengals (6-4). The most noteworthy injury news prior to this game revolved around Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.

A toe injury, which had ruled Lewis out of practice in the week running up to the game, brought to an end a streak of 57 consecutive games started for the 16-year Raven. The Bengals were not without injury concerns of their own, however, having ruled wide receiver A. J. Green inactive following a knee injury sustained a week ago during their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Both teams went three and out on their opening plays, perhaps inevitably, considering the inconsistencies of the Ravens offense recently and the fact, the Ravens are the only team in the N.F.L. to have not conceded points on the opening drive of the game. Despite having home field advantage, the Ravens were the first to give away points, running back Cedric Benson powering into the end zone.

Cincinnati’s lead was short lived, however, with quarterback Joe Flacco rolling right from the snap, and with plenty of time for his receivers to escape their coverage, found Anquan Boldin for a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Baltimore then added another touchdown, this time Ray Rice going over from the one-yard line after a couple of excellent catches from wide receiver Torrey Smith had allowed the Ravens to advance down the field.

The Bengals responded well after the half, answering a Ravens field goal with another rushing touchdown for Benson, reducing Baltimore’s lead to just three points. As in the first half, Ravens struck back quickly with rookie Jimmy Smith grabbing his first interception in the N.F.L.

Smith later fumbled the ball; fortunately for Ravens’ fans, the ball was recovered by Brendon Ayanbadejo, and set up Rice for the one-yard touchdown run. Things quickly went from bad to worse for Cincinnati with Ladarius Webb acrobatically picking off an Andy Dalton pass on the Bengals’ 38-yard line, and Flacco proceeded to throw a touchdown pass to Smith on the first play of Baltimore’s possession, lengthening their lead to 17 points.

Jimmy Smith could not continue to live up to the high standards he had set for himself with his first-ever interception in the N.F.L. as he let Bengals wide receiver Andre Caldwell get away from him and collect a 49-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, the longest scoring play allowed by the Ravens all season.

Hopes of a Cincinnati comeback ignited when tight end Jermaine Gresham juggled the ball as he moved into the end zone, managing to take control of the ball just before he was pushed out of bounds. The Bengals had to settle for a field goal, bringing them to within seven points of Baltimore.

With less than a minute to play, and the Bengals in a first and goal situation, the Baltimore defense, shorn of its on-field leader Lewis, put in a titanic effort, forcing the Bengals to go four and out and secure victory for the home side.

The Ravens’ stuttering performance last week against the Seattle Seahawks was put to bed after this vital victory over the Bengals, although question marks will remain over the consistency of the Ravens, especially against lesser opposition.

Head Coach John Harbaugh will be pleased with a number of players performances, notably wide receiver Smith, who had 165 yards on just six receptions, including one for a touchdown, as well as tailback Rice, who helped his side with 104 yards on 20 carries.

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The New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs have connections with each other. From the GM of the Chiefs, Scott Pioli, to the currently injured quarterback of Kansas City, Matt Cassel, to the defensive coordinator for Kansas City, Romeo Crennel. The one thing they don’t share is success on the football field.

The Patriots are coming off a crucial road win against the Jets to gain sole possession of first place in the AFC East and sweeping the season series with New York. The Chiefs have dropped two straight after winning four in a row, but without their starting quarterback, they will have to turn to Tyler Palko to keep them in the hunt for the AFC West.

For the Chiefs, they might not be getting Cassel back anytime soon. Coach Todd Haley said Cassel suffered a “significant” hand injury against the Broncos last Sunday and potentially could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Monday. Palko has only thrown 13 passes in the NFL and will be leading the Chiefs for now.

“Tyler is the next in line, and he’s done a terrific job, like I said, of keeping himself ready,” Haley said. “That’s what the No. 2 quarterback has to do, because you don’t know. At a moment’s notice, you could be in there playing, just like any other position.” The Patriots, on the other hand, are sitting pretty atop the AFC East after responding well against the Jets behind Brady’s 329 yards and three touchdowns.

Brady will look to continue that against a defense ranked 22^nd overall giving up 364.3 yards per game. ”No matter what happened last week, whether we won, lost, at home or on the road or in London, it doesn’t matter. Once that game is over, we have to put it behind us,” Belichick said.

“Now it’s about preparing for Kansas City, what they do, what their schemes are, what their players are, what their tendencies are in certain coaching decision situations that we’ll have to make.” Brady has not faced the Chiefs since the season opener in 2008 in which he was knocked out for the year, which led to Cassel starting for the Patriots and eventually getting traded to Kansas City.

“In order to make plays, you have to run good routes, you have to make good throws, you have to pass protect against one of the best pass rushers that we face in (Tamba) Hali,” Brady said. Hali has 6 of the Chiefs 9 total sacks, but even with pressure from him Brady should be able to find his tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

The Patriots offense has never been the problem; the problem lies with the defense that played very well against the Jets. Defensive end Andre Carter had four sacks against the Jets and, if he can keep that going, the battered Patriots secondary could have an easier time.

Cornerback Devin McCourty who suffered a shoulder injury in the game against New York will likely be out for a few weeks and safety Patrick Chung is questionable this week. Without those players, the Patriots may not be able to match up against wide receiver Dwayne Bowe who has 19 touchdowns since 2010.

Coach Bill Belichick isn’t counting on a significant drop off from Cassel to Palko. “I think that Palko can do everything that he needs to do from what Matt has done,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect them to deviate too far from what they like to do.” This is a must win for both teams.

The Chiefs are looking to keep pace in the crowded race for the West and the Patriots look to increase their lead over the Jets, who lost on Thursday to Denver, and stay a game ahead of Buffalo who right now owns the tiebreaker having beat the Patriots back in Week 3.

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In a span of five days, the Jets have gone from controlling their destiny for home field in the playoffs to potentially missing the playoffs all together. The Jets’ defense played great for 55 minutes on Thursday, but couldn’t stop Tebow on the final drive. Tebow capped a 95 yard drive with a 20 yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left to stun the Jets and give the Broncos the 17-13 victory.

“I like winning,” Tebow said after his third comeback in a month, “but I wish it wasn’t this stressful. Before the “drive,” the Broncos had punted on their eight previous possessions and Tebow seemed unable to do anything against the Jets defense. He then got the ball with less than six minutes and calmly engineered a 95 yard drive in which he had 57 yards on the ground.

“We played them well through the whole game, until that last play,” Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “We played them well. Tim Tebow’s legs took them to victory, ran them to victory.”

It was third and four from the Jets 20 with just over a minute left when the Broncos got a “timeout” when a fan ran onto the field and had to be chased by security. During this break the Jets made the decision to call their first all-out blitz of the night, a decision that will be talked about for weeks to come.

Tebow took the snap, read the blitz, and beat safety Eric Smith to the edge and cut back to find his way to the end zone. It was a horrible play by Smith who was supposed to set the edge, but came to far inside and couldn’t recover. ”You know he’s going to keep it in that situation. That’s what he does. You keep the ball in your playmaker’s hand,” Ryan said.

“We thought he was going to carry the ball and he didn’t disappoint us. But he ran for a touchdown. The kid’s a competitor and makes big plays with the game on the line.” Since Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton, the Broncos are 4-1 and have climbed back to .500 a half game behind Oakland for the lead in the AFC West.

“He’s a competitive dude,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “He’s super competitive. He never lays his sword down. He’ll fight you to the death. That’s just his nature. He’s a great young man.” Mark Sanchez heaved it up toward the end zone as time expired, but the pass was batted down dimming the hopes of the Jets to even make the playoffs.

The Jets were up 10-3 when Sanchez made a throw toward Plaxico Burress in which he followed him with his eyes the whole way, that was picked off and returned for a touchdown by Andre’ Goodman to tie the game up. Nick Folk broke that tie with a 45 yard field goal with 9:14 remaining.

The drive could’ve been over on the first play when safety Jim Leonhard had a chance to tackle Eddie Royal in the end zone for a safety, but was unable to wrap him up and Royal gained eight yards and got the drive started. Tebow impressed more with his running than his passing finishing 9 of 20 for 104 yards.

“I said before, I trust him. I trust him with everything,” teammate Von Miller said. “No matter how many interceptions he throws, no matter how many touchdowns he scores, that’s Tim Tebow and I’m going to ride with him to the end. I hope he shut up a whole bunch of critics today.”

Joe McKnight and rookie Bilal Powell had to share snaps for most of the night when Shonn Greene took a knee to the ribs and left the game. He never returned after that and with LaDanian Tomlinson being out already the Jets running back situation is very depleted. “He did it to us in college and he’s doing it here,” said teammate Robert Ayers, who went to Tennessee.

“It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be Aaron Rodgers-like. As long as we get it done, that’s all that matters.” The Broncos and Tebow look to continue their success in their race for the AFC West and the playoffs when they travel to San Diego to face division rivals the Chargers who have been reeling as of late.

The Jets return home to face the Bills in a must win for the Jets if they want to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

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The Bills are downplaying the significance of this game, but another loss would seriously hurt their playoff chances. Their opponents, the Miami Dolphins, have virtually no chance of making the playoffs, but they’ve started to play like a decent team and have been playing the role of spoiler the past two weeks.

The Bills are looking to avoid their third straight loss, while the Dolphins are looking to make it three straight wins since starting the season 0-7. Buffalo started out the season on a tear going 3-0, but have since gone 2-4 to drop into a tie for second place in the AFC East one game back of the New England Patriots.

The Bills are trying to catch the Patriots, but if they don’t, a wild card will be difficult with Baltimore and Cincinnati sitting at 6-3 and Tennessee at 5-4. If Buffalo is a playoff team, you couldn’t tell by their last game in which Dallas blew them out 44-7, scoring touchdowns on their first four drives.

“We will regroup and continue to work to get better,” coach Chan Gailey said. “But you have to go do it. Nobody’s going to give you anything in this league.” The recent troubles have stemmed from the offense’s lack of production. Through the first seven games, the Bills averaged 30.1 points, but have only scored 18 points and given the ball up 7 times in the past two games.

The defense has also struggled recently, surrendering 348 yards to the Jets and 433 yards last weekend to the Cowboys. ”We haven’t shown up two weeks in a row. It’s disheartening,” said Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has only completed 56.5 percent of his passes with two TDs and five INTs in two games since signing a $59 million, six-year contract.

The Dolphins have rebounded the past two games with a 31-3 victory over Kansas City two weeks ago and a 20-9 win over the Redskins. ”The first seven games we were kind of in disarray,” said Reggie Bush.  ”We were trying to find our identity. The difference now is we’re playing 60 minutes and finishing at the end of games.”

Miami’s change has been their performance late in games. In their seven losses they were outscored 92-51 in the second half, but in their two wins have outscored their opponents 27-3. Reggie Bush is in the middle of his best three-game rushing stretch with 242 yards, and he will look to keep that up against a Bills defense that’s ranked 23^rd in the league surrendering 125.4 yards per game.

“We’ve been worrying about one game at a time and not worrying about where we’re going to be at the end of the season, the division, if we can make the playoffs or not,” Bush said. Fred Jackson, who only had 36 yards in the last meeting between these two divisional rivals, comes into the game as the NFL’s leading rusher with 917 yards.

He is also second in yards from scrimmage per game with 145.4 yards. However he’s been unable to find the end zone in the past three games. He will have his work cut out for him against the Dolphins who are ranked 10^th in the league in run defense only giving up 105.1 yards a game, and with the injury to Bills center Eric Wood, the running game could suffer.

“We know we’ve got a lot to prove. There’s still a lot of season left, and we have to go out and earn everything we get for the rest of the season,” Jackson said. “We know that, and it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to.” Ryan Fitzpatrick will look to bounce back facing a Dolphins pass defense that is ranked 25^th in the league giving up 256.3 yards per contest. Matt Moore will also be facing a defense that isn’t good against the pass. The Bills are ranked 27^th giving up 261.4 yards a game.

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