Jets Starting to Look Like Winners : Rebuilding: Despite their 4-4 record, they have played well in narrow losses to the Bills, Oilers and Bears.

It is sometimes said that NFL teams never are standing still, that they always are on the way up or on the way down.

So it might be that the New York Jets (4-4) only appear to be standing still this week. Where are they really headed?

Their opponents say they are headed up--far up.

“That’s the most improved team in the league this year,” said Chicago Bear Coach Mike Ditka, now among those who see a possible playoff appearance for the Jets this winter despite their .500 start.

For almost the first time since Joe Namath made them famous 20 years ago, the Jets are beginning to look like a contender.

They seem upwardly mobile for two reasons:

--The Jets, both offensively and defensively, outplayed the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers and the Bears most of the way. And at the end, they lost narrowly, 23-20 to both the Bills and Oilers, and in overtime, 19-13, to the Bears.

--They can win most of their last eight games. They will play the New England Patriots (3-4) twice and the Green Bay Packers (1-6), Indianapolis Colts (0-8), San Diego Chargers (1-7), Miami Dolphins (3-5), Detroit Lions (5-2) and the Bills (7-1).

In the years since Namath departed after making good on a guarantee to win Super Bowl III, the Jets have sometimes been at .500 in October or later--and they have been in a couple of playoffs--but they never have been a genuine long-range threat to anyone except themselves.

The difference now is that they are in the second year of a reorganization structured by a new general manager, Dick Steinberg, and a new coach, Bruce Coslet.

“Our objective last year was to get the foundation in and play respectably,” Steinberg said. “This year, our objective is to be in contention to the end in every game, so you can win it if something goes very wrong for them or very right for us.”

And as defensive end Jeff Lageman said, those goals, so far, have been reached.

“We’re better than the world champion Giants already,” Lageman said, needling New York’s other team.

If he’s right, one explanation is that Jet quarterback Ken O’Brien has often played steadier than Giant quarterbacks Jeff Hostetler and Phil Simms--although Simms has been tested only in practice.

The Jets are believed to consider rookie Browning Nagle their quarterback of the future, but O’Brien, veteran of a generally rocky eight seasons in the league, is the man this year, and is thriving under new coaches.

Otherwise, the Jets can point to only three players who have the stuff of superstars: halfback Blair Thomas, who hasn’t played like it lately, and wide receivers Al Toon and Rob Moore, who have.

There is a sprinkling of other producers--USC exports Dave Cadigan, a lineman, and Mark Boyer, a tight end, among them, plus 235-pound fullback Brad Baxter. And the defense has settled down with Lageman, Dennis Byrd, rookie Mo Lewis and other little-known players.

But the main factor seems to be leadership.

Steinberg, 55, who joined the Jets on Dec. 19, 1989, has been a successful administrator since his days as the Rams’ chief of personnel in the 1970s, when, in his first draft, he gathered four players who helped them to their only Super Bowl appearance: Nolan Cromwell, Wendell Tyler, Bob Brudzinski and Vince Ferragamo.

Coslet, 44, who was hired by Steinberg on Jan. 15, 1990, is a veteran of 12 years as an assistant coach with, among others, the Cincinnati Bengals, who have tailed off since he left. In 1988, he helped Sam Wyche install the no-huddle offense that propelled them to a Super Bowl.

On New Year’s Eve, shortly before Coslet was selected, Steinberg was asked to identify his new coach and he said: “I don’t know who, but I know what. I want a young innovator who can handle players, teach them, motivate them and create a disciplined environment.”

O’Brien says that Coslet meets those requirements.

“The main thing Bruce changed is the atmosphere here,” the quarterback said. “We’ve (become) aggressive and confident.”

Talking about his job, Coslet has said: “My pet peeve is assignment error. . . . There are specifics, like the wide receiver must block, the quarterback shall not throw the ball down the middle when there’s a free safety.”

A former tight end at University of the Pacific, Coslet is also a former special teams captain for the Bengals. He said he is a “creation of all the people I’ve worked for,” and he listed Bill Walsh, Paul Brown, Buddy Ryan and Wyche.

Nobody ever knows about a new coach. Is Coslet the next Vince Lombardi or Buddy Ryan or Frank Gansz?

At 4-4 this season, after starting 6-10 last year, Coslet is a coach who has yet to prove himself. As must Steinberg. Even so, their team appears on its way up.