Victory Clinches AFC East Title and Silences Parcells

When it was over, when his team had embraced a 17-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills and history, when he’d endured the obligatory ice-water bath and the hugs, backslaps and handshakes, Bill Parcells stood before his wide-eyed New York Jets in a jam-packed locker room late Saturday and found that the words he’d waited all season to say were tangled in a thick knot in his throat.

The veteran coach stood before them, choking and misty-eyed, for more than two minutes as the grins gradually erupted into chuckles, laughter and cheers.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him speechless,” said receiver Wayne Chrebet, who joined defensive lineman Bobby Hamilton in dumping a container full of water on Parcells with 10 seconds to play at Ralph Wilson Stadium. “I’ve heard rumors that he was speechless once when he was little.

“It just shows how proud he was of us.”

With good reason. The triumph, on a dank, wind-whipped day, delivered the Jets (11-4) their first AFC East title since 1969, a year before the AFL/NFL merger, and matched the franchise’s winningest season. Additionally, if the Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4) lose tonight against the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings at Minnesota, the Jets will lock up the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, giving them a first-round bye.

“I’m the biggest Minnesota Vikings fan in the world,” said Chrebet, whose seven-yard touchdown catch 8:13 into the game gave the Jets a lead they never relinquished. “I may buy myself a hat tonight.”

The division title comes only two years after a miserable 1-15 season.

The Jets were on their heels Saturday before a battering-ram Bill offense that rolled up 266 yards in the first half, more than four teams totaled in games against the Jets. But they pulled away with a handful of big plays in the second half, none bigger than Vinny Testaverde’s 71-yard touchdown pass play to wideout Dedric Ward with 2:15 to play in the third quarter. That gave the Jets a 17-10 lead, enough cushion for a defense that found its grittiness down the stretch after a tough start.

“It’s like spotting them seven,” the Bills’ Doug Flutie said of the play, which came when Testaverde spotted Ward in a one-on-one matchup with untested cornerback Donovan Greer, subbing for the injured Thomas Smith, the club’s finest defender. “It puts them in a position where we’ve got to make plays and they can play it conservative and hold the ball, especially on a day like today when it was tough to move the ball.”

Buffalo, which still can clinch a postseason berth with a loss by the Tennessee Oilers today, punched into Jet territory on six of its first seven possessions. The Bills, however, managed only 10 points, thanks to a missed 28-yard field-goal attempt by Steve Christie with two seconds remaining in the first half and two failed fourth-down conversions.

After intermission, the Jets turned up the heat on Flutie, holding the Bills to only 100 yards and smothering Buffalo’s final substantial opportunity with 3:52 remaining. The pivotal play came when safety Victor Green, one of only 15 players remaining from the roster Parcells inherited in February 1997, dove at his own 22-yard line to intercept a pass that caromed off the chest of receiver Kevin Williams. It was a major break for the Jets, because replays indicated that Green dropped the ball.