They’re Still in Spirit of Giving

With a playoff berth within reach, the New York Jets developed sweaty palms. Again.

With a chance to get into the postseason by beating the lowly Buffalo Bills Sunday, the Jets reverted to their history of December woes by losing, 14-9.

“We just blew a big opportunity. I guess we just have to learn the hard way,” running back Curtis Martin said.

Said Coach Herman Edwards: “We played like a team that was 2-12.”

New York (9-6) still could make the playoffs by winning in Oakland or with a Seattle loss to Kansas City next Sunday. Last season, the Jets lost their final three December games to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. Under Edwards’ new regime, they performed in a similar manner Sunday in losing for the third time in five December games.

“I know that we have the talent and the cohesiveness, everything it takes to get it done,” Martin said. “But when you don’t get it done you have to wonder why.”

And wonder how the Jets got into a contending position in the first place. They finished 3-5 at home, with this the most alarming loss because they didn’t score a touchdown against a defense that is among the NFL’s worst.

The Buffalo offense was also efficient. Shawn Bryson ran for 107 yards, and Alex Van Pelt smoothly directed the Bills (3-12) in swirling winds.

“These guys want to win,” said Van Pelt, whose 22-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price provided the deciding points. “Why wait to rebuild next year?”

The Bills had to withstand two late drives by the Jets. Phil Hansen tipped and picked off a pass by Vinny Testaverde at the Buffalo 35, as the Jets--who led the NFL with a plus-23 turnover margin coming in--had three giveaways and no takeaways.

The Bills could not run out the clock, then botched their punt with a bad snap, giving New York the ball at the 50. The Jets got to the 24 with 13 seconds left, but a short completion over the middle to Martin was all they could manage before the clock ran out.

“All I’m going to say is the play came in from the sideline, and we executed it the best we could,” Testaverde said. “I’m not going to say ‘What if,’ because then it looks like I should be calling the plays and whatever play came in was wrong.”