New York Sports

By JEFF CAPELLINI, WCBSTV.com Senior Sports Producer
NEW YORK (CBS) ― For all of his huffing and puffing and sulking, Laveraneus Coles still has the game to be a marquee wide receiver in the NFL.

Of course, it also helps when Brett Favre is on top of his game, as he was Sunday.

Coles made it no secret he was upset when his good friend Chad Pennington was released back in the preseason after the Jets made the blockbuster trade with Green Bay for the services of Favre, arguably the greatest quarterback to ever snap a chinstrap.

Coles and Pennington will remain friends forever. They may one day get together at a Pop Warner game and share memories of all their great games together while they watch their kids run around the field.

But they'll never say they were both a part of the type of game Favre had on Sunday.

Coles was the beneficiary of Favre's picturesque passing and Arizona's often matador-like defense in the Jets' absolutely wild 56-35 win. Favre completed 71 percent of his passes (24-of-34) for 289 yards and a career-high six TDs. The last time -- and probably the only time -- a Jets quarterback threw for six TDs was back on Sept. 24, 1972, when Joe Namath lit up the Baltimore Colts for 496 yards.

What sets these Jets apart from any team that Pennington guided during his eight seasons with New York is their ability to score tons of points, often without warning.

Back in 1985, I was 14 years old. I went to an early season game against Tampa Bay and watched in shock as the Jets hung 62 points on the Buccaneers. I marveled at how Ken O'Brien and Al Toon completely dominated. Sunday's win was reminiscent of that day. Favre was everything Jets fans thought he would be when they shocked the sports world by trading for him and Coles recaptured that which has made him a feared target by catching three touchdowns.

It was a sight to see. One we, as fans, never get to see. A typical Sunday in Jetsland has always been the hope that maybe they'll score just enough to avoid embarrassment and maybe eke out a win.

Now, while the Jets may not be the 21st century version of "Air Coryell" (a nod to the great Dan Fouts-led Chargers teams of the 1980s for all of you too young to remember), they have at least shown enough in the season's first four games to warrant serious consideration for taking the "over" every week.

Yes, there are still many problems. The running game has been spotty. Thomas Jones has struggled and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer still has not found a way to get the ball into Leon Washington's hands enough.

But the passing game is most definitely on. Coles and Jerricho Cotchery (two TD catches on Sunday) have to be considered one of the top wide receiver duos in the league and rookie tight end Dustin Keller is beginning to show all the promise the Jets had for him when they drafted him in the late first round this past spring.

While a successful running game is still the key to victory any given week, the Jets have thus far shown they will be a hard team to beat. Even in the loss to San Diego last Monday they kept scoring, kept making the Chargers put up points.

Expect this to continue.

As soon as the Jets learn how to manage the clock and sustain drives with a mix of the run and the pass they'll be even better. The offensive line has done a good job protecting Favre. Now it has to work on opening bigger holes for Jones and Washington because right now this is a one-man offense. Favre is making his receivers' lives easy. They haven't had to fight for yardage. Balls are just floating to the right spots, covering huge chunks of yardage.

The schedule is quite favorable over the next month. Following their Week 5 bye, the Jets have home games against Cincinnati (0-4) and Kansas City (1-3) sandwiched around a cross-country jaunt to Oakland (1-3). There is no reason on God's green earth why the Jets can't be 5-2 heading into their Nov. 2 tilt at currently unbeaten Buffalo.

Well, there are some reasons, some glaring problems that need to be corrected. But they come on the defensive side of the football. Certainly there wasn't a Jets fan alive that didn't starting gnawing on his fingernails when the Jets' 34-0 halftime lead on Sunday turned into just a 13-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

But that's a discussion for another day. Sure, Kurt Warner threw for 470 yards on Sunday and, yes, the Jets' defense often looked clueless in the second half, but chew on this for the next several days:

Find a better QB-WR-WR trio in the NFL other than Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. When you are done, find one that remains on the Jets schedule. After that, ask yourselves this:

Are you happy with a 56-35 win when the defense forces seven turnovers and blocks a field goal?

You should be.

The Jets have yet to find a No. 4 who can play defense.

But there are still 12 games to go.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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