New York Sports

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) ― Shaun Ellis' son enjoyed watching the big defensive end spin and twist his way into the end zone, maybe saving the New York Jets' season in the process.

It was pretty cool, 12-year-old Jordan told his father, but his foot speed can use a boost.

"His first reaction was he was telling me I was slow," Ellis said Monday with a chuckle. "He was joking with me about that."

The play was no joke, though. A lucky bounce was all it took for the Jets to go from a crushing loss to an improbable 31-27 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

"At the end of the day, a win is a win, regardless of how you get it," running back Thomas Jones.

After the game and again Monday, there was a sense that there were lots of deep breaths taken by the Jets, realizing how lucky they were to pull out a victory.

"It was a sloppy win for us," cornerback Darrelle Revis said.

Added right tackle Damien Woody: "It's amazing how one call can change the course of a game."

And, maybe a season.

In a play shown repeatedly on the sports highlights and the Internet, Abram Elam sacked J.P. Losman from behind and knocked the ball loose. Ellis hit it, the ball squirted out of Jets LB Bryan Thomas' reach and bounced back to Ellis, who picked it up and ran 11 yards with 1:54 left to give the Jets the go-ahead score.

"There's things we need to improve from this game," coach Eric Mangini said. "But, it's not like the BCS. We don't get voted down for style points."

And that's certainly a good thing. New York (9-5) stayed tied atop the AFC East with Miami and New England, and still controls its playoff destiny.

"If we win, we're in," Woody said. "It's that simple."

Sure, but it's a lot easier said than done. The Jets go out to Seattle this weekend and then play Miami at home in the regular-season finale. The Dolphins play at hapless Kansas City, while the Patriots are at home against Arizona before wrapping up at Buffalo.

"We knew this was going to come down to the wire," Revis said. "It's up for grabs and it's up to us to go and grab it. It's going to be a dogfight until the end."

First, the Jets have to focus on their fourth West Coast trip of the season. Seattle is struggling at 3-11, but it's Mike Holmgren's last home game as Seahawks coach and New York can expect a crowd more spirited than usual. Also, the Jets are 0-3 on games out west, with losses at San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco on their resume.

"I'm not concerned," Ellis said. "It's definitely something we need to deal with as a team and has to get corrected. We have another shot going to the West Coast. As much as we've been through on the West Coast, this is definitely a win that we must have. We get this one, I think we'll start turning in the right direction."

The Jets haven't won a game on the West Coast since beating the Chargers in the wild-card round of the 2004 playoffs. Mangini had the team leave two days before the game in the previous three trips, but looked into leaving the day before to change things this time around. Because the flight was booked months in advance, the Jets couldn't get an earlier flight.

"What I don't want to get too caught up in is that being a reason why we can't perform," Mangini said.

There are enough other reasons to point to for New York's recent struggles. Even a lucky win Sunday can't disguise the hard facts: The Jets have a handful of things that need to improve, and fast.

Buffalo ran through the defense all game, with New York unable to stop Marshawn Lynch. Even on the game-changing drive, Lynch ran four straight times for 17 yards before coach Dick Jauron called for a play-action pass that doomed the Bills.

"They controlled and dictated the things that we did on defense," Ellis said. "Right now, our spirits are up. We're rejuvenated a little bit because there was a scare. We did pull it out."

The Bills also went 6-for-14 on third downs, and 2-for-2 on fourth downs. Still, the Jets held Losman to 148 yards passing and picked him off three times, with two ending the Bills' last two possessions.

On offense, Brett Favre struggled again, misfiring often and underthrowing some of his receivers. The Jets also failed to convert their final six third-down opportunities.

"It's an execution thing," said Jones, who leads the AFC with 1,222 yards rushing. "The things we were doing earlier in the game, something here or there might've thrown us off."

Despite the struggles, the Jets are optimistic about their chances of winning their first division title since 2002.

"We are a team of perseverance," Ellis said. "We are a team that's able to endure anything that comes our way, and we can always bounce back from it."

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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