So the Jets coach began the frustrating review process of looking at the game tape from his team's 13-3 loss to the Seahawks, knowing that about the only thing that had gone right on another lost trip to the West Coast was that he hadn't lost his luggage.

But watching the loss must have further cemented the notion that even if the Jets win Sunday afternoon against the Miami Dolphins, it might not matter. The Jets, regardless of their performance this weekend, cannot determine whether their season will include a trip to the playoffs - a fact that was no less bothersome yesterday.

"You know, we had plenty of time to deal with that issue," Mangini said yesterday. "Things were in control. Things had been in our control and they're not anymore. But the one thing that is in our control is Sunday. That's all you can do."

That, and hope the AFC playoff dominoes start falling in their favor.

The Dolphins actually have the clearest path to the AFC East title, needing only a victory against the Jets to rise from a 1-15 debacle last year to a division championship and home playoff game. But the Jets, if they win, need the Bills to have beaten the Patriots earlier in the day in order to win the AFC East. And if the Patriots win early, the Jets need a win and a Ravens loss to the Jaguars to get in as a wild card.

"Everything else that happens, you know, happens," Mangini said. "It's in New England's control. It's in Baltimore's control. They control their games. They don't control ours. We control our game."

However, therein lies the problem for the Jets: controlling their own game.

The loss to the bottom-of-the-NFC Seahawks only crystallized the picture of the Jets' problems. Converting on third down was once again a problem, as the Jets made only three of 12 opportunities. The team had trouble getting to backup Seattle quarterback Seneca Wallace, who was being protected by an offensive line that started five reserves. The Jets defense did not register a sack and put only one hit on the Wallace all game long.

"A couple times we had guys come clean and either didn't make the play or (Wallace) was able to throw it away," Mangini said. "We've been facing a lot of those very mobile quarterbacks, a lot of move-the-pocket-type things, which makes it more challenging."

But the Jets' mistakes weren't relegated to the playing field. Mangini had two questionable in-game decisions, which appeared to cost his team points in a game in which they were not easy to come by.

During the first quarter, Mangini opted to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1 on the Seattle 2-yard line. Then late in the game and trailing by seven points, on a fourth-and-2 on the Jets' 20-yard line, the Jets went for it, but Brett Favre's pass to Laveranues Coles fell incomplete - despite the fact that Mangini had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning left to stop the clock.

"Any time a decision doesn't work, you look back on it and think about how it could be different," Mangini said. "And even when things do work, sometimes they work in a way that you didn't draw up (or) you didn't expect to work (and) could easily have gone the other way."

Still, the Jets are scrambling to find a way to make something out of what is left of this season. A month ago today, the Jets went to Nashville and dismantled the previously unbeaten Tennessee Titans, 34-13.

Since then, the Jets have won one game - on the graces of a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Shaun Ellis. They've lost to three teams with a combined record of 18-27, with two of those losses coming on the West Coast.

Now they're faced with having to win their final game to keep their playoff hopes alive.

And taking the snaps for the opposition Sunday? None other than former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, who was cast off for Favre before the season began.

"It's a little bit wacky how everything played out," offensive guard Damien Woody said on a conference call. "We had everything in front of us and we didn't take care of our business. Now we're in a situation where we have to win and we have to count on somebody else to get into the postseason. We don't have anybody to blame but ourselves."