The Jets had just beaten the 10-0 Titans on the road, 10 days after beating the Patriots on the road, and appeared to have a legitimate shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. And with the Giants at 10-1, the New York-New York Super Bowl talk was all the rage.

Yes, I was a part of that exuberance, fully prepared to admit I was wrong in criticizing the gamble the Jets had taken by trading for a soon-to-be 39-year-old Favre.

In fact, I never did have much company from my media brethren on that one; the back pages screamed affirmation about the trade that brought Brett to Broadway. So why not just be prepared to admit defeat once and for all?

A reader used the phrase "know-nothing moron" after I suggested that Chad Pennington could have gotten the Jets to the halfway mark just as successfully as Favre did. But with the Jets 8-3, if I were wrong, I couldn't have cared less. I would gladly have accepted the reader's description, if only to witness one more Favre miracle. What could be more compelling than that, even if accompanied by a pile of crow?

But unfortunately for Jets fans, there are no more Favre miracles. And now they must endure the indignity of seeing Pennington with a chance to knock the Jets out of the tournament and make the playoffs himself Sunday.

If the Jets had beaten the Seahawks yesterday and gone on to beat Pennington's Dolphins next weekend, Favre would have delivered the Jets to January. But now they're in trouble.

There's still a chance that they get in, albeit a remote one. They have to beat Miami and have either New England lose to Buffalo or Baltimore lose to Jacksonville.

That it has come to this after an 8-3 start is additional evidence that Favre is simply too old to do it, and that coach Eric Mangini is in over his head and should not be retained if the Jets don't make the playoffs.

With a $140-million makeover and a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Mangini thought he had the right group of players to make a meaningful run through the season. And at 8-3, it certainly looked as if that would be the case.

But after losing three of their last four games to fall to 9-6 - and you'll recall how fortunate the Jets were to beat Buffalo last week - and with Miami and New England at 10-5, the Jets have playoff hopes that are paper-thin.

When you lose to Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle - teams with a combined record of 14-31 - and go 0-4 on the West Coast against four sub-.500 teams, you don't deserve anything else. In fact, the Jets are lucky to be alive in the playoff race after their disgraceful Football in the past four weeks.

After yesterday's pathetic outing against the Seahawks and his old coach, Mike Holmgren, this much is certain: Favre is done after this year. Kaput. If the Jets ask him back after this late-season meltdown, they're even wackier than I thought. Barring a playoff berth and at least two postseason wins, Favre is at the end.

Mangini should be, too, especially if at this time next week, the Jets are putting their equipment in black plastic bags and explaining how it all went so horribly wrong.

If Mangini doesn't get to the playoffs, the Jets need to show him the door. No excuses. No explanations. He was on board with the Favre decision, and he must pay the price if the collapse is completed next week.

That Pennington comes to the Meadowlands next week with a chance to beat the Jets is simply an exclamation point on the miserable job done by Mangini. He threw Pennington in the trash in August; now Pennington has a chance to send the Jets to their trash bags. He can seal Mangini's fate and show his old coach he made a mistake by dumping him.

If Pennington does beat the Jets, it will complete a collapse as horrific as any in the long and tortured history of the post-Super Bowl III era breakdowns. And if the Jets lose, Mangini will go down as one of their most ignominious coaches. Bruce Coslet. Rich Kotite. Pete Carroll. Joe Walton. Name a coach that didn't get it done, and Mangini would be right there with them.

Yesterday, his coaching was abysmal:

Fourth down and less than a yard from the Seattle 2 on the Jets' first drive, and Mangini goes conservative and has Jay Feely kick a field goal.

Early in the fourth quarter, Feely makes a field goal with room to spare from 45 yards. However, the Jets are penalized five yards, which wipes out the points. Mangini elects to punt. What?!

With 2:21 left in the fourth quarter, the Jets face a fourth-and-2 at their 20 with all three timeouts and the two-minute warning, and Mangini goes for it. Favre's pass over the middle to Laveranues Coles is dropped. The Seahawks kick a field goal (with 1:47 to play, meaning the Jets still had plenty of time if they'd elected to punt) to ice it.

It all adds up to three losses in four games, with the only win a gift from the Bills last week after Buffalo coach Dick Jauron inexplicably put the ball in J.P. Losman's hands instead of Marshawn Lynch's in a must-run situation.

The Jets' playoff fate now rests in the hands of a 39-year-old quarterback who is at the end of the road - and a head coach who should be, too.