I SUPPOSE IT COULD BE WORSE....

Every time I want to wallow in my own misery with the Jets I have to remind myself that they're doing the right things...and once Mark Sanchez works through his "firsts", things will be OK. Really, things are on the upswing for the Jets. There are other teams that are not so lucky:

*Take the Tennessee Titans. Was I missing something huge here picking them to do well again this year? They're essentially the same team as last year's that piled up the best record in the league. Now they're 0-6...and coming off a 59-0 thrashing to the Patriots. And it's only going to get worse for them before it gets better.

(A positive note for Tennessee, though, is that they were part of the "best-looking game" of the season, as far as I'm concerned. I love the red/white Patriots uniforms, and those uniforms looked especially good on the field with the old Oilers' blue and white uniforms...and then with the snow background, they just looked even sharper. So congratulations on that, Titans.)

*Then there's the Washington Redskins. Seems like no matter how much money they spend, things aren't going to go their way under their current ownership. And I thought they were going to be good this year...they've now lost back-to-back games to the struggling Chiefs and Panthers...after barely getting by the Bucs and losing to the Lions. That's a rougher stretch than what the Jets have been going through...oh yeah...and the Redskins' quarterback of the future is not really panning out (hopefully the Jets aren't going to follow that script).

*The Rams and Buccaneers are in a downward spiral, sitting at 0-6 and not going anywhere anytime soon...and the aforementioned Chiefs, as well as the Browns, are lucky to have a win. Those teams are all far worse off than the Jets.

*Then there is a team like the Cowboys, who play well year after year, and are likely to make the playoffs again this year....but if you've watched them play, they won't win anything this year.

So I guess all I'm asking is for the Jets to take advantage of this time where I'm not going to be terribly upset by the growing pains...so that when they reach full maturity, I won't be disappointed year after year and I can finally enjoy some consistent winning football.

Speaking of winning football - the Saints looked good again beating the Giants on Sunday. About the only thing that keeps me from wanting to see them do well is the presence of Jeremy Shockey on that team. Otherwise, they seem a very likeable bunch....and they're really, really good.

Yes, Drew Brees continues to put the ball where his receivers can make plays. But I've NEVER seen a group of receivers that more consistently makes plays without dropping balls. They just haven't made mistakes yet this season - especially the two games I've watched them play extensively - against the Jets and Giants.

Now both teams may not be as good as advertised (the Jets are no better than their 3-3 record indicates, and the Giants are still good but did beat up on some bad teams...), but that doesn't matter when evaluating New Orleans.

They are the real deal - and if they keep this up, they'll be the Super Bowl champions.