Glauber: Pats will be big, but first things first

For all of Rex Ryan's bluster and bravado about winning the Super Bowl - ask him in the next 10 minutes or so, and he'll tell you his Jets are going to The Big Show - the coach manages to walk a fine line between expressing his expectations and then managing them.

Case in point: Before last night's game against the Bengals at New Meadowlands Stadium, he was asked if there was any danger of looking ahead. Not looking ahead to the Super Bowl, mind you. The question was about looking ahead to the Dec. 6 Monday night rematch with the Patriots.

"No," Ryan said. "We better take care of this one . This group right here is physically as talented as anybody we're going to play when you look at that offense. Their defense hasn't played as well as last year, but it's still a capable group."

Ryan's message: Pay no mind to the Patriots, lest the Jets fall into the classic "trap game" scenario against the Bengals.

Well, the Jets certainly made it look that way early on in what turned into a 26-10 win. It was a lackluster first half in which the Jets' offense went nowhere, the defense gave up a 10-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, and Nick Folk missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt near the end of the half after being iced by a Bengals timeout a nanosecond before he made his first try.

But just as the Patriots did in Detroit, where they trailed the Lions 17-10 at the half before blowing them out, 45-24, the Jets came out in the third quarter and immediately began to turn the tide. There was no turning back.

Brad Smith's 53-yard touchdown on an end-around gave the Jets a 10-7 lead. The Jets got a gift when Bengals rookie kicker Aaron Pettrey's 27-yard field-goal try sailed wide left. And after a three-and-out, the Jets got the ball at the Bengals' 14 when Steve Weatherford's punt went off Andre Caldwell and was recovered by James Ihedigbo.

The Jets then built a 17-7 lead on Mark Sanchez's 13-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes and extended it to 24-10 on Smith's 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

So while there might have been the temptation for an 8-2 Jets team to overlook the 2-8 Bengals, they overcame it in the end. Just as the Patriots did.

About the only question mark left for the Jets was their failure to beat lesser teams convincingly enough, leading Ryan to launch a defense of his team's late escapes against NFL lightweights such as the Broncos, Lions, Browns and Texans.

"It's a tough league," Ryan said. "There are no easy games."

Agreed on that point. Even championship teams - and the Jets have every reason to believe they can be one this season - invariably go through struggles at some point during the season.

But you have to believe the Jets soon will get a more accurate read on just how far they've come this season.

Bring on the Patriots.

There is nothing quite like Jets-Pats late in the season, and with first place on the line in the division Dec. 6, the stakes will go up exponentially. And it doesn't end there. After the Patriots and then the Dolphins at home, it's the Steelers in Pittsburgh for another daunting challenge.

So forget about style points in the Jets' run-up to 9-2. The record's the only number that really counts.

"You'll take a win of any kind," Ryan said. "In this league, every team is capable."

In the weeks to come, the Jets will find out just how capable they are. By the time they leave Pittsburgh after a Dec. 19 game, they figure to know a lot more about themselves.

"My vision for our team is we build to get better in December and January, so we'll see who's right," Ryan said. "I know where my money is at. I think we're going to improve as a football team."

He'll find out soon enough.