Glauber: Ugly win shows just how good Jets are

After the Jets barely escaped with a 24-20 win over an injury-riddled Broncos team, the last thing you'd expect Mark Sanchez to be talking about was having what it takes to win the Super Bowl.

Sanchez was guilty of several mistakes - including his first two interceptions of the year - but there he was after the game, talking about why this mistake-filled win was a definitive sign of why the Jets are to be taken very seriously this season.

"We got some calls down the stretch that we didn't get last year," the second-year quarterback said. "We got some breaks, but look at teams that make it to the Super Bowl, or teams that have long playoff runs."

He invoked the example of last year's Saints team that won the Super Bowl. "They had plenty of breaks last year," he said. "When you prepare like we prepare, study like we study, we must be living right."

There was no bold prediction at the end of that statement that the Jets indeed are on a path to Dallas in February. He didn't have to say it, because the message was easily inferred.

Sanchez was right. Just as coach Rex Ryan was, too. Both men understood the significance of what the Jets did yesterday. Beating a quality team on the road on a day when they didn't have their best stuff is sometimes as important as putting together a complete performance in a blowout.

You find a way to win, no matter what the circumstances. Then you can genuinely think about having a special season.

"This is a great win for us," Ryan said. "We're 5-1. We didn't have our best game. We turned the ball over a bunch. They ran the ball more effectively than we would have liked. We have five wins going into our bye week. It's the top record in this league, the last time I checked. We're right where we want to be."

And here's where the Jets are: As the season marches toward the halfway mark, they're one of only a handful of teams that you can look at and say they have a legitimate chance to make a bold statement in the regular season and then into the playoffs. It's still relatively early, but with the Jets stringing five straight wins together, this most assuredly is a team to be taken seriously.

Even if it took until a dramatic play on fourth-and-6 in the final moments. With 1:26 to play, Sanchez dropped back from the Broncos' 48 and looked to his primary receiver, Dustin Keller, down the middle. But with Keller covered, Sanchez decided to scramble to buy time, and saw that one of the Denver safeties had peeled off Santonio Holmes, leaving him in single coverage.

So Sanchez hoisted the ball toward Holmes at the Broncos' 2. The pass fell incomplete, but safety Renaldo Hill was called for pass interference.

Questionable call? Maybe. But not in Sanchez's mind. "[Hill] hit him in the face," he said.

"Sometimes you get that and sometimes you don't," said Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, who did not dispute the call. "We've gotten one of those this year [at Tennessee].''

On the next play, LaDainian Tomlinson ran up the middle for his second touchdown to give the Jets a lead they would not relinquish. Then Dwight Lowery, who intercepted Brett Favre's pass and ran it back for a touchdown to secure last Monday's win, pounced on Kyle Orton's fumble with 35 seconds to play.

Sloppy, mistake-filled game by the Jets? No question. Sanchez threw two early interceptions and initially was unable to deal with a Broncos defense that had changed from a 3-4 alignment to a 4-3. Holmes fumbled on an end-around. Darrelle Revis gave up another touchdown pass. The Jets allowed 145 rushing yards.

But in many ways, winning was almost as meaningful as putting together a dominating performance. After all, if you win on the road when you're struggling, you're living right.

Safety James Ihedigbo put it this way as he sprinted through the tunnel on his way to the locker room after it was over: "Great teams win games like that."

With the Jets 5-1, can't argue the point.