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Let's not get all Joe Benigno (of WFAN fame). Remember that New York didn't actually hold on to win the division in any of those seasons. Its lone post-Namath division championships came in late-season surges in 1998 and 2002. But this is an enviable position in a year where there is no dominant AFC team. And I'm not forgetting the 10-0 Titans, a good team with faults -- outlined below -- that are masked by the perfect record.

The Jets are not a juggernaut by any stretch. The 1982 and 1998 teams were far better. But this 2008 squad is moving closer to statistical legitimacy. Right now, it is 11th in my revised power index, which has swapped out net yards per attempt, or YPA, for net yards per play, or YPP. The other key stats there that correlate most to winning are net red-zone possessions, net interceptions and net third-down percentage.

Although not critical to division aspirations, a win at Tennessee provides more than mere legitimacy. It would also go a long way toward securing a No. 2 playoff seed, which gives a team a bye week and home game in the divisional round. The primary threat for this seed outside of the division -- assuming the Jets takes care of business when Denver visits -- are the Steelers. Pittsburgh is also 7-3 with three tough road games left: at New England, at Baltimore and at Tennessee. I also think their home game versus the Cowboys will be tough for them to win. Conversely, the Jets should be favored every week after Sunday.

Why is the point spread -- the Titans are giving five points -- so modestly in the Titans favor? Last year, the Patriots were 10-0, and you had to pay about a seven-point tax to bet them. They played the Eagles at home at this stage of the season and were favored by 25 points.

Tennessee, unlike last year's Pats and this year's Giants (a picture of statistical dominance) are top five in only one of my key stats: net interception rate. Vegas knows that, although turnovers are important in games, forecasting them from week to week is shaky because there is a lot of luck involved -- think tipped passes and dropped picks. In the other stats, the Titans are just good. But they rank behind New York in net red-zone possessions and net third-down percentage. All that really separates the two teams is net picks, where the Jets are 24th.

If the teams play even in picks, the Jets win. And I think the Jets can be in the game even at minus-1 because Kerry Collins has not been a consistent playmaker. Brett Favre ranks ahead of him this year in the net touchdown-to-interception ratio acquired by subtracting a quarterback's interception percentage from his touchdown percentage. Collins went five games throwing just one touchdown pass before tossing five in his last two when teams really focused on stopping the run.

Teams have been daring Kerry Collins to beat them and, the last two weeks, he has. But there's no need to get carried away with defending the Tennessee running game. Chris Johnson leads the NFL in getting stuffed for zero or negative yards. That's happened 29 times. And chunky LenDale White has been stuffed like those Oreos he apparently fancies 13 additional times.

Defensively, Tennessee is vulnerable to strong-armed quarterbacks. I've spent a lot of time the past two weeks watching Titans game tapes. They play an eight-man box on base downs, leaving lots of one-on-one coverage on the side without the tight end.

Tennessee plays a very soft corner on left side. This makes them very susceptible to digs, comebacks and deep outs. Those patterns, to the quarterback's right, were there on almost every snap for the Jaguars on Sunday, especially after starting left corner Eric King fractured his arm and was replaced by Chris Carr, who is more of a special teams player than a starting cornerback.

Carr was at least 10 yards off the receiver on every snap. But the Jaguars ignored this free candy and tried to throw deeper routes into the teeth of the defense. Favre and Jerricho Cotchery will kill Tennessee 10 yards at a time when the Titans show this look.

Expect the Jets to come out in a balanced two tight-end formation to ensure every-down action from fast-rising star Dustin Keller. This will spread the Titans out at the line of scrimmage and open up the running game, a positive factor last week for the Jaguars.

The Titans also like to rotate into a cover-2 look just before the snap. This leaves the linebacker one-on-one against the tight ends down the middle. The big plays Sunday have to come from Keller.

Prediction Time: Favre was Pennington-plus in New England -- firing bullets underneath that gave defenders no time to close to break up plays and allowed the receivers to get necessary yards after catch. Expect more of the same. This is not the game to try to make deep sideline throws, which will get picked off. The short and intermediate outs will be there all day to the right. Eventually, the chance for big plays will be present right down the middle to Keller. The Titans don't blitz much, so the screens to Washington shouldn't be a factor.

Collins isn't a good quarterback and is due for a hiccup. The Titans have no big strengths other than their conditioning, which has helped them consistently dominate late. But the Jets are no lackeys when it comes to offseason conditioning. Favre vs. Collins is not a close call. The Jets have more than survived his transition. Sunday, the trade finally pays big dividends. Jets 26, Titans 20.