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There is a recent history of late-season surges in the NFL, and the Jets -- more than the Giants and as much as anybody -- are in a position where one good stretch of games could put them in a position no one thought possible.

It starts Thursday night in Toronto. If the Jets want to make one of those December runs, the kind that Miami made to the playoffs in 2008, the kind San Diego has made each of the past two seasons and the kind Tennessee is trying to make right now, then it starts by beating the Bills in Canada on a short week.

They are capable. Mark Sanchez looked terrible the last time out against Buffalo, threw five interceptions and the Jets lost in overtime. That doesn't mean this isn't a winnable game, doesn't mean this isn't another opportunity for Sanchez to show that he is moving away from the interception bonanza that has marked his rookie season.

"You can't buy experience," head coach Rex Ryan said. "He went through that, and I think he is a better quarterback now than he was then. You play this game long enough, bad things are going to happen to you, unfortunately. I think he's growing in the fact that he understands what we want from him. Don't force the issue. If it's not there, then find something else to do with the football. Check it down. Throw the incompletion. Run with it. Take a sack. Anything is better than forcing the ball in particular times, and I know he learned from that."

If he has, and if the Jets get through the Bills and get to 6-6, than here is what is in front of them the rest of the way:

At Tampa Bay.
Home for Atlanta.
At Indianapolis.
Home for Cincinnati.

The first two are reasonable. The Bucs are woeful and the Falcons are fading and might well be without their quarterback (Matt Ryan, toe) and top running back (Michael Turner, ankle).

Then come the Colts and the Bengals, two teams that will likely have already clinched their postseason destiny and certainly won't have the stake in the game that the Jets do. Will their starters play? And if they do, will they play a lot?

We don't know right now, but we do know that those games could look a little closer than they might otherwise seem on paper.

Jets fans, understandably, don't like imagining good things happening because they have been let down -- immensely -- so many times. To fantasize about running through to a 10-6 record is insane for them, but if the Jets can do it -- somehow, someway -- than what waits on the other side is as wide open a conference tournament as we've seen in awhile.

This year it is the NFC that seems locked down. The Saints, after crushing the Patriots on Monday, are by far the class of the league. You could make the case that they have, literally, no weaknesses. After them come the Vikings, who are nearly as good, making it hard to see either one slipping up before the championship game.

In the AFC, though, the usual Patriots/Colts juggernauts have slipped. The Patriots are beatable -- even the Jets did it -- and the Colts, despite their 11-0 record, sure seem to be doing it without much more than the best quarterback around, Peyton Manning. Are they beatable? They are.

The Jets have been a maddening mystery all year, a tease after that 3-0 start that turned into disaster through the middle of the season. Now it's time for the stretch run, the month when seasons are made or lost.

Maybe this ends up being a lost year for the Jets, another one just like all the rest. New coach, rookie quarterback, a few injuries -- maybe this ends up being yet one more campaign of mediocrity.

But maybe it doesn't. We've seen teams do it before, seen teams come from nowhere and end up right in the middle of it all when the games matter most.

The Jets still have a chance. Still have a shot at making a charge. Five games left. It starts Thursday night in Canada.