Sports

WORKING HOLIDAY – KENDALL TIGHTENS CHINSTRAP, COUNTS BLESSINGS

DAD has to work tonight in Miami, so little Andrew, Peter and Madison Kendall just have to understand.

“I knowwhy the lights come on,” said Pete Kendall, smiling. “The kids think you just throw a switch.

“Anybody would rather be at home with their wife and three little kids than on the job. But we’re hardly the only people who have to work on Christmas, so I’m not feeling sorry for myself.

“They’ll do everything, same as usual, except Dad won’t be there to be a drag. Coming from the Northeast, being somewhere it’s 70 degrees, it won’t feel like Christmas to me anyway.” Season’s greetings to you, Pete Kendall, courtesy of Zach Thomas, one of the Bad Santas trying to steal the playoff spot lying unexpectedly beneath the tree. Best Christmas ever with a win, worst Christmas ever with a loss. By 11:30 tonight it won’t feel much more complicated to Kendall than that. But to keep it all in perspective, a columnist stopped by his locker late last week to play The Ghost of Christmas Past.

“This time last year was very difficult, team-wise and individually,” he agreed. “Obviously, I was disappointed by our record, we were 3-11 and I was aware of speculation about my job security.

“It’s almost 180 degrees different this year. It’s natural that I appreciate this opportunity more than some other guys might.” The broom beckoned not only for a 32-year-old guard, but a 34year-old center, Kevin Mawae, both potential cap chokers to a new regime needing to start over again in many ways. More for personality reasons than with any certainty Nick Mangold would be available on the 29th pick, the Jets chose to keep the guard over the center, quite the irony since Kendall was cut by Dennis Green in Arizona for perceived failure to get with the new program.

“Kevin went to six Pro Bowls while he was here and is an alltimer for the Jets,” said Kendall. “I don’t know what transpired.

“All I could deal with was what was in front of me. They asked me to renegotiate and (by March) I was able to get to a number I could live with.

“You want to be where you can win, but you never really know that.

I wasn’t sure what would go on here with the quarterback, but I did feel if we got (Eric) Barton back, Shaun Ellis back, guys who were still under contract, the talent on the team was better than 4-12.” Eric Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum felt Kendall remained practically a necessity for an offensive line consisting of a recently twicewaived tackle (Anthony Clement) a converted college defensive lineman out of NFL Europe (Brandon Moore) and two green, firstrounders:

D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold.

“I always liked (Kendall’s) approach,” said Mangini. “Some guards can’t pull, they’re just zone defenders, but he can run gap schemes, angle blocks, pulling blocks and zone schemes, too, where it’s just man-to-man.

“He studies a lot of film and asks really good questions. He’s sitting there between Nick and Brick, two guys who respond to leadership and guidance. Pete’s done a great taking control of the group.” The running game has been better some games than others, but consistently the line has kept Chad Pennington (2.3 sacks per game) off his back. The Jets reduced their cap hit by almost $3 million in Kendall’s renegotiation, which cost him little to stay put. Win-win.

Now, the Jets just have to win tonight.

“I’m not sure what side of the naughty-nice ledger I fell on this year,” said Kendall, who should have taken a note to Santa from Mangini. “But there’s a lot to feel good about.

“I have played in three playoff games (two with the Jets in 2004) in 11 seasons. When you have gone though some down years like I have, what an exciting opportunity this is. We win this game, it will be an enjoyable Christmas.”

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AFC breakdown

Division champs

Team — Record — Conf.

1. Chargers 13-2 10-2

2. Ravens 12-3 9-2

3. Colts 11-4 8-3

4. Patriots 11-4 7-4

Bubble boys

Team — Record — Conf.

5. Broncos 9-6 8-4

6. Jets 8-6 5-5

7. Bengals 8-7 6-5

8. Jaguars 8-7 5-6

9. Chiefs 8-7 4-7

10. Titans 8-7 5-6

Key remaining games

Jets – at Dolphins; vs. Raiders Jaguars at Chiefs Steelers at Bengals 49ers at Broncos Patriots at Titans