It’s a Clash of Titans on multiple levels.
Never mind that the Jets arrived on the pro football scene in 1960 as the New York Titans, but now you have the Tennessee Titans and Gang Green ready for the biggest AFC showdown this season on Sunday.
Are the Jets (7-3) ready to distinguish themselves as a Super Bowl front-runner? They took a small step with last Thursday’s overtime victory at New England. The Titans (10-0) are on a higher plane.
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“This is an even bigger game for the Jets, because you’re playing the premier team in the NFL right now,” ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer said.
“If the Jets can win this football game, they gain so much momentum and confidence in the type of football they can play heading down the stretch.”
It won’t be easy. Though the Titans aren’t a flashy team, Fox NFL analyst Brian Baldinger said they are well-rounded, and the resurgence of quarterback Kerry Collins has taken Tennessee to a new level.
“If you look at the way this team has been constructed, the whole difference in this team right now is Kerry Collins,” Baldinger said. “There is no way they would be undefeated with Vince Young at quarterback. Kerry Collins is throwing the ball the way he did when he took the Giants to a Super Bowl.”
Of course, the Jets have their own gunslinger in Brett Favre, who has
18 touchdown passes and
12 interceptions. Favre has just one interception over his past three games after a shaky three-game stretch in which he threw seven picks.
Dilfer said Jets fans finally are getting to see the “instinctive” Favre.
“I felt it would probably take until Week 9 to 11 until he owned the offense, where the offense was his – intuitively making plays work and adding his own flavor to them,”
Dilfer said.
“I’ve really seen that the last couple
of weeks. It’s fun to watch, because now you’re really getting to see Favre play Favre’s game.”
Nevertheless, Baldinger said, the key for the Jets is getting a big game from nose tackle Kris Jenkins, helping neutralize the Titans’ running backs. Chris Johnson has 787 yards rushing for Tennessee, and LenDale White has 11 touchdowns.
“It will be interesting to see how Kris Jenkins plays against Kevin Mawae,” Baldinger said. “That’s what I’m really interested in, because [Jenkins] is going to see a center that really understands how to block a true nose tackle. I don’t think he’s seen that a lot this year.
“If you can handle [Jenkins], you can really do what Tennessee wants to do, which is basically run the ball right up the gut with two pretty good backs that are built differently, and that kind of dictates what they do the rest of the day.”
mpuma@nypost.com