Mark Cannizzaro

Mark Cannizzaro

NFL

Jets know loss hurts playoff dream

Like many of us across America on Thanksgiving, Willie Colon took in as much football as he did turkey and stuffing, and from his perspective, there was a common denominator to what he saw in those games: Urgency.

The Jets veteran right guard watched the Cowboys desperately fight back from a deficit at home to overtake the Raiders and then saw the Ravens barely overcome the Steelers in a game both teams had to have that went down to the final play before it was decided.

Colon, who spent the previous seven years of his career in Pittsburgh playing in games with playoff implications, has a better understanding than perhaps anyone in the Jets locker room about how much more important games become once the calendar flips its page to December.

The Jets’ first December game is Sunday against the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium, where they have won four of five games this season, and it is truly a make-or-break matchup for both teams.

“It’s a pressure-point game,’’ Colon told The Post on Friday. “It’s a crossroads game, it’s fair to say, and if you really want it you’ve just got to knuckle up and go get it.’’

Last Sunday, the Giants faced the Cowboys in a similar crossroads game to this one the Jets play against the Dolphins — a game in which the loser is left with an almost unrealistic chance to make the playoffs and the winner remains in the thick of the race.

The Jets, in a fight with as many as eight other teams for the sixth and final AFC playoff spot, are one of four teams who are 5-6, including the Dolphins, whom they play twice in the next five weeks.

Among the teams they are competing with for that last wild-card berth, though, the Jets have lost to the Ravens (6-6), Titans (5-6) and Steelers (5-7) and would lose a tiebreaker to all three if it gets to that.

That makes Sunday’s game critical: It really is worth more than one game, because the Jets cannot afford to fall on the wrong side of a tiebreaker against another team — particularly one in their division.

Does this young Jets team, with its struggling rookie quarterback, Geno Smith, have the maturity to handle the urgency to carry on in this December playoff race and remain relevant?

“I think we’ve got a lot of heart and fight, but the bottom line is if you don’t show it then it doesn’t mean anything,’’ Colon said. “A lot of times when you’re in the middle of a fight you don’t know how you’re going to perform until the fire’s on you. Right now, it’s desperate measures. This game will test a lot of where guys’ hearts are at and how badly they really want it.’’

David Nelson, the Jets receiver signed off the street earlier this season and seeking his first NFL playoff experience, told The Post he “loved’’ this week’s practices “because this team has a sense of urgency.’’

“I’ve felt it from coaches. I’ve felt it from the players,’’ Nelson said. “I’ve never been on a playoff team, but this seems like what it would feel like. There’s definitely been a little bit of a different approach this week than there has been this season.

“I view this game as a competitor’s dream. This is why you play football. You play to be in a position like this, to have the pressure on, to have the sense of urgency. We have to dare to be great, dare to be excellent.’’

Veteran receiver/returner Josh Cribbs, also is trying to make the playoffs for the first time in his career, echoed Nelson’s observation from this week’s preparation, saying he, too, has noticed “more urgency from the players and from the coaches.’’

“It goes on down the line — from Rex [Ryan] and has filtered on down through the staff and to the players,’’ Cribbs said. “The little things are mattering more.’’

The Jets need the little things to add up to bigger things, like a surprise playoff berth when few, before the season began, believed the Jets would still be playing games with playoff significance in December.

“The pressure adds up at this time of year,’’ Cribbs said. “You see what guys are made of, because there is more pressure to win these games. Are we going to show up? Are we going to answer the call? This is where it really counts. Now is when you will see the character of the team, how we go. This game will expose our character. That’s what big games do: They expose your character.’’