11/21 — Fans of trench warfare have got to be going ga-ga for Sunday's Jets-Titans game. Nick Mangold and company vs. Albert Haynesworth when the Jets have the ball, Kris Jenkins vs. Kevin Mawae and his sidekicks when the Titans have it.

Needless to say, Joe Klecko is looking at these matchups from the defensive side of the line. And you can almost hear his juices flowing as he talks about it.

"Jenkins and Haynesworth, they both have what you need to be good defensive tackles and that's mean streaks," said Klecko, the former Jets DT-NT-DE whom Eric Allen and I caught up with for this week's "Jets Two-Minute Drive" radio show, now up on newyorkjets.com. "Either one of 'em, you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley.

"I think that's one of the prerequisites for you to be good. These guys are mean guys. They're the kind of guys you want to go into battle with."

Klecko remains a knowledgeable Jets fan two decades after his playing career ended, but like a professional analyst, he wasn't picking a DT winner in these parallel battles.

"Kris Jenkins, he's in better shape than he'd been the last couple of years in Carolina. He's played absolutely tremendously here for the Jets, not only against the run but he's been a force in the pass rush department also," Klecko said.

"And Haynesworth's the same way. These are guys, if you're talking fourth-and-1, I really hope the offensive coordinators don't think they can run at them, that they can prove something by being macho, because those guys will shut it down right away."

I lobbed Joe a softball, asking him if he thought this battle of first-place teams will come down to whose mountain in the middle of the D-line can stop the other team's big-bopper backs better.

"Do I believe whoever stops the run better is going to win this game? I believe that in just about every game," he said. "Because, unlike the West Coast offenses that are built for the pass leading to the run rather than the run leading to the pass, I believe these two teams are old-fashioned teams. They have good backs and good offensive lines. Whoever's going to be able to stop the run here I believe will fare better."

As far as how Klecko is faring, he's doing well. I've seen him more these days than I have in recent entire years, around the Atlantic Health Training Center and at Charlie Brown's in Chatham for a recent "Inside the Jets" radio show, and that's not coincidence.

Joe is one of the 133 players, coaches and contributors on the Pro Football Hall of Fame's preliminary list for the Class of 2008. The Hall's voters are in the process of paring this list to 25 modern-era semifinalists, and that next list is expected to be revealed in the next week or two.

Klecko talked with us about his Hall prospects this time around, and he's got a great attitude about the process that can play mind games with the best of proud former tough guys. He even discussed his new role these days as "Coach Klecko." Check out this week's "Jets Two-Minute Drive" for a listen to this charter member of the New York Sack Exchange.