12/14 — There's no disguising it — the Jets were in a tough spot around 3:45 p.m. today. Their game and even their season hung in the balance.

"A lot of emotions were going through my head at that point in time," wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "It was looking dark ... it was probably looking darker than dark."

But Cotchery never lost hope and neither did Leon Washington, standing near him on the Jets' sideline, as the defense tried to come up with a play against the Bills to reverse the visitors' 27-24 lead with time slipping away.

"Before the game, we knew we were going to win the game," said Washington. "We didn't know how we were going to win it."

Then came one of the several sparks that the Jets would need to pull this hard-fought game out and put it in the W bag. When Losman rolled to his right looking for the "kill shot," Abram Elam came storming off the right edge on a blindside blitz.

"He was smokin'," LB David Bowens said. "He made a heck of a play and got the ball out. That's what got it started."

And who got it finished? None other than Shaun Ellis, who a few players noted showed his tight end skills from high school and his athleticism that he put on display at the 2000 NFL Combine to pick up the ball on the bounce, tightrope down the left sideline and kick the pylon as he dived over the goal line, in the words of Thomas Jones, "like he was jumping into a pool."

We can say the Jets' 31-27 victory was a product of the Bills' play call — "That goes right on me," said coach Dick Jauron. "It backfired clearly and caused us to lose the game." Or we can say that the Jets' defensive players set it up with their players-only dinner and speakers' bureau at the Parsippany Ruth's Chris steakhouse on Thursday night. Or on the fans hanging in there on Fan Appreciation Day to create just the right atmosphere.

But head coach Eric Mangini draws some credit, too, for instilling the mindset during the week that Washington and others talked about after this game that kept the Jets in control of their postseason destiny.

"I told the team I expected us to win the game," Mangini said from the postgame victory podium. "They expected to win the game as well. How was it going to happen? There were no expectations there. I told them I didn't want any expectations there. What I wanted them to understand is whatever it took, however long it took, that's what we had to do."

One of the things that got the Jets started on their 14-3 lead was a renewed emphasis on getting Cotchery and Laveranues Coles involved more than they had been recently.

"I would say so," J-Co, who scored the second TD of the game, said of the intentionality of that strategy. "Coach [Brian] Schottenheimer and the offensive staff did a great job of getting everybody involved. It feels good anytime I can get the ball early — it gets me going. Laveranues is the same way."

Then when the Bills, wounded but game all the way, got a handle on that, out came Washington with that off-right-tackle play that the Jets have run like Schotty has drawn it up for the third time in the last eight games — fourth if you add Jones' 59-yard strut vs. Denver.

"My role, I realize, for this team is to prepare myself to provide a play when we need it," Washington said. "It might come on kickoff return, punt return, catching the ball. Yeah, I would say we needed a spark today, and I did a good job right before halftime."

That provided a 21-17 lead. And when the Bills took control away from the Jets and appeared to be ready to run and hide with a much-needed win and the Jets were experiencing the darkest hour of their day, then came the defensive sparks in triplicate: the Ellis/Abram collaboration, Darrelle Revis' pick on the Bills' next offensive play, and Kerry Rhodes' interception on the final Hail Mary that answered the Jets', not the Bills' prayers.

"We're still alive in the division," Rhodes told me on his way out of the Meadowlands. "It was a big win. If we'd lost that game, it would've been tough. We were able to get it done."

And they're still not giving the win back.

"We're 9-5 and it doesn't have an asterisk beside it," QB Brett Favre said. "It's kind of like in baseball, when you get a little 'punch-and-judy' right over the first baseman's head. The boxscore doesn't say punch-and-judy, it says single. A home run is a home run. A win's a win. Once again, it doesn't matter how you win them. All I know is this team is 9-5 and we're still in first place."

DT Kris Jenkins, who was a terror in the Game 8 win at Buffalo and as a result was double- and triple-teamed all game long today, had a similar take.

"It's a step in the right direction," Jenkins said. "I know everybody can argue about what happened. We're going to enjoy this one a quick second and then move on to next week."

"The Bus" on "Big Katt"

Jerome Bettis was in the house today. "The Bus" is working for NBC and he and a network camera crew were interviewing Jets players as they came out of their locker room following the win. The interviews will air tonight during NBC's airing of the Giants-Cowboys game.

One of Bettis' interview subjects was Shaun Ellis, and I couldn't help but ask one of this country's football folk heroes how he felt at watching a guy not much larger than he was during his Steelers heyday ramble down the sideline for a big score.

"It was good to see," Bettis said with one of his hearty laughs. "Actually, I saw like a little spin move there. That was pretty neat, to see a big guy like that make a play."

So does Ellis qualify for a new nickname. The Minibus? The SUV?

"He's getting there," Bettis said. "He's got to give it a little longer run. It was a short scoop-and-score. When he gets that long scoop-and-score and makes somebody miss, that's what the guys are looking for."

Leon's Top 40s

Washington came into the game leading the NFL in 40-yard plays, including returns, and added two more against the Bills. Here are Leon's ten 40-yard plays this season: