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A few Pro Bowl-oriented notes regarding the AFC East . . .

Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter is a Pro Bowler.

The AFC needed a proxy because San Diego Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding, last seen missing three field goals in a playoff loss to the New York Jets, pulled out of the game.

Carpenter was summoned easily enough because the Pro Bowl is being played in the Dolphins' stadium.

His 89 percent success rate on field goals ranked third among AFC kickers with at least 20 attempts. His 112 points ranked seventh within the conference.

The NFL on Wednesday also revealed some names from the all-decade team, that will be announced formally at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN.

The NFL let us know the all-decade members who are playing in the Pro Bowl. Of those 12, two have connections to the AFC East: Jets left guard Alan Faneca and former Jets center Kevin Mawae.

If you're wondering whether the all-decade headliner will be New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, chances are both will make the team. The NFL said the 53-player all-decade team will include two quarterbacks.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- A day after the New York Jets defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the playoffs, I asked Brian Schottenheimer if meeting the San Diego Chargers in the second round would be special for him.

He claimed it wouldn't be a big deal.

"Somebody asked me if that added merit to [the victory]," Schottenheimer said Thursday at a news conference, "and maybe I wasn't 100 percent truthful."

The Chargers fired his father, Marty Schottenheimer, after going 14-2 in 2006 but losing their first playoff game. Norv Turner just went 13-3, lost his first playoff game and received a contract extension from the Chargers.

"It was important for us to win that game because I have friends on that team," said Brian Schottenheimer, who was Chargers quarterbacks coach from 2002 through 2005, "but it also felt really nice to be able to pick up the phone and be able to talk to my father and tell him that was for him because, obviously, they did a lot of great things ... and 14-2, to get fired is a tough situation."

Jets head coach Rex Ryan knew the significance of Sunday's victory to the Schottenheimer family. Ryan awarded Marty a game ball.

"That meant the world to me," Brian Schottenheimer said. "They painted it up. They sent it down to him. He's coaching in the East-West Shrine Game. That, obviously, meant a lot to him. That meant a lot to me and my father that Rex took the time to think about that."

Brian Schottenheimer will be coaching in his first conference championship game, but he experienced a nightmarish run of them through his father.

Marty Schottenheimer owns a .613 winning percentage in 21 seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins and Chargers. But his reputation is based on his inability to reach the Super Bowl.

Marty Schottenheimer was 0-3 in conference title games. His two Cleveland losses were so epic, they had their own names: The Drive and The Fumble. When he guided the Chiefs to the title game in Buffalo, Joe Montana was knocked out before halftime.

"Those were difficult times," Brian Schottenheimer said. "They were things when you look back, you're like, 'How can that happen to one person, one team?'

"He's always said he didn't want his legacy to be defined by wins and losses, and obviously he won a lot of games. He wanted his legacy to be defined by what people say about him, what his players felt about him, what his coaches felt about him.

"In that regard, he's one of the best of all-time. He doesn't have a Super Bowl ring, but he handled those losses with dignity and respect and class that maybe some people didn't."

To further illustrate the effectiveness of the New York Jets' ground game, quarterback Mark Sanchez was superb again when using play-action.

In the wild-card game against the Bengals, Sanchez had a perfect passer rating when using play-action, finishing 5-of-6 for 107 yards and a touchdown. On Sunday at San Diego, he again found the end zone using play-action.

Sanchez's numbers have improved immensely in the playoffs when using play fakes compared to the regular season.

SAN DIEGO -- The matchup of New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis on New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss has become one of the NFL's most delicious rivalries.

Revis, in an NFL Network interview with Deion Sanders that aired Sunday, took jabs at Moss and Buffalo Bills receiver Terrell Owens, calling each a "slouch."

Revis told Boston Globe reporter Albert Breer the disdain for Moss -- and the Patriots, in general -- stems from comments Moss made when Revis limited him to four catches for 24 yards in Week 3. Moss dismissed Revis' performance and said he had help from other defensive backs.

"I think you give respect where it's due," Revis said told Breer Sunday in Qualcomm Stadium after the Jets beat the San Diego Chargers to advance to the AFC Championship Game. "There's a lot of stuff that goes on with New England and [Bill] Belichick. I just don't think they were giving me my credit. So in the second game, I had to show them again and just do my job -- covering the best receiver and trying to shut him down.

"It's a respect thing that Randy Moss, for some reason, doesn't get."

Jeremy Green and Matt Williamson recap every divisional playoff game, including the New York Jets' big victory in San Diego, and examine why no one seems to want the Buffalo Bills' head-coaching job.

SAN DIEGO -- The New York Jets trailed 7-0 at halftime and were unable to get deep enough into San Diego Chargers territory to even attempt a field goal before halftime.

But Jets center Nick Mangold sensed the game had begun to shift.

"I got a little sniff in the second quarter," Mangold said after the Jets' 17-14 victory in Qualcomm Stadium. "Some things were starting to hit. Then that middle to the end of the third quarter you could feel it. You knew things were going to start turning."

The Jets own the NFL's best rushing offense, but you wouldn't know it early. They ran 13 times for 47 yards in the first half. Starting back Thomas Jones had four carries for 12 yards.

But the Jets kept whacking away.

"You don't go up to a tree with an axe, swing three times and say 'Why isn't it falling?'" Mangold said. "You know what you gotta do to get it to fall. We know that it takes a huge effort. We finally got it to fall."

Shonn Greene was the lumberjack. The Jets couldn't get on the scoreboard in the first half, but the rookie generated some momentum on one drive midway through the second quarter. He carried six times for 33 yards and caught a pass for 4 yards.

Greene's energy carried over into the second half. Behind a line with three Pro Bowlers -- Mangold, left guard Alan Faneca and left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson -- Greene ran nine times for 93 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown run that provided the winning points.

In two playoff games, Greene has rushed for 263 yards. That leads the entire postseason and second only to Dallas Cowboys running back Duane Thomas in 1970 for the most rushing yards in a rookie's first two playoff games.

"We knew it was going to be an uphill battle in the run game," right tackle Damien Woody said. "But we're committed to the run game.

Three things to know about next Sunday’s Jets-Colts AFC Championship Game:

1. The Jets can prove to the world they didn't back into the playoffs. The Jets can silence all of the naysayers who pshaw the Jets for being in the postseason to begin with. In Week 16, the Colts laid down like Brett Favre on Michael Strahan's record-breaking sack by pulling Peyton Manning with almost six minutes left in the third quarter.

But while the Colts were trying to win, they didn't exactly dominate. The Colts led 9-3 at halftime, and when Brad Smith returned the second-half kickoff 106 yards, the best of the Jets led the best of the Colts 10-9. The Jets know they caught a break when the Colts pulled back, but they also can find plenty from that game to feel confident about.

2. The Colts have a below-average run defense. Gee, will the Jets prefer to run or throw Sunday? The Colts had the 24th-ranked run defense, allowing an average of 126.5 yards a game. They held tight in the red zone, however, with only 10 rushing touchdowns against.

The Jets have the NFL's best rushing attack and have put together a pair of relentless playoff performances with Shonn Greene and Thomas Jones. Greene has rushed for 263 yards, most in the postseason. Jones ran for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns in the regular season.

3. I've written it before; I'll write it again: Mark Sanchez can't be trusted when trailing by two scores. The Jets' defense has made their playoff success possible by keeping opponents off the scoreboard. Sanchez hasn't had to come back from more than seven points for three weeks, limiting the need for the Jets to abandon the run. The less Sanchez has to do the better. The last time he threw for more than 182 yards in a Jets win was on opening day. In his past four victories he has averaged 112.8 yards passing.

SAN DIEGO -- Twenty-eight teams wish they were the New York Jets.

Imagine that. The Jets have reached the final four. They're in the conference championship game, one victory away from the Super Bowl.

The Jets silenced Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday. They scored all of their points in the second half to stun the San Diego Chargers, 17-14.

The Jets -- the Jets! -- will play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium for the AFC title.

How did this happen?

It's preposterous, really. The Jets looked mediocre for most of the season. Their rookie head coach appeared flummoxed at times. Their rookie quarterback was disastrous some games. The Colts and Cincinnati Bengals needed to form a coalition of the willing to escort the Jets into the playoffs at all.

"People want to say it, go ahead and say it," Jets outside linebacker Calvin Pace said. "We've heard it all. We're pretenders. We're chokers. We can't finish games. We can't do this, can't do that. You know what? A lot of that might've been true. But we are what we are right now for a reason."

The Jets have pulverized the tournament bracket. They've gone on the road to eliminate a pair of division champions. The Jets have won four straight games and seven of their past eight. Five of their past six victories have been on the road.

"We had a lot of stuff go our way in order for us just to get into the playoffs, but you can't question the way we've been beating these teams," said Jets tight end Dustin Keller, who caught Mark Sanchez's touchdown pass Sunday. "It's just our destiny to go further."

Said head coach Rex Ryan: "We don't have to apologize to anybody."

Ryan has been the NFL's court jester all year, and fans were having a good laugh two weeks ago, when he declared the Jets should be favorites to win the Super Bowl as opposed to the long shots Las Vegas installed them as.

"And you thought he was out of his mind, right?" linebacker Bart Scott asked a reporter.

Oh, you betcha.

A victory over the Bengals wasn't inconceivable, but the thought of the Jets winning at Cincinnati and San Diego and Indianapolis sounded farcical.

Not inside the Jets' locker room. When Ryan handed out the practice schedule for the first-round playoff game against the Bengals it wasn't for that week only. He planned out the next week, too. And the AFC Championship Game. And the Super Bowl, right down to the date of the victory parade through the Canyon of Heroes -- Feb. 9 if you want to make plans.

Word of Ryan's audacious itinerary went public the morning of the Bengals game. Hilarious, everybody thought. The Jets still were a joke to most, expected to enjoy their gift-wrapped playoff berth and quickly get the hell off the field so the legitimate clubs could compete for glory.

"They're idiots," Jets receiver Braylon Edwards said. "They need to watch us play football. Us lucking up or this and that, they're going to keep going against us. They're going to keep picking the opposition.

"Eventually, it's going to come down to us winning the Super Bowl. That's what it's going to take for us to get respect."

The road to validation the Jets have in front of them is shaping up symbolically. They humbled the Bengals, who didn't put up much of a fight in the regular-season finale the Jets needed to clinch their playoff berth. Then the Jets knocked off the Chargers for a crack at the Colts, the other team that laid down for them in Week 16.

"If they just gave us that win, this gives us a chance to make it more legitimate," Keller said. "I don't see them pulling starters out of this game. All of the doubters, saying that game was given to us, we definitely want to put those things to rest."

The underdog Jets, with their defiant proclamations, going up against the classic horseshoe helmets will conjure memories of Super Bowl III, when Ryan's father was an assistant coach on Weeb Ewbank's staff.

"It's us against the world, and for whatever reason, we've been thriving on that," Pace said. "It's going to be that same way in Indianapolis.

"The pressure ain't on us. It really isn't. When you're not supposed to be there, you can let it all hang out. When you're the No. 1 seed, and you got a first-round bye and you go 14-2, they got the pressure. We're just riding the wave. We got great momentum."

Maybe if the Jets get past the Colts they can play old friend Brett Favre for the Lombardi Trophy.

And those who rolled their eyes at that sentiment maybe haven't learned enough about these Jets yet.

"They don't understand the resolve of this football team," Scott said. "This team has been through a lot, but this team still stays the course. Throughout the year, our fans and the media, they can be up and down.

"We have to believe. That's the only way you have a shot. If you start questioning the system and start not believing, then you have no shot."

SAN DIEGO -- The New York Jets are one game away from the Super Bowl.

Everybody laughed when Rex Ryan declared at his introductory news conference he expected to visit the White House as championship guests of Barack Obama.

And we laughed again when Ryan declared his team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with two games left in the regular season.

Now they're preparing for the AFC championship game after a stunning victory Sunday. The Jets staggered the San Diego Chargers 17-14 in Qualcomm Stadium.

The Jets will play the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday in Lucas Oil Field. The winner goes to the Super Bowl.

How about that?

San Diego kicker Nate Kaeding helped quite a bit. He missed three field goals.

The Jets scored all of their points in the second half, capitalizing on a pair of Philip Rivers interceptions -- one by Darrelle Revis that will make the highlight reels and another by Jim Leonhard that set up the Jets to take the lead.

Rivers threw nine interceptions in 2009.

Jets rookie running back Shonn Greene was the difference-maker on offense. Thomas Jones wasn't getting it done and finished with 14 attempts for 41 yards.

Greene was the catalyst. He provided a spark at the end of the first half that carried over. Greene ran 23 times for 128 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown sprint to put the Jets on top by 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez was passable. He completed 12 of 23 passes for 100 yards, one touchdown to tight end Dustin Keller and a bad interception the Chargers didn't convert.

SAN DIEGO -- Everybody wondered if Mark Sanchez would be able to keep his team out of trouble.

Maybe we should have been worrying about Philip Rivers.

The New York Jets are beating the San Diego Chargers 10-7 early in the fourth quarter at Qualcomm Stadium due in large part to a couple Rivers interceptions.

Rivers threw only nine interceptions in the regular season, but he did have three two-interception games.

Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, defending Vincent Jackson, made a miraculous catch on a ball that hit everything but the ground. The interception ended an otherwise impressive drive that had gotten to the Jets 36-yard line.

Jets safety Jim Leonhard could have fair caught his interception at the Chargers' 16-yard line. The Jets converted that turnover into a touchdown, with Sanchez rolling right and connecting with Dustin Keller in the end zone from 2 yards out.

SAN DIEGO -- The New York Jets are losing, but any fears of Sunday's playoff game against the San Diego Chargers getting out of hand haven't materialized at Qualcomm Stadium.

Though outplayed so far, the Jets are down 7-0 at halftime and get the ball first in the third quarter. Their offense showed a pulse toward the end of the second quarter with some decent gains from rookie running back Shonn Greene.

The Jets should feel fortunate. They easily could be down by double-digits. Chargers kicker Nick Kaeding missed a pair of field-goal attempts, one wide left and one short.

San Diego has a 212-99 edge in total yards.

If the Chargers can extend their lead to two scores, then Jets fans should worry. The Jets haven't shown much faith in Mark Sanchez's ability to make things happen, even taking him off the field so they could direct snap to receiver Brad Smith on one third-down play.

The secret to New York's success has been marginalizing Sanchez within the offense. As soon as the rookie quarterback needs to become the show, the better the chance San Diego has of wining comfortably.

Sanchez has completed seven of his 15 attempts for 59 yards. He has connected with Braylon Edwards twice for 41 yards.

Green has carried nine times for 35 yards, while Thomas Jones ran four times for 12 yards.

SAN DIEGO -- No surprises on the inactive list for Sunday's playoff game in Qualcomm Stadium.

New York Jets

• Quarterback Kevin O'Connell (third QB)
• Quarterback Erik Ainge
• Running back Chauncey Washington
• Receiver David Clowney
• Guard Matt Slauson
• Defensive end Ropati Pitoitua
• Linebacker Marques Murrell
• Linebacker Kenwin Cummings

San Diego Chargers

• Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst
• Running back Michael Bennett
• Receiver Buster Davis
• Center Eric Ghiaciuc
• Defensive end Vaughn Martin
• Linebacker Dontarrious Thomas
• Linebacker Marques Harris
• Cornerback Dante Hughes

Deion Sanders went one-on-one with New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis for a segment on "NFL GameDay Morning" and conducted an interesting name-association quiz. Revis had a couple of interesting responses for future Hall of Famers Terrell Owens and Randy Moss.

Deion Sanders: Two words or less, when I call out a name, tell me what you think.

Darrelle Revis: OK.

Sanders: T.O.

Revis: Slouch.

Sanders: Randy Moss.

Revis: Probably say slouch, too.

Sanders: Chad Ochocinco.

Revis: Competitor.

Sanders: Steve Smith.

Revis: Competitor.

Sanders: Andre Johnson.

Revis: Beast.

SAN DIEGO -- Can't complain about the weather in Mission Valley. What a gorgeous day to be in Qualcomm Stadium's open-air press box for Sunday's playoff game between the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers.

Temperatures will be in the 60s with a light wind. The sun it shining and the sky is blue at the moment, but there's a 60 percent chance of evening showers in the forecast.

We can't recreate the climate online, but you figuratively can join the Williamson twins and me in the press box during our NFL Nation live chat at 4:30 p.m.

AFC West blogger Bill Williamson and Scouts Inc. analyst Matt Williamson will try to keep the energy flowing throughout the game. Drop by and heckle us.

SAN DIEGO -- ESPN's Sal Paolantonio mentioned in his pregame report from Qualcomm Stadium that an overlooked matchup for Sunday is how the New York Jets' kick coverage units will fare against San Diego Chargers return man Darren Sproles.

Let's explore that briefly.

The Jets have been surrendering some long returns. The Cincinnati Bengals averaged 25.6 yards per kickoff return, including a 56-yarder, in the wild-card round. The Bengals also returned one punt 23 yards.

In the regular season, the Jets allowed an average of 24.1 yards per kickoff return (tied for eighth highest in the NFL) and two touchdowns.

Sproles amassed 1,300 kickoff return yards (fourth in the league) for a 24.1-yard average.

"He's a gutsy guy. He's a tough, little guy," Jets special-teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said of Sproles. "He's got a great burst, very good vision and sees things well. He's a challenger.

"What he does, I think more than anything, when you watch him, he's full-speed. He's full go. He's not a guy that dances. He gets it and goes. Sometimes maybe it's not there, but he'll make that one step real quick and go. He's a dangerous guy. He's got some acceleration skills, that once he gets out, he can accelerate and run past people."