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INDIANAPOLIS -- There's no way to think beyond the pain when the incision still stings and the inflammation throbs.

The New York Jets weren't interested in talking about great accomplishments or exceeding logical expectations, not so soon after Peyton Manning's surgical performance drained their postseason life.

"It's too fresh of a wound to say anything to make yourself feel better," Jets safety Jim Leonhard said of any buck-up-little-camper talk.

The Jets' charmed season ended Sunday amid a blizzard of blue and white glitter fired from sideline cannons in Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indianapolis Colts came from behind to jilt the Jets 30-17 for the AFC crown.

"Everybody's disappointed that we didn't go to the Super Bowl, especially when we were this close," Jets left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson said, almost spitting out the words. "We didn't do everything that we needed to win. But at the same rate, we did do a lot of great things.

"I can't even say we're second. Nobody wants to be third or fourth. Maybe in a week or two it will be different."

Implausible as it seemed before the game, the Jets looked like they would sabotage the coronation, giving the crowd of 67,650 a collective coronary by building an 11-point lead late in the second quarter.

Manning calmly swayed momentum before halftime and, by the third quarter, staked the Jets in the heart -- repeatedly.

"With Peyton Manning, if you can't disrupt his rhythm he's going to kill you," Jets coach Rex Ryan said, "and we couldn't disrupt it enough."

And so it ended for the Jets, their captivating run falling about 23 minutes short of the Super Bowl.

The Jets have plenty to be thrilled about for the future, but they couldn't bring themselves to consider any of it.

"It's hard to be proud right now, but we came a long way," left guard Alan Faneca mumbled with a dismissive shrug. "We fought through a lot of stuff. We came together as a team. Yeah, there's stuff to be proud of."

The Jets defied the odds over the past couple months.

They trudged onward without Pro Bowl nose tackle Kris Jenkins, Pro Bowl kick returner and running back Leon Washington and special-teams legend Larry Izzo, all lost to season-ending injuries along the way.

They helped rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez decipher the NFL in the nick of time. Even though Ryan declared them mathematically eliminated from the postseason race after Week 15, they won their final two games and received an astronomical amount of outside help to slip into the playoffs.

On the road throughout the playoffs, the Jets upset a pair of division champs to reach Indianapolis, known as the Crossroads of America.

The Jets might look back on Sunday as the crossroads of their organization.

"Maybe this football team needed to get here and have this experience in order to take the next step," Leonhard said. "We thought we were ready this year. Maybe we weren't. We have to take this experience and learn from it."

There were all sorts of reasons for Sunday's loss:

• Rookie running back Shonn Greene, their playoff MVP, suffered a rib injury in the third quarter and carried 10 times for 41 yards. The Jets' offense stalled in his absence, failing to score again.
• Inside linebacker Bart Scott's ankle injury carried into the game and rendered him "a one-legged man," Ryan said. Scott made two tackles.
• The Jets decided to use young cornerback Dwight Lowery instead of veteran Lito Sheppard, a move Manning said pleasantly surprised him. Nickel back Donald Strickland went down with a groin injury in the first quarter.
• Darrelle Revis playing like an All-Pro wasn't enough. Manning made Revis Island seem like Grenada.
• Jay Feely missed field goals from 44 yards and 52 yards, not only failing to score points, but also forfeiting prime field position.

Even so, dissecting what went into the final score of a single excruciating game is pointless when you have much broader issues to reflect upon and such a luminescent future ahead.

The Jets are an organization on the rise. As Leonhard mentioned a few times, "You never know when an opportunity like this is going to come again." But the Jets established themselves as a team to fear for years to come.

A foundation for long-term success is well in place. They're a defensive colossus and will get Jenkins back next season. The Jets might have the NFL's best offensive line, with Pro Bowlers from center to left tackle.

Perhaps even more significant, Sanchez grew up before our eyes over the final five weeks. He played with poise Sunday, completing 17 of 30 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns with one interception that was overthrown but also tipped.

"Mark played great, and hopefully that's the thing that we're seeing from this point on," Ryan said. "You see that confidence that he has. He knows our offense. He's comfortable.

"When we come back, we'll be able to hit the ground running, which obviously is a lot different than how we entered this season."

We probably saw the baton passed from veteran running back Thomas Jones to Greene. Second-year tight end Dustin Keller emerged as a money target with a touchdown reception in each of their three playoff games.

"We're close. There is no question," Ryan said. "We accomplished a heck of a lot. We thought we could win it all. We really did. We don't need a whole lot."

Except maybe some time to heal.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Perhaps the New York Jets really are a team of destiny.

They're 30 minutes away from the Super Bowl.

In a situation even fewer people gave them a chance to survive than last week's playoff game in San Diego, the Jets lead the Indianapolis Colts 17-13 at halftime of the AFC Championship Game.

Jets kicker Jay Feely missed a 44-yard field goal attempt, or the Jets would be even further ahead.

The Jets caught the Colts secondary sleeping on two big plays in the second quarter. Mark Sanchez connected with Braylon Edwards for a Jets playoff-record 80-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Jets receiver Brad Smith took a direct snap and launched a 45-yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery that set up another Sanchez touchdown toss, this time from 9 yards to tight end Dustin Keller.

The Colts finally scored a touchdown with 1:13 left in the first half. Peyton Manning orchestrated a rapid-fire drive to get the Colts within a score.

Great first half. Take a deep breath, Jets fans, and get ready for a wild second-half ride.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The wackiest stat from this year's playoffs is that New York Jets opponents have missed all five of their field goal attempts.

San Diego Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding, who made 91 percent of his kicks in the regular season, missed from 36, 57 and 40 yards in Sunday's three-point home loss to the Jets. He had made 69 consecutive attempts from 40 yards and closer.

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham made 82 percent of his tries. He missed from 35 and 28 yards -- the latter coming with 3:49 to play and the Bengals hoping to set up an onsides kick -- in a 21-14 first-round loss.

None have been blocked.

So what gives?

The Elias Sports Bureau found the last team to benefit from five missed field goals in an entire postseason was the 1983 San Francisco 49ers. FootballOutsiders.com noted the last time opposing kickers blew five in a row against the same team -- regular season or playoffs -- was in 2001.

Jets special-teams coordinator Mike Westhoff ventured an explanation for his team's good fortune.

"What we've done, our guys really rush hard," Westhoff said. "It's an extension of our defense. We rush hard every single time. I thought the first kick last week that Bryan Thomas was going to block it. He swam around the guy and came right in and the ball just barely missed his hand.

"I know one thing. If you watch our tape, week after week, like all teams do, you know you're just going to get hit every time. Mike DeVito knocks somebody back every time. We don't always get there, but we pressure them.

"Subconsciously, you watch it and go 'Wait a minute. I don't have all day.' I think -- and this is my opinion; I could be wrong -- it affects sometimes a rhythm where [the kickers] are a little bit quicker than what they'd normally be."

ESPN.com senior writer Jeffri Chadiha took a look at the kicking crucible of the postseason. Chadiha's in-depth feature examined the factors that contribute to more misses than in the regular season.

Psychology is paramount. Winter weather can be a problem. Field goals have an added importance in the postseason because the games are more competitive and coaches are more willing to play field-position "small-ball."

Could the string of wide lefts, wide rights and fell shorts affect Indianapolis Colts kicker Matt Stover in the AFC Championship Game?

"I don't know that you can point to one thing," Jets kicker Jay Feely said. "It was unfortunate for those guys, lucky for us. You feel for them because I've been in that situation before. But as a kicker you try and go out and not think of the implications of what you're doing and discipline your mind to not let it wander when you're in those pressure moments."

AFC Championship: Graham | Kuharsky » NFC Championship: Seifert | Yasinskas

Three nuggets of knowledge about Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the New York Jets (11-7) and Indianapolis Colts (15-2):

1. One big difference from the first game: Pierre Garcon did not play in the first matchup, and Rex Ryan said the Jets saw a lot of two tight-end sets from Indianapolis on Dec. 27 before the Colts shut it down. Ryan’s not expecting that this time. He knows the Colts will line up predominantly in three-wide receiver formations featuring Reggie Wayne, Garcon and Austin Collie. With Dallas Clark in the mix, the Colts hope to get the Jets in nickel and dime and test the depth of their secondary. Look for some short stuff to Collie over the middle as an alternative to runs if the Colts can’t move it much on the ground.

2. Keep manageable downs and distances on offense: The Colts know they probably aren’t going to do a lot of damage running the ball, but they will seek to maintain some sort of balance. Joseph Addai does pretty well on runs that appear to be shut down, wriggling for at least a couple yards. And Manning and the entire operation need second-and-eight, not second-and-12. Rushes for losses and sacks are the sort of setbacks that can get the Colts' precision offense off track and give the Jets' defense a spark.

3. Inexperience won’t kill these kickers: Kickers have made just 57.7 percent of their field goals in the playoffs. (Check out colleague Jeffri Chadiha's story on the topic.) That mark was 81.3 percent during the regular season. But the Jets have Jay Feely in his ninth season and the Colts have Matt Stover in his 20th. Feely is 9 for 12 in eight postseason games, including 2-for-2 this postseason. Stover, filling in for Adam Vinatieri, is 19 of 24 in the playoffs overall and is also 2-for-2 this postseason. Looking for a long one at the end? Peyton Manning will likely have to give Stover a few more yards than Mark Sanchez will have to give Feely, who’s younger and stronger.

I hate to say Vince Lombardi was misguided, but winning isn't the only thing.

If wins and losses were all that mattered, then the we would compare this year's New York Jets to last year's version and see the same team. After all, they both went 9-7.

Does that mean Rex Ryan didn't make an impact?

NFC West blogger Mike Sando recently took a look at the NFL's 10 first-year head coaches and noted their win differentials from 2008.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell won 14 games. Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley won four games. Each total was a plus-2 over the previous season.


Ryan didn't have a plus-minus, but I think we know the Jets are trending up compared to how they looked a year ago under Eric Mangini.

Even if the Jets hadn't made the playoffs, clues are all over the place. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer recently turned down an interview for the Buffalo Bills' head-coaching vacancy because he enjoys working with Ryan and can afford to be selective. Schottenheimer couldn't wait to escape the Jets in previous seasons.

Jets kicker Jay Feely visited "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" and spoke of Ryan's impact on the team.

"No. 1, he's honest," Feely said. "Any employee wants honesty from their boss, whether it's positive or negative. Whether it's what you want to hear or not, you can bank on what he says to you. And he's not going to tell you something and then go do something differently or say something differently publicly.

"The criticism of Rex is very unjust because he just is honest with you. He's going to tell you what he thinks. He's going to tell you what he feels. He doesn't care what anybody else outside the building thinks.

"And the other thing he does, he just makes it a fun atmosphere. When you come to work, you enjoy coming to work because he'll do practical jokes in the meeting room. He'll be self-deprecating. He's always got a great attitude and he has a standard that he's set of getting after it and working hard but having fun when you're doing it."

CINCINNATI -- The New York Jets have been done in by their special teams early in Saturday's playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On their first two possessions, the Bengals didn't take a snap on their own end of the field and took a 7-0 lead.

Bernard Scott took the opening kickoff 56 yards to the Jets' 36-yard line. Old friend Laveranues Coles fumbled to prevent the Bengals from capitalizing, but they eventually forced a Jets punt and returned it 23 yards to the Jets' 45-yard line.

Seven plays later, Carson Palmer found Coles for an 11-yard touchdown.

Field position could be a struggle for the Jets. Punter Steve Weatherford is out with an illness. Placekicker Jay Feely is handling the duties.

But Feely just lofted a 37-yarder that was fielded at the Bengals' 11-yard line.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The hecklers already can be heard openly mocking the absurdity of it all.

The New York Jets are in the playoffs?

That's right. They backed in.

But had the Jets not qualified for the postseason, ridicule would've been louder. The team with the NFL's best defense and top rushing offense should be a lock for the playoffs, and anything less would warrant gobs of negative criticism.

So it can't be both.

Either the Jets deserved to get into the playoffs, or they didn't.

The Jets need to make no apologies for what they've accomplished.

Happenstance, destiny, whatever you want to label it, they pulled it off Sunday night with a resounding 37-0 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at the Meadowlands.

The Jets (9-7), with a bombastic rookie head coach and a capricious rookie quarterback, made the bracket. They'll face the host Bengals again, this time at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Paul Brown Stadium.

"When you look at the body of work, you see that we can do some special things," Jets fullback Tony Richardson said. "Most teams that do have the No. 1 defense and the No. 1 rushing attack and play great on special teams generally do make the playoffs.

"No matter how we got in, and people might always want to put an asterisk by it, we just have to get ready to work next week."

And that's the real punch line. The Jets will convene this week not to clean out their lockers like 20 other NFL teams will, but to get ready for another game.

It took an outrageous sequence of fortuitous events for the Jets to get in. AccuScore pegged the Jets' chances of breaking into the playoffs at 11.6 percent entering their Week 16 game against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. But the Jets took a third-quarter lead in Lucas Oil Stadium, and the Colts pulled Peyton Manning.

Voila, a Jets victory.

But that wasn't nearly enough to swing the door so wide open that all the Jets needed to do in their regular-season finale was beat an opponent that already had clinched the AFC North and could rest its players.

Also in Week 16, the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars all lost. Everything that could have gone right for the Jets most improbably did.

"We definitely got some good breaks," Jets kicker Jay Feely said. "Unfortunately, we had some breaks go against us earlier in the season, or else we could've been in a much better situation.

"But this is a team that has a lot of character. We never lost faith in ourselves. This locker room was never -- in any way -- fractured at all. That's one of the reasons we were able to stay together when we lost critical games."

Feely would know. The Jets seemed to have bottomed out with a heartbreaking Week 15 home defeat to the Atlanta Falcons. The field-goal unit butchered three field goal attempts and the defense gave up a last-second fourth-and-goal touchdown to lose 10-7.

After the game, Jets coach Rex Ryan suffered a bout of premature elimination, declaring his team mathematically out from the playoff race.

"So when you get a couple breaks, you've got to be thankful for them," Feely said. "Now that we're in the playoffs, I think we’ve got as good of a chance as anybody to go all the way."

Teams don't have to be elite to get into the playoffs. The Arizona Cardinals were dismissed as undeserving a year ago, when they won the NFC West at 9-7. Then they went to the Super Bowl and came darn close to winning the whole thing.

"To get to the Super Bowl, it's all about hitting your stride at the right time," said outside linebacker Calvin Pace, who signed with the Jets last year after five seasons with the Cardinals. "Now, whether or not we're doing that, I don't know. We're playing well. But it's about finishing the season well in December.

"If you can get some momentum, man, anything can happen. ... If we can continue to stick to our formula, the sky's the limit."

Without star nose tackle Kris Jenkins, the Jets' defense finished atop the league in several categories. They allowed only 252.3 yards a game, 32.1 yards fewer than the next stingiest team. They gave up an average of 15.5 first downs a game and a league-low 163.9 passing yards a game. The Bengals had zero net passing yards Sunday night.

The Dallas Cowboys edged out the Jets in average scoring defense by one-tenth of a point.

The Jets' run game has been relentless behind Thomas Jones. The Jets amassed 257 rushing yards on the Bengals, giving them an average of 172.3 for the season.

The lone variable to the Jets' yo-yoing success has been greenhorn quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The Jets have figured out a way to marginalize him within their run-dominated offense. Sanchez completed 8 of 16 attempts for 63 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions Sunday night. In the second half, he had one pass for 9 yards.

Still, the Jets rolled up 37 points. The Bengals (10-6) scratched running back Cedric Benson and pulled several key players for the second half, but that final score will give the Bengals something to think about for the rematch.

"I think it's very tough to regroup after you got physically manhandled like that," Feely said. "When you have three plays in the first quarter and a half and we physically dominated them, it's very hard to regroup.

"They're a good team, and they've done a great job all year of overcoming adversity through all the tough times that they've had, so I'm sure they'll regroup and it'll be a great game. But we definitely sent a message."

The Jets validated themselves, not just Sunday night, but throughout the season.

They'll be the only team in the postseason with a rookie quarterback, but the fact they were able to overcome that liability shows they're an opponent to be reckoned with.

"All that matters is that we are in the postseason," right tackle Damien Woody said. "You earn everything you get in this league. Nothing is given to you."

» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Falling

1. Rex Ryan, Jets coach: Everybody in the stadium knew Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez was the target on that fateful fourth-and-goal play with 1:38 left, but Ryan's defense still couldn't stop it. Moments later, Ryan blew up at referee Ron Winter, then walked into his postgame news conference and declared his team has been eliminated from the playoff hunt. Except they haven't been.

2. Chad Henne, Dolphins quarterback: Henne threw for a career-high 349 yards and guided the Dolphins to a 15-point, fourth-quarter rally and forced overtime in Nashville. But he threw the last of his three interceptions three plays into sudden death, frittering the hallowed first possession. The Titans kicked the winning field goal four plays later.

3. Mark Sanchez, Jets quarterback: A game away because of a knee injury didn't seem to help Sanchez settle down. The rookie came back Sunday and threw three interceptions, his fourth game with at least three in 13 NFL starts. His 20 interceptions are second in the league. He ranks 29th in passer rating.

Rising

1. Randy Moss, Patriots receiver: Under fire for perceived lollygagging, Moss had a strong game against the Bills. Tom Brady threw for just 115 yards, but Moss generated 113 yards and scored a touchdown. He finished with a game-high five receptions for 70 yards and drew another 43 yards on a Bills pass interference near the goal line.

2. Patriots pass rush: Without nose tackle Vince Wilfork and defensive ends Ty Warren and Myron Pryor, the Patriots rung up a season-high six sacks. Outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain recorded three of them. Bills quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards both suffered ankle injuries.

3. Fred Jackson, Bills running back: Jackson, the supposed backup to Pro Bowler Marshawn Lynch, is 189 yards from the coveted 1,000-yard milestone. Not bad for an undrafted Division III player who came up through the arena bush leagues. Jackson rushed 15 times for 80 yards against the Patriots. He also caught four passes for 32 yards and returned four kickoffs for 108 yards.

The New York Jets blew it.

They led the Atlanta Falcons by four points for over 46 minutes Sunday at the Meadowlands and hadn't allowed a touchdown in 33 possessions, the NFL's longest streak.

On fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Matt Ryan connected with Tony Gonzalez for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:38 to play. With the game on the line, Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez threw his third interception to seal a 10-7 defeat.

What a heartbreaker. On a day the Miami Dolphins lost, the Jets could have climbed into the driver's seat. Instead, they are one of five teams at 7-7, and based on all of the various tiebreakers, they have the longest shot to earn a wild-card bid.

Jets kicker Jay Feely, having a great season up until Sunday, missed three field goals inside 40 yards. Kellen Clemens botched a hold and another was blocked. Feely flat-out missed one.

Sanchez started after missing a game with a knee injury. He went 18-of-32 for 226 yards and one touchdown -- a 65-yard beauty to Braylon Edwards.

But those interceptions ... It was his fourth game this year with at least three.

The Falcons took away the NFL's top rushing offense. Thomas Jones had 19 attempts for 52 yards. Shonn Greene ran eight times for 30 yards.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Since the AFC East has four games going simultaneously, here are some quick halftime thoughts from around the division:

First of all, I might be in the wrong stadium. The real news will take place in Gillette Stadium if the New England Patriots don't get their act together against the Carolina Panthers. The score is tied at 7, but the Patriots have looked homely. Tom Brady has an interception. Randy Moss lost a fumble. Do you think Bill Belichick has Charlie Weis' updated résumé on file?

The Miami Dolphins appear to be in control against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins lead 14-7 and should be up by at least 10, but receiver Davone Bess fumbled on a reverse at the Jaguars' 33-yard line right before intermission.

The Dolphins are running and throwing effectively. Ricky Williams has rushed 15 times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Chad Henne, who also has a touchdown run, has completed 14 of 16 attempts -- 13 in a row -- for 146 yards and no interceptions.

The New York Jets are cruising against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 19-0. Jay Feely already has four field goals in his hometown. Rex Ryan was wise not to push rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez back too soon from a knee injury because Kellen Clemens hasn't had to do anything. Clemens is 7-of-16 for 52 yards. But Thomas Jones has 12 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown.

The Jets are getting it done in their last cushy game before a brutal finish against the Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets and Dolphins are tied at 6-6, one game behind the Jaguars. If these scores hold up, then we're going to have some fun the rest of December.

And in Kansas City, the Buffalo Bills are up 10-3 in a game that's irrelevant other than establishing the top 10 draft order. Terrell Owens has a 9-yard touchdown reception.

TORONTO -- So far, the New York Jets have blown 11 points.

Through one period, the Jets and Buffalo Bills were tied at 3 in the Rogers Centre.

The Jets should have scored two passing touchdowns, but misfired comically.

New York's second possession began with four straight double-digit gains from four players: Brad Smith for 21 yards on a reverse; Mark Sanchez to Jerricho Cotchery for 12 more; Thomas Jones run for 13 yards; Tony Richardson run for 19 yards.

Then the Jets failed to finish it off. Sanchez overthrew a wide open Cotchery in the end zone. Jay Feely kicked a 38-yard field goal.

Late in the first period, a blown coverage left Braylon Edwards sprinting lonely along the right numbers for what should have been an 84-yard touchdown. Sanchez's pass would have hit him in stride at the Buffalo 35-yard line if Edwards didn't allow it to hit him in the facemask.

Doink. Incomplete.

And a punt three plays later.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron has survived for at least another week.

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, meanwhile, wants to know what the heck happened to a team that started 3-0 and had fans excited about the playoffs.

The Jets were shocked by the Bills with a 16-13 overtime triumph Sunday at the Meadowlands.

Rian Lindell made a 47-yard field goal with 2:44 left in sudden death to give the sad sack Bills a much-needed win.

Lindell missed a 46-yard attempt at the end of regulation, but Jets holder Steve Weatherford botched the snap on what could have been a winning 49-yard Jay Feely try on the first possession of overtime.

The Jets appeared to be in total control with a 10-point halftime lead and some monstrous plays on offense. Running back Thomas Jones had carries of 64 and 71 yards in the second quarter.

But the Bills clawed their way back, while the Jets failed to put a hurting opponent out of its misery.

And what about quarterback Mark Sanchez?

Sanchez, the rookie from Southern California, didn't fare well in the chilly, windy and dreary conditions. For the second time in three weeks, he threw at least three interceptions. He was 10 of 29 for 119 yards and no touchdowns.

He also lost a ball even though a defender wasn't around him in the closing moments of the first half to hurt the Jets' chances of tacking on a field goal. The Jets were forced to call a timeout. They ran another play and hurried kicker Feely on the field. He missed the 44-yard attempt one kick after setting a club record with 24 straight successful tries.

The Jets' offense disappeared in the second half. Star nose tackle Kris Jenkins left the game with a knee injury right before halftime and didn't return.

Buffalo played shorthanded, too. Quarterback Trent Edwards was knocked from the game with a head injury while being sacked early in the second quarter.

Veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 10 of 25 passes for 116 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown strike to Lee Evans. But Fitzpatrick threw a costly interception in overtime.

	Doug Benc/Getty Images
	Outside of a few isolated verbal outbursts from Joey Porter and Channing Crowder, the Dolphins have had a quiet offseason.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

The Miami Dolphins haven't made sensational copy.

While the rest of the AFC East has generated tantalizing storylines throughout the summer, the Dolphins have been comparatively humdrum.

No zing. No flash. No scandal. No major injuries. No Joey Porter proclamations.

The Buffalo Bills have Terrell Owens and recently took a machete to their offense. The New York Jets traded up to draft a glamour quarterback. Their head coach talks smack. The New England Patriots are making headlines with major transactions.

What has been the Dolphins' sexiest story? The vagueness over what's wrong with outside linebacker Matt Roth? Not exactly prime material for a "Dateline" episode.

"I think boring is good," Miami coach Tony Sparano said early in training camp.

Sparano, football operations boss Bill Parcells and general manager Jeff Ireland used to work amid the drama that swirls around the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones was their boss.

In South Florida, the Dolphins' leadership triumvirate has replicated another Big D: Dullsville.

"Where you may call it dull, we just call it business as usual," Ireland said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "It is by design."

The Dolphins have been masterful at avoiding turmoil. New owner Stephen Ross is infatuated with selling off pieces of his team to celebrities, but the football department has been pleased to maintain a low-wattage profile.

"We're not trying to make a splash," Ireland said. "We're just doing what we do, and trying to get better from a day-to-day basis and flip over rocks. If it makes a splash, it makes a splash, but we couldn't care less if it does or not."

Boys-will-be-boys stuff has occurred off the field, yet nothing that could be labeled turmoil.

High tranquility and minimal disorder are substantial reasons why the Dolphins are the NFL's most overlooked defending division champs.

"We know that the target's on our backs whether we're in the papers making a splash or not," Ireland said.

They've been out of sight, out of mind since their stunning turnaround campaign -- the greatest single-season reversal in league history -- ended with a thud in the playoffs.

A couple of June eruptions threatened to roil the Dolphins. Porter, agitated the Patriots already were being trumpeted as favorites, spoke up about a perceived lack of respect. Jabber-jaw linebacker Channing Crowder got into an entertaining verbal joust with Jets coach Rex Ryan. Orations lasted a few days before Ireland stopped it.

Miami's front office expects its players to maintain a certain level of decorum. We haven't heard many colorful comments from Porter or Crowder since then.

The Dolphins got rid of outspoken kicker Jay Feely last year because they could save a couple bucks with Dan Carpenter, an undrafted rookie who knew to keep his mouth shut.

Economical sound bites are part of Parcells' one-voice philosophy that makes sure one man speaks for the team. It's a belief also practiced by Parcells coaching descendants such as Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Eric Mangini and now Sparano.

"The players on the team need to understand where the message is coming from," Ireland said. "You'd like for your team to be able to think the way you think and operate the way the leadership operates.

"This head coach is about eliminating distractions. Therefore, I'm assuming he wants his players to eliminate those distractions from their own lives."

The Dolphins prohibit their players from using Twitter.

Meanwhile, Chad Ochocinco leads the league in tweets. The Jets hired a social-networking associate to help players manage their Twitter and Facebook accounts. T.O. can't figure out why his VH-1 reality show tanked.

Even the tight-lipped Patriots have had a more colorful offseason than the Dolphins because of Tom Brady's return from reconstructive knee surgery and the notable roster moves Belichick has made.

Miami's biggest offseason acquisitions were run-blocking center Jake Grove, safety Gibril Wilson and pass-rusher Jason Taylor, a homecoming muted by lowered expectations. Taylor is coming off a disappointing season for the Washington Redskins and wasn't expected to be an every-down player when he signed a one-year contract.

The Dolphins declined to enter the market for a veteran receiver or cornerback, choosing instead to address those needs in the draft.

"The opportunity to develop younger players, and the price tag that comes along with them, they're usually the best bang for the buck," Ireland said.

Miami's front office wasn't interested in reuniting with Owens when the Cowboys cut him. At the NFL owners' meeting in March, Sparano praised Owens' game-changing skills and work ethic. But when asked twice why the Dolphins didn't pursue him, Sparano responded each time with a laugh, a shake of his head and a "No comment."

"Some teams operate certain ways," Ireland said. "Some teams operate where every signing they have, there's a press conference involved. That's not our deal.

"We felt like the moves that we made in the offseason helped this football team. There were certain aspects we knew we needed to get better. We hope that makes a splash on the football field. That's all we're looking for."

	James Lang/US Presswire
	Jay Feely relishes the opportunity to kick game-winning field goals.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

CORTLAND, N.Y. -- When discussing which New York Jets player will be most critical to winning or losing on a weekly basis, the candidates are obvious: Mark Sanchez, Kellen Clemens, Thomas Jones, Bart Scott, Kris Jenkins.

Mostly overlooked is kicker Jay Feely.

The Jets seem like a team that will play a lot of tight games down to the final gun. They intend to rely on their defense and a relentless running attack. There's a good chance they'll have a rookie starting quarterback.

Games frequently could be decided by Feely's right foot.

New coach Rex Ryan knows the value of a trustworthy kicker. In Ryan's four seasons as Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, they led the AFC in field goals attempted and made.

"That's how they play," Feely said of Ryan's time with the Ravens. "They were going to play great defense. They weren't going to turn the ball over. They were going to win games through special teams.

Jay Feely #3 PK New York Jets 2008 STATS FG Att PAT Att Pts Long 24 28 39 39 111 55

"Matt Stover won a lot of games for them. The year they won the Super Bowl, they had six games where they didn't score a touchdown."

Ryan wasn't the defensive coordinator then, just the defensive line coach. But his experience in winning a Super Bowl ring cemented his philosophy.

From 2005 through 2008, when Ryan was Baltimore's coordinator, Matt Stover made 113 field goals on 132 tries. Only Arizona Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers was busier.

Even more remarkable were Stover's numbers in the fourth quarter. He converted 96.6 percent of those kicks, missing once on 29 attempts. In the final two minutes, Stover was 8 of 9.

"Rex and I have talked about that," Feely said. "That was a priority for him, to have a kicker that he trusted. I liked that.

"I love playing for him. I love his mentality that he's not scared to say what he believes. I think the players rally around that."

(Read full post)

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

	Courtesy of Jay Feely
	Kellen Clemens and Mark Sanchez chill.

CORTLAND, N.Y. -- You gotta love Jay Feely.

The New York Jets kicker and raconteur snapped a funny photo after Friday morning's training camp practice at SUNY Cortland and posted it on his Twitter page.

The photo shows quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Mark Sanchez in the cold tub. Doesn't look like the rookie feels all that comfortable in there.

I'd love to see your best suggestions for a caption in the comments section below.

Be funny.