AFC EAST Jets get boost from Patriots, then beat Packers

New York rallied from a 1-4 start to a 9-7 record and the division title.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A yellow flag flew in the first quarter and the referee began marking off a penalty against the New York Jets.
And the crowd went wild.
It was as if the Jets just scored, and in a way they did. A couple hundred miles away in Foxboro, Mass., Adam Vinatieri's 35-yard field goal lifted New England over Miami 27-24 in overtime Sunday. When Vinatieri's kick soared through the uprights, thousands of green-clad Jets fans voiced their pleasure.
They never really stopped celebrating as the Jets routed the Green Bay Packers 42-17 to complete one of the NFL's best turnarounds.
From 1-4, they finished 9-7, won the AFC East and set up a first-round game on Saturday with Indianapolis.
"We've definitely opened some eyes and people realize we are not a fluke," Chad Pennington said after throwing four touchdown passes. "You always wonder if you will be able to stay focused and answer every challenge. We have a lot of character on this team. It's about coming together as a team when no one thinks you can."
Packers blow home-field edge
The loss was costly to the Packers, who blew home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs and dropped to the third seed. They must play Atlanta on Saturday night -- yes, a January night game at Lambeau Field, if you can imagine.
"We knew what was at stake," Brett Favre said. "Obviously they had something at stake and apparently they wanted it more than we did.
"The chips were falling in line for us and it was there for the taking. It's upsetting."
Imagine how New England and Miami, also 9-7, feel as they sit out the postseason while the Jets move on.
New York won the division because of a superior division record to Miami and a better record against common opponents than New England.
When the Jets were flopping around in October, coach Herman Edwards benched Vinny Testaverde for Pennington, an untested third-year quarterback. Running back Curtis Martin got healthy, the defense, with six new starters, began to jell and the Jets made their charge.
Got help from Patriots
Still, they needed help on the final day of the season, and the Patriots provided it.
"When we went out there, we didn't know what was happening," cornerback Ray Mickens said of the Dolphins-Patriots match. "The crowd went crazy when we got a penalty and we were wondering why. I looked at the scoreboard and we knew New England won.
"We went on the field believing New England would pull it out and to take care of our business, and that's what we did."
Did they ever. Pennington threw touchdown passes of 12 and 18 yards to Wayne Chrebet, 1 yard to Richie Anderson and 13 to Santana Moss. Curtis Martin, who two months ago called the Jets a sinking ship, had a 5-yard TD run. LaMont Jordan had a 3-yarder.
Patriots 27, Dolphins 24, OT
For the second year in a row, the New England Patriots finished the season with a thrilling victory.
This one, they wouldn't mind forgetting.
The Super Bowl champions rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final five minutes and beat Miami in overtime to revive their playoff hopes.
But the celebration didn't last long: When the Jets beat the Packers later Sunday, both the Patriots and Dolphins were eliminated.
"We're very disappointed that our season has ended," New England coach Bill Belichick said. "Unfortunately, it was a situation where other things had to fall into place for us to get into the playoffs and it just didn't work out."
The result left Miami, which lost three of its last five games, out of the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. In the last six of them, the Dolphins have gone into late November with a shot at a first-round bye in the playoffs but failed to capitalize each time.
Adam Vinatieri kicked a 43-yard field goal with 1:09 left in regulation to tie it at 24, then he added a 35-yarder 2:03 into overtime.