10/14 — There seems to be something to that wind theory on the first play of the final period as Chad Pennington hits Jerricho Cotchery for 27 yards to the Philly 38. But from there it looks too familiar: a Thomas Jones 2-yard loss as safety Sean Considine comes up to make the tackle, an incompletion under heavy pressure, and a sack off the blitz, out of field goal range.

The best part of this drive is Ben Graham's perfect drop punt, 4.85 seconds of hang, downed by Wallace Wright at the Eagles 4. There's 12:56 left and time is running out for a Jets triumph on Titans Throwback Day.

On second down, Kerry Rhodes breaks through with his first blitz sack of the season, catching Donovan McNabb by the ankles and dropping him at the 2. This is a third-down the Jets gotta have.

And they do! McNabb is pressured into a high overthrow for Jason Avant down the middle that Hank Poteat bats in the air, then snags and returns to the Eagles 17. It is Poteat's first career interception.

Pennington and the offense just cannot do anything since the Eagles shut down the Jones running game. After three plays, the best the hosts can do with the great field position is take Mike Nugent's 30-yard field goal. With 9½ minutes to play, the Jets have it back to a one-score game.

Eagles 16, Jets 9

Nugent begins things with another touchback, blasting it with the wind through the west end zone. Then the Jets D pitches its third three-and-out of the half and second straight, as Darrelle Revis makes the third-down tackle on TE Matt Schobel to force the punt. And Aussie Sav Rocca doesn't get all of the kick, so it's downed at the Jets 46 with 8:05 to go. Here's a great opportunity to tie things. Are Pennington and the offense up to it?

Jones rips off a 9-yard run into Philly territory. On second-and-1, Pennington hits Laveranues Coles for the first down — but Coles drops it, wide open on the in-cut. Pennington keeps on third down for his second conversion of the game.

Jones, lining up shallower this game than he had been through the first five games, takes the swing from Chad for 11 yards and a first down. Then as the five-minute mark is passed and we all start pondering if this is four-down territory, the Jets go razzle-dazzle on third down — Pennington hands off to Brad Smith, who then flips to Jerricho Cotchery coming back the other way. A true reverse, and Cotchery makes the most of it, slipping Considine's tackle try to get the first down and 14 yards in all.

But the Jets bog down again. Pennington tries to sneak on third-and-1 at the 4 and gets — no gain. Then, with the game likely on the line and Brad Smith darting in and out behind center, Pennington takes the shotgun snap and tries to hit Laveranues Coles in the end zone. But he can't hold it with Sheldon Brown jostling him from behind. The Birds take over on downs with 3:27 to play.

The Jets still have a chance when two runs give the Eagles a third-and-7 from their 7. And McNabb stumbles coming away from center. But he rights himself and hits Ronnie Brown for a 13-yard completion. Two-minute warning (1:58 in reality), and the Jets are waiting to fall to 1-5 on the season.

Brian Westbrook zips 22 yards after the teams come back, and that pretty much seals it. The Jets use their last two timeouts but what it comes down to is that Titans uniforms didn't turn the trick, the offense couldn't produce a single touchdown, the defense couldn't stop the Eagles until late. And it's 1-5 for the first time since 1999, for the second time since 1995 (1996 was 0-6). It's not pretty, but it is what it is. And we'll see if we can figure out what it is from the locker room in a short while.