The Jets defense ended the season on a high note Sunday evening, as the Green & White held the Kansas City Chiefs to 10 points in their 13-10 overtime win at the Meadowlands.

The performance capped a recent hot streak coordinator Bob Sutton’s youthful unit has been riding since the bye week in early November.

“Defensewise we’ve done a lot better down the stretch," safety Kerry Rhodes said. "We played tough and didn’t give up too many points, so that’s a good positive feeling I think we all share. We've got a lot of young guys stepping up and playing well and they stepped in and played like vets, so I think we've got a lot of good things to look forward to heading into next year and tonight was a good sign of that.”

Two of those young guys Rhodes was referring to are linebacker David Harris and cornerback Darrelle Revis. The two rookies and the top two tacklers for the 2007 Jets.

Harris’ grand finale against the Chiefs consisted of one sack, two passes defensed and 11 tackles — unofficially bringing his team-high total to 127 tackles.

“I think I did OK,” said Harris, reflecting on his first NFL season. “I just tried to be ready when my number was called. When [Jonathan] Vilma went down, I knew the defense needed me to step up and take his place, and I just try to be ready when my number is called.”

Harris’ fifth sack of the season came in the fourth quarter when he brought down the Chiefs' Brodie Croyle for a 15-yard loss on a crucial third-and-7.

“He made some plays for them at times when they needed them and used his feet a little,” Harris, the second-round pick in the April draft, said of the Kansas City quarterback. “Our front four did a heck of a job staying in the rush lanes, put some pressure on him and forced some bad throws. It helped the guys in the back a lot. [Tony] Gonzalez and [Dwayne] Bowe didn’t have much time to get open because of the pressure, which is a good thing.”

Revis, the Jets' first-round selection in April, pitched in with five tackles and one PD.

“Darrelle had a long day,” Mangini said. “He was either covering Bowe one-on-one, or he was on the other side isolated against the other receiver that wasn’t being double-covered, snap after snap. He was a little tired. I’m sure he is going to sleep pretty well tonight.

“I’ve been pleased with Darrelle, I’ve been pleased with David Harris,” Mangini added. “I think both of those guys are very mature, hard-working guys who got a lot of opportunities to play and did well with those opportunities. They continued to get better over the course of the season.”

Not to be outdone by the rookies was Eric Smith, the second-year safety out of Michigan State, who added six total tackles playing alongside Rhodes.

“It was good to end on a positive note as opposed to a negative one, but it doesn’t last that long — we’re only 4-12,” Rhodes said of the positive locker room atmosphere following the season finale. “I think this was good for the younger guys who are kind of auditioning for a bigger role next season and to make sure things will go better for them heading into next year.”

Rhodes, 25, chipped in with two tackles and spearheaded a pass defense that allowed just 195 yards and held Croyle to less than 50 percent passing accuracy (20-of-43).

The Jets allowed just 38 yards on 24 first-half plays and ended the evening allowing just 219 yards and 14 first downs.

“Defensively we wanted to be able to stop the run and control Gonzalez and Bowe — obviously we know how dangerous they are,” head coach Eric Mangini said. “I was pleased with what we did defensively throughout the course of the game.”

“We had a hard week of practice and felt we were ready for anything the Chiefs threw at us,” Harris said in his postgame news conference.

Gonzalez was held to 64 yards on seven catches. Bowe — who entered the game tied with the veteran tight end for the team lead with five TDs – didn’t hit the stat sheet until the fourth quarter when he caught a 13-yard pass from Croyle. It was his only reception of the day, his second-least productive game of the season behind two catches at Green Bay in November.

“We knew they had two good playmakers so we wanted to eliminate what they do,” said Harris. “We played very well as a unit and got the victory.”

“We had a disappointing season, we all know that,” said Harris. “To end the season on a positive note with a win heading into the off-season is always a good thing. We just need to keep pushing and get better in the off-season.”