(Sports Network) - Conspirators...start your theories.

Lest anyone believe the New York Jets had gotten to their current level of AFC elite status based on actual on-field prowess, the National Football League on Tuesday afternoon began fatally tipping its hand toward an ultimately underhanded postseason objective.

An all-Gotham Super Bowl...with Jersey hero Bruce Springsteen as the crooning sideshow.

Anyway, amid the usual gaggle of stats and nuggets compiled to spoon-feed hungry reporters and TV analysts each week, the New York-based loop - that figures, huh? - included a Gang Green-related morsel no self-respecting football fan would ingest without a snicker.

Seems that Eric Mangini & Co., who through 11 games sit atop the conference's East Division with an 8-3 record, have been provided quite the easy road over the final five weeks as they attempt to secure both an unlikely playoff berth and an even more unlikely first-round bye.

Instead of a final-month gauntlet chock full of fellow division leaders and potential playoff counterparts, the J-E-T-S are on the verge of a closing third so non-threatening that it has all the requisite signs of interloping by higher-placed Manhattan powers-that-be.

Oh, did we mention the Giants are 10-1 and a clear favorite to repeat in the NFC?

While 7-4 conference-mate Baltimore faces a final leg with a won-loss record of 27-27-1 and fellow 8-3 off-week pursuer Pittsburgh looks down a 35-20 barrel to wrap up the schedule, the chosen ones in green and white have the AFC's third-easiest remaining trip at 23 up and 32 down.

The would-be challenges (wink, wink...) begin Sunday in East Rutherford, where New York - which, incidentally, won its lone world title 40 years ago this January - faces a Denver Broncos team that started its finishing kick with a 21-point home loss to the 2-8 Oakland Raiders.

Later tests will include woeful San Francisco (3-8), inept Seattle (2-9), slumping Buffalo (1-4 in its last five) and a visiting Miami team fresh off its own double-digit home loss and tenuously leaning on the late-season resuscitative powers of one Chad Pennington at quarterback.

Pittsburgh's trek, you ask?

How about...at New England (7-4), home with Dallas (7-4), at Baltimore (7-4), at Tennessee (10-1)

Still, in spite of the evidence, Mangini's playing it straight.

"I guess I look at it totally different," he said in Tuesday's New York Daily News. "I look at it as a five-game season and the next team. I know that's not flashy or exciting. I just think it's a long time to go before the end of the season. It's over a quarter of the season left, and so many things can happen."

The Broncos, meanwhile, hope at least some of those things turn out positive.

Coach Mike Shanahan's charges have been anything but predictable through the campaign's initial three months, turning a 3-0/4-1 start into a 6-5 mark heading toward the three-quarter pole after the inglorious defeat at the hands of the Raiders.

Nonetheless, Denver finds itself two games ahead of the mediocre pack in the AFC West, being chased most closely by recent divisional powerhouse San Diego - which fell to 4-7 on Sunday night courtesy of a last-second field goal by Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri in the Colts' 23-20 win.

The Broncos' final five opponents, incidentally, have a combined record of 27-28.

"Hey, believe me, we don't have to make any excuses for the AFC West over the years, I can guarantee that," Shanahan said. "But I have felt this way about other teams sometimes.

"When you do have that record and a team is 8-8 or 9-7, and you're saying, 'Gosh, here we are 13-3 and we've got to go on the road.' So, it's not perfect, but I'm liking it more this year than in years past."

SERIES HISTORY

The Broncos hold a 15-14-1 edge in their all-time series with the Jets, breaking a deadlock in the series with a 27-0 home victory when the teams last met, in 2005. The Jets won the previous meeting, a 19-13 affair at the Meadowlands in 2002. The Broncos last won a road game in the series in 2000.

In addition to the regular season series, the teams have met once in the postseason, with Denver claiming a 23-10 home victory in the 1998 AFC Championship.

Shanahan is 4-2 in his career against the Jets, including the playoff win. New York's Mangini will be meeting both Shanahan and the Broncos for the first time as a head coach.

WHEN THE BRONCOS HAVE THE BALL

Quarterback Jay Cutler has 48 touchdown passes in 32 career games and needs two to reach 50 in the fewest games in Broncos history, eclipsing the mark shared by Brian Griese and Jake Plummer. Denver is 9-0 in games where Cutler posts a passer rating of 100 or better. He's second in the conference with 3,036 yards, and tied for third with 19 touchdowns.

Rookie fullback Peyton Hillis aims for a third consecutive game with a rushing TD. He's also averaging 12.9 yards per reception on 13 catches. Elsewhere, wideout Brandon Marshall is averaging 88.7 rec. yards per game and has 80-plus receiving yards in each of his past three. He is second in the AFC with 887 receiving yards. Fellow wide receiver Eddie Royal leads NFL rookies with 58 catches, and tight end Tony Scheffler averages 17.3 yards per reception on 21 receptions.

In spite of the records and the pre-game momentum, the Jets may encounter a series of matchup problems against a team that's proficient through the air. New York is among the league's elite while stopping the run, but has given up big aerial yards several times this season, including 400-plus to both Kurt Warner and Matt Cassel - though the Jets won both games.

If they can pressure Cutler they may forces miscues, however, and defensive end Shaun Ellis leads the team with seven sacks. Linebacker Calvin Pace needs two sacks to surpass his career-high of 6.5 that he notched with Arizona in 2007. Shut-down cornerback Darrelle Revis is tied for third in the AFC with four interceptions. As a unit, the Jets surrender 317.4 yards per game.

WHEN THE JETS HAVE THE BALL

In his past three games, resurgent veteran Brett Favre has completed 65-of-84 passes for 649 yards with five TDs and a 113.6 passer rating. Including postseason, Favre's teams are 97-8 when he posts a 100-or-better passer rating. In his last meeting against Denver, while with Green Bay in 2007, Favre completed 21-of-27 passes for 331 yards, two touchdowns and a 142.4 passer rating. He is second in the conference with both 20 touchdowns and a 94.1 passer rating.

On the ground, running back Thomas Jones leads the AFC with 950 rushing yards and is averaging 116.3 yards per game in his past three outings. He has 10 TDs in the past seven games and aims for his sixth consecutive game with a TD. Jones averages 121.5 rush yards per game when posting 20-plus attempts in 2008. Meanwhile, Leon Washington has four TDs in the past two games. Veteran wideout Laveranues Coles averages 94 receiving yards per game in his past two against Denver and, in his past three games, rookie tight end Dustin Keller has 20 receptions for 236 receiving yards and a touchdown. He has 16 first- down receptions in the past three games.

The days of the Orange Crush seem long gone for Denver, which now surrenders an average of 380.4 yards per week and has allowed 30 or more points six times in 11 games, including a season-high 41 against Cassel and New England on Oct. 20.

The inability to get sacks or force turnovers has been a main problem, as evidenced by veteran Ebenezer Ekuban's paltry team-high of four sacks and a four-way tie for the interception lead at one apiece. Still, cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly are first and second in the league in INTs at their position since 1999. Bailey - who has missed the last four games with a groin problem and is questionable for Sunday - has 43 in that stretch, while Bly has 39.

FANTASY FOCUS

Fans of offense, take your pick. The Broncos can put up numbers through the air with the best of them, led by Cutler and Marshall. Unfortunately, they don't have as much to offer with an injury-depleted running game. For the Jets, Favre has turned back the clock over the past five games while throwing just one interception and climbing the AFC charts in TD passes and passer rating.

Washington has evolved into the multi-pronged weapon he'd been billed as, while Keller is rapidly becoming the East Coast version of former Green Bay heroes Bubba Franks and Mark Chmura. Defensively, the Jets have been vulnerable to the pass, but are prone to make big plays and force turnovers against a Broncos team that leads the AFC in total yards but also carries an ugly minus-12 turnover margin.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Another week, another barometer and another important hurdle to cross for a franchise that's traditionally not fared well with prosperity. With a win, the Jets will officially stamp themselves deserving of the chatter that's begun following them in recent weeks. A loss could start the downward spiral that many still contend is on the way on the green side of North Jersey. Either way, it figures to be a shootout, and it says here that Favre will once again have the answer in a big spot.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Jets 34, Broncos 24