Mark Sanchez, after just one career playoff game, is giving an off-Broadway performance that is pretty good.

The other New York Jets are as well.  No longer are they a team that is overlooked, after they defeated AFC North champion Cincinnati twice in a week.

Are there still doubters out there?

The Jets, with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez playing error free, turned their surprising appearance  in the playoffs on Saturday into a production with a long run.  Sanchez had a touchdown pass, with the top running game in the NFL taking it from there to set up the Jets 24-14 win over the Bengals.

Sanchez said, it’s very special.  I don’t have anything to do with it.

Actually the first playoff win for the Jets since 2004 did have something to do with Sanchez.

Sanchez, who was playing in wind chill in single digits versus a defense trying their best to get the game into his hands, was 12 for 15 and passed for 182 yards, giving him a 139.4 passer rating.

Sanchez was considered the weakest link for the Jets as they entered the playoffs.  However he became the team’s focal point and got his first win in the playoffs before Carson Palmer, his idol from childhood.

Rex Ryan, Jets coach said today he had the tiger’s eye.  He was ready.  Every day I watch him get better and better in practice.  He has done a great job.  He is tired I think hearing that he is this football team’s weak link.

Other rookies for the Jets made plays under pressure.  Shonn Greene, third round pick, rushed for 135 yards and scored a touchdown on a run of 39 yards to lead the Jets running game.  New York rushed for 171 yards while defeating the Bengals back to back.

For the Bengals, Cedric Benson rushed for 169 yards, setting a playoff game team record.  However Cincinnati wasn’t able to manage much else.  Their streak of not having a playoff win is at 19 years and still counting.

What about the Jets?

Palmer said, they may have an opportunity for making a move.  The Bengals quarterback during much of the game was under pressure and off-target.  Their defense is really good.

You can take the word of Palmer’s on that.

Six days earlier the Bengals took a trip to the Meadowlands and were flattened.  New York rushed for 257 yards while the Bengals only managed to get 72 yards.  Chad Ochocinco was shut out.  In the second match up not much changed.  In the rematch Ochocinco caught only two passes for a total of 28 yards.

Ryan, winning his head coach playoff debut said, it was a great effort by the entire team.  We are a very good team.  People will start to believe that soon if they don’t already.

The Jets shouldn’t be counted out by anyone now, not like two weeks ago when their own coach did.  Sanchez threw three interceptions and the Jets lost to the Falcons 10-7.  Ryan thought his team was out of playoff contention.  However, after that everything lined up in the Jets favor.

A week later Indianapolis pulled their starters from the game.  The Jets then rallied to get the win.  At the same time, four other teams that were playoff contenders lost their games.  The Bengals then visited the Meadowlands, losing 37-0 having little at stake.

Buddy, the father of Rex Ryan, was the 1969 Jets defensive line coach.  That was the Jets team that won a Super Bowl after Broadway Joe Namath guaranteed the victory.  The Jets entered the playoffs more like a show from off-Broadway, with their lack of a star quarterback to deliver a win.

That is until Saturday’s game.

Sanchez played like a playoff pro and joined thee ranks of Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Shaun King as rookie quarterbacks with postseason start wins.  Sanchez at times found himself soaking things in from the sideline.

Sanchez said it blows your mind.  It’s so unbelievable.  I am hoping next week I will have this feeling.

Sanchez was the lowest ranked passer by far in the playoffs.  During his rookie season he threw 20 interceptions, second highest in the league.  Cincinnati wanted the game placed in his hands.  However the Southern California kid played in a wind chill of 8 degrees with his passing hand having no glove on it and handled it all with no bobbles.

The team presented owner Woody Johnson with the game ball after the game.  Johnson’s daughter Casey on Monday was discovered dead at her home in Los Angeles.  Johnson had red eyes as he exited the locker room.

At the outset the Jets had a scare.  Punter Steve Weatherford was not cleared to play due to an elevated heartbeat and dizziness.  For the very first time in kicker Jay Feely’s NFL career he punted.  On seven kicks he averaged 31 yards and made a field goal of 20 yards with 5:47 to play.

Feely said I was very happy to be kicking the field goal at that point instead of punting.  It was great.

Weatherford did attempt to warm up in the wind chill of single digits, but didn’t feel good.

Weatherford said, I got lightheaded and my heart rate was elevated.  It wasn’t anything that was life threatening but when it comes to your heart…

By halftime the Jets had a 14-7 lead on two big plays involving Sanchez.  After faking a hand off he pitched the ball perfectly to Greene, who after one block found an open space and ran for 39 yards to score a touchdown, the longest in his NFL career.

Sanchez during the second quarter was able to catch Cincinnati off guard.  After rolling to the right, Sanchez spotted Dustin Keller, tight end, running past the secondary uncovered.  He threw a perfect pass.  Keller was able to keep his balance for the final 15 yards after Chinedum Ndukwe, Bengals safety, attempted in vain to  push Keller out of bounds.

Sanchez at halftime was 7 for 10 with 94 yards passing and a 132.9 passer rating.  His stats could have been better if Braylon Edwards hadn’t dropped a pass inside the end zone.

Late third quarter Sanchez led the Jets on a 75 yard, eight play drive which was capped off by a 9 yard touchdown run by Thomas Jones to give the Jets a lead of 21-7.  Benson then had a touchdown run of 47 yards, the longest playoff run in Cincinnati team history, to get the Bengals to within a touchdown.  However Greene and Sanchez turned it up again.

The ending of the game involved some more serendipity for the Jets.  Shayne Graham, franchise tagged player of the Bengals, during the second half missed two field goal attempts, including one from 28 yards with 3:49 left to play, essentially sealing the Jets victory.

With their lucky breaks and everything, the Sanchise and Rex are heading to the playoffs.

It it the same old Jets?  No, not this time around.

The top ranked defense of Rex Ryan’s shut the Bengals down, while rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez was very efficient in  leading the clock eating offense as the Jets clinched the first playoff spot for the team in three seasons on Sunday night with their 37-0 defeat at chilly Meadowlands.

Sanchez said, this is a very special feeling.  People were counting us out a couple weeks ago.

The Jets (9-7) needed a win in order to keep their season alive.  Fans braved Arctic conditions to watch the Jets get their rematch set up against the Bengals (10-6), AFC North champion, for Saturday’s first round game in Cincinnati.

Ryan, who is headed to the playoffs as a first year coach of the Jets said, our goal wasn’t making the playoffs.  We have much higher goals.  At one point our record was 4-6.  Our mission for the team was impossible then went to improbable and then back to being impossible and finally inevitable.

After spending a couple minutes in their lock room, Jets players were led back to the field by Ryan.  They ran a victory lap to celebrate and high fived the several thousand fans remaining in the stands.

Darrelle Revis, Jets cornerback, said it was great.  We need to give something back to our fans who stuck with us.

New York’s victory, which was recognized with Ryan getting his sideline Gatorade shower, was probably the last game the team will play at Giants Stadium.  It capped off an entire series of twists and turns that were favorable for the Jets.

Two weeks ago it appeared that the Jets were out of the playoff race when they lost to the Falcons.  Even Ryan said mistakenly that the team’s chance to make the playoffs were over.

The Jets instead last Sunday defeated Indianapolis, who was previously undefeated, when Peyton Manning along with a few other stars for the Colts were sent to the bench during the second half of the game.  Several other teams contending for the playoffs lost, which set up the win-and-in game for the Jets versus the Bengals.

Ryan said I don’t think we backed in.  We will try to go out there and prove that.

Chad Ochocinco, Bengals wide receiver, said Cincinnati would be ready for the Jets.

He said, we will be fine.  We will study things that we can fix, particularly on the offense.  We are going to be much more serious next week.

Earlier this week Braylon Edwards, Jets wide receiver, said the Jets wouldn’t lose.  He was backed up by his teammates in a big way.

Sanchez said, the team we are playing again is a great team.  We need to prepare ourselves for the dog fight in their place.

The shutout at home was the first for the Jets since December 14, 2003 when they defeated the Steelers 6-0.  After the game the sky was filled with white and green confetti, with fans waving white rally towels that said in green “Win And We’re In.”

Sanchez went 8 out of 16 for a total of 63 yards passing and had no turnovers.  Late fourth quarter Kellen Clemens replaced him with the game under control.  Thomas Jones rushed for 78 yards and scored two touchdowns.  Brad Smith, versatile wide receiver, rushed for 92 yards, including a touchdown run of 32 yards.  The Jets set a season rushing yards record.

The Bengals started the game playing a majority of their starters.  Cedric Benson, running back, was the only Bengal healthy starter that didn’t play.  However early third quarter Carson Palmer was pulled.  When he was playing Palmer was ineffective,  He was only 1 out of 11 and had zero passing yards before being replaced by J.T. O’Sullivan.

During the first quarter, the Bengals only ran three plays and the Jets ran 24.  The Jets also out gained the Bengals 138 yards versus 1 yard for Cincinnati.  At halftime the Jets had 250 yards, with 190 coming from the ground game.  The Bengals had just 7 yards.

The record for the Bengals at Giants Stadium dropped to 0-11, including an 0-8 record versus the Jets.

Marvin Lewis, Bengals coach said, that wasn’t the outcome that we wanted to have.  In all three aspects of the game we were outplayed by the Jets.  Now we have an opportunity to regroup before next Saturday afternoon to get going again.

On the Jets first possession they got things started.  Smith inside the TigerCat formation took the snap directly on third down and 7 at the Jet’s 42 yard line.  After taking a couple steps to the right  he then moved up the middle.  Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall took him down on the one yard line.  Then Jones went over the top to score the touchdown.

A field goal of 20 yards from Jay Feely early second quarter made the score 10-0.  It capped off an 11 minute, 21 play drive.

The 32 yard run for a touchdown by Smith gave New York a 17-0 lead.  Smith lined up in the quarterback position, taking the snap from centerr, then took off and ran over Bengals linebacker Rashad Jeanty before crossing into the end zone.

With 37 seconds left to play first half, Jerricho Cotchery scored on a 6 yard run to make the score 24-0.  The Jets got the football back right away.  On the Bengals next scrimmage play, Dwight Lowery intercepted Palmer’s pass, returning the ball 34 yards before being pushed out of bounds by Palmer.  Feely, three plays later, kicked a field goal of 39 yards.  The Jets went into halftime with a 27 point lead.

With just under 10 minutes to play in the game a touchdown run of 2 yards was added by Jones to make the score 37-0.  It was the 14th rushing touchdown for Jones and set a Jets team record.

The highly anticipated Ochocinco and Revis showdown went in Revis’ favor.  Ochocino had to leave the game after injuring his left knee.  He had no catches for the game.  An MRI was to be done on Monday.

Ochocinco said Darrelle did a really great job, whether or not I had just one leg.