Ten days later, they made an even bigger statement.

Dominating the previously undefeated Titans from start to finish, the Jets declared themselves an elite AFC team with yesterday's 34-13 win in front of a mostly somber crowd at LP Field. The Titans (10-1) hadn't lost a regular-season game since Dec. 16, 2007, in becoming the 11th team since 1970 to win its first 10 games.

But yesterday was about the Jets, 8-3 for the first time since 2004, and their most complete effort of the season. It was their fifth straight victory since an overtime loss in Oakland that looks more inexplicable by the week.

"We want to be taken seriously," nose tackle Kris Jenkins said. "We feel like we're a good team and that we can compete. That's all we're looking for. Every game to us is a big game."

By beating the defending AFC champions in their building, then manhandling the Titans in theirs, the Jets have more than shown they should be taken seriously. No AFC team is playing better, though such declarations were in short supply in the locker room.

"I'm not going to sit here and say that we've established ourselves as the best team in Football," Brett Favre said. "All it says is that I think we beat the best team in Football today, definitely, if you go by record and the way they've played. It's hard to win, period, in this league and hard to win on the road. It's hard to win at a place that's 10-0; it's hard to win at Foxborough. We found a way to do it."

But while the Jets built a 24-6 first-half lead on the Patriots only to be taken into overtime, yesterday never reached that level of drama.

After the defense forced the Titans into a three-and-out on the opening possession of the game, the Jets moved downfield easily, scoring on their first drive for the sixth straight game. Favre capped the nine-play, 76-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Jones, who caught the screen pass at the 8-yard line and made his way into the end zone untouched behind space-clearing blocks from center Nick Mangold, left guard Alan Faneca and left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson. "That first drive was really a tone-setter," Favre said.

In every way, especially considering the Titans came into the game having given up a league-low 23 first-quarter points and led the league in scoring defense (13.1 ppg).

The Jets' game plan to attack that defense called for mostly short passes. Favre executed it well, finishing 25-for-32 for 224 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. The Jets outgained the Titans 409-281 in total yards, including 192-45 on the ground.

Tennessee came in with a bruising reputation on both sides of the ball, ranking seventh in rushing (132.7 yards per game) and 10th against the run (95.1), but were beaten up both ways by the Jets, whose front seven was stellar.

The defense twice shut down the Titans after first-half turnovers, yielding zero points and allowing the Jets to take a 10-3 lead into halftime.

"It was incredibly important," coach Eric Mangini said. "To come out and hold them to no points after a sudden change [turnovers], that's key."

But the even bigger key was an offensive line that played its best game of the season. The quintet starred most of the afternoon - Favre was sacked only twice - and was the primary reason the Jets owned a staggering advantage in time of possession, 40:30-19:30.

"Our offensive line is one of the best in the league," said Jones, who rushed 27 times for 96 yards, just missing a third straight 100-yard game.

Members of that line said they were motivated in part by hearing all week about the Titans' fearsome front four.

"They're a good defense and we took that as a challenge," right guard Brandon Moore said. "We feel like we're pretty physical. We feel like we have a physical running back - two of them - and we definitely took it as a challenge."

Many of the Jets' longest runs, including Leon Washington's 61-yard TD run that made it 27-6 with 11:07 left, were behind the right side of Moore and right tackle Damien Woody. The contribution of Mangold couldn't be overlooked, either. All three helped create just enough room for Washington (eight carries for 82 yards) to wiggle in for a 4-yard TD with 2:09 left to make it 34-13.

When it was over, Woody politely stopped a Jets public-relations official walking past and asked to have one of the final stat packets from the bundle she was carrying.

The lineman smiled as he ticked off the impressive Jets numbers.

"Third-down efficiency, 54 percent," he said. "409 yards of total offense; 192 rushing. Need I say more? I don't have to say anything."

Yesterday, the Jets said plenty. And everyone in Football heard.

Can't win 'em all

The Titans built their 10-0 record largely on a stingy defense and a punishing ground game, but the Jets dominated on both sides of the ball yesterday.

AVG. FIRST 10 GAMES

Titans DEFENSE

TOTAL YDS. 281.8

RUSHING YDS. 95.1

PASSING YDS. 186.7

POINTS 13.1

Titans OFFENSE

TOTAL YDS. PER GAME 316.3

RUSHING YDS. PER GAME 132.7

AVG. POINTS PER GAME 24.4

VS. Jets

TOTAL YDS. 409

RUSHING YDS. 192

PASSING YDS. 217

POINTS 34

Titans OFFENSE

TOTAL YDS. PER GAME 281

RUSHING YDS. PER GAME 45

AVG. POINTS PER GAME 14