For the first time this season the Jets hope to string two victories together against a Cleveland Browns team still in the playoff hunt.

The game will also feature the league’s best kick returners in Leon Washington and Josh Cribbs. Cribbs leads the league with a 31.2-yard return average and has two TD’s. Washington, second to Cribbs in return average with 30.6, has returned three kickoffs for touchdowns.

The Jets have pointed to sacks as a key to their recent wins, having compiled 13 sacks in their last three games (2 of them wins) after having only 9 in their first nine games. However, the Browns do not allow a lot of sacks, having given up only 11 in 406 pass attempts. So the Jets’ defensive line has its work cut out for them if they expect to get to Browns’ QB Derek Anderson.

The game could come down to a field goal. Mike Nugent has nailed 17 of his last 18 attempts, with his only miss coming from 54 yards. He has successfully converted his last 10 in a row.

While the Browns are still playing for the opportunity to suit up in January, the Jets are playing for pride and to finish the last quarter of the season on a positive note. They need only to look to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to see how a winning streak at the end of a season, despite a poor start, can carry a team over into the next season. The Packers won their last four games in 2006 to finish strong after a disappointing first part of the season, and then carried that momentum into this season, winning 10 of their first 12 games and running away with their division.

Jerricho Cotchery is the only Jet listed as doubtful. Laveranues Coles, James Dearth, Dewayne Robertson and Nick Mangold are all questionable but most likely will play.

This game should be close, but with the home field advantage and the Browns’ 32nd-ranked defense, this is a game the Jets can and should win to put their winning streak at two.

With games at New England and Tennesse, the Jets have their work cut out for them to match the Packers’ feat and win four in-a-row. But that streak can start today if the Jets can get their 2nd consecutive win for the first time this season.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.