EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Jets’ captains strode to midfield, listened to the rules of overtime and waited for the vagaries of a flipped coin to determine their season.
Of course, the Jets wanted the ball first. If they got the ball and scored a touchdown, they would win. They would topple mighty New England, and could you imagine the bedlam at MetLife Stadium then?
The Patriots, as the road team, had the option of calling. Heads, they wanted.
The coin was heads.
In the split-second that elapsed before New England’s emissary, Matthew Slater, announced the team’s preference, Jets safety Calvin Pryor began mentally preparing himself.