But now Ryan and the defense he thinks can be so special have hit their first bump in the form of consecutive losses. They dropped a 24-10 decision against the New Orleans Saints before a fourth-quarter meltdown last Monday night in a 31-27 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

"We're a lot better football team and a lot better defensive team than how we played," says Ryan, "and that's got to be proven."

New York looks to have the right opponent coming to town. The 1-4 Buffalo Bills visit the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday. The Bills have lost three consecutive games, scoring a total of 20 points during the slide.

Linebacker Bart Scott believes the Jets' defense has reached a critical juncture in its season.

"You either come back and respond to this," he says, "or you go down and start pointing fingers and falling apart."

Miami amassed 413 yards, 151 of them on the ground, and converted 9 of 14 third-down chances. The Dolphins piled up 157 yards in the fourth quarter in rallying from three deficits with touchdowns behind quarterback Chad Henne, making only his second start.

"You've got to look at it from a scheme standpoint," Ryan says. "You've got to ask yourself why this is happening. You've got to go out and have a commitment from everybody that we're going to get the thing fixed. I think we'll get that."

An obvious issue is the Jets' inability to produce a sack in either of the last two games, a surprise because much of Ryan's previous success with the Baltimore Ravens depended on the ability to exert pressure.

"We've got to get into a situation where it allows you to pin your ears back and rush the passer. Most sacks in this league occur in the fourth quarter of games when you've got leads," he says, adding, "The number one thing is to do a better job on first down, which will allow you to get an opportunity to rush the passer more on second and third down."

Safety Kerry Rhodes warns that New York cannot afford to overlook Buffalo because of the presence of offensive talent such as wide receivers Terrell Owens and Lee Evans and running back Marshawn Lynch.

"They haven't been doing a good job of scoring," Rhodes says. "They have weapons, so you have to be aware of that and make sure you're not the team that they break out on."

Enlarge By Bill Feig, AP "We've got to get into a situation where it allows you to pin your ears back and rush the passer..." Jets head coach Rex Ryan says. "The number one thing is to do a better job on first down, which will allow you to get an opportunity to rush the passer more on second and third down."