(Sports Network) - Looking ahead in the National Football League is a dangerous thing indeed.

For proof of that fact, ask the Redskins and Giants how those games against the lowly Rams and Browns, respectively, went this past weekend.

But the temptation is nigh-on-impossible for fans to resist, and now that the New York Jets (3-2) have won a couple in a row including Sunday's 26-14 triumph over the Bengals, you can currently find a large number of Gang Green supporters checking out the upcoming slate.

In three of their next four contests, the Jets should be heavy favorites.

This Sunday's trip to Oakland will see Eric Mangini's club take on a 1-4 Raiders team that plays in something called the Black Hole, also an accurate description of the place in the league hierarchy where the once-proud organization now resides. If the blossoming Jets defense can force JaMarcus Russell into a couple of his usual mistakes, New York will fly home to North Jersey as a happy bunch.

Beyond that is a home date with Herm Edwards and the Kansas City Chiefs (1-4), a team on any NFL observer's short list of the worst clubs in football. Road wins against quality opponents do not look to be in the Chiefs' near future.

The toughest outing of the four-game stretch comes next, when the Jets must travel upstate to Buffalo (4-1). The Bills have been among the top surprises in football, and are probably circling the Jets game as a potential victory as well. But, noting how the Raiders and Rams have offered Buffalo stiff tests and the Cardinals blew the Bills out, that game is certainly winnable for Brett Favre and company if the Jets play well.

Should they get by the Bills, the next game is a home date with St. Louis, which won't often scratch and claw its way to wins the way it did against a surprised Washington team this past Sunday.

Thus, while the path to 7-2 is not exactly devoid of obstacles, it's a navigable one for a franchise on the cusp of completely elbowing last year's 4-12 debacle out of the frame.

Moreover, while a 6-3 or even 5-4 record after nine games would not be the end of the world for New York, the Jets had better take care of business while they can, because the schedule begins to get a lot tougher after game number nine.

Following the Rams tilt, the Jets will play a brutal three-game stretch at the Patriots in primetime (11/13), at currently unbeaten Tennessee (11/23), and at home against a high-octane Denver team that looks intent on reaching the postseason (11/30).

If Mangini's crew can get to Foxboro in mid-November at 7-2, the Patriots will be facing something of a relaxed, first-place opponent that is brimming with confidence and looking to build toward the postseason.

And though that would be a nice place to be, you won't hear any member of the Jets publicly discussing anything beyond the next practice session.

Fullback Tony Richardson summed up the mentality of the Jets locker room.

"The National Football League is about today, it's about tomorrow and it's about the upcoming game," said Richardson. "That's the only thing that we can control. We are going to be out there practicing Wednesday and Thursday and fly out to Oakland and get ready to play a hungry football team. That's the only thing that we have under control. We can't say, 'We want to be here at this point.' That's out of our control. We just have to lean on the veteran leaders on our team and our coaching staff, and we'll be fine."

BILLS: The biggest story for the Bills during their bye week was the aching head of quarterback Trent Edwards, who was knocked out of the team's 41-17 loss at Arizona in Week 5 with a concussion delivered on a hit by Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson.

Edwards did not practice during the team's bye week, leading to concern that J.P. Losman could be pressed into starting service in a key matchup with the San Diego Chargers this Sunday.

But Edwards was back at practice on Monday, and declared his intention to be on the field six days later.

"I came in here today and met with [the Bills medical staff] this morning and [they said] we're going to give it a go today, there's no reason to hold you back," said Edwards. "I was feeling pretty good today at practice. We still need to work some kinks out, work some things out, but for the most part, I thought it was a good practice."

Edwards helped lead the Bills to fourth-quarter comebacks in three of their four wins this year, and it is perhaps not coincidental that their weakest outing of the year came against the Cardinals, who knocked the quarterback out on the third play from scrimmage and forced Losman into three turnovers in the eventual rout.

For the year, Edwards is completing a healthy 66.4 percent of his passes and has an impressive 93.9 passer rating.

Wilson was fined $25,000 for the hit by the National Football League.

Also for the Bills, wide receiver/return man Roscoe Parrish (thumb) is expected to be back in the lineup.

DOLPHINS: Folks in NFL circles have been talking a lot about the "Wildcat" formation, which helped Miami to big wins over New England and San Diego and nearly produced a third this past Sunday when the Dolphins failed to hold on in a 29-28 loss to the Texans.

But it stands to reason that few would be discussing the Fins' renaissance if it wasn't for the play of quarterback Chad Pennington, who has quietly been the team's most consistent signal-caller since at least the days of Jay Fiedler.

Over his past three games, the Jets castoff has completed 58-of-74 passes (78.4 percent) totaling 738 yards with three touchdowns and just one interception. Pennington's passer rating has topped 100 in each of those three games, including a season-best 122.7 against the Texans.

Remember, too, that Pennington didn't even begin learning the Miami offense until well into August, when he was the odd man out in the deal that brought Brett Favre to New York.

And, unlike Favre, Pennington didn't have a lot of proven complements in either the receiving corps or along the offensive line, but has managed to get by with guys like the formerly anonymous Greg Camarillo (21 receptions, 263 yards, 1 TD) and the tight end tandem of Anthony Fasano (15 receptions, 209 yards, 2 TD) and David Martin (12 receptions, 162 yards, 1 TD).

Even Ted Ginn, Jr. (16 receptions, 129 yards), the lamented former first-round pick, has begun finding an identity with Pennington at the controls.

"Honestly, I haven't been around [such efficiency]," said head coach Tony Sparano of Pennington. "And I've been around some good quarterbacks, but he throws the ball very efficient. I knew he would give us a chance with his location, to catch the ball, to run with the ball after the catch, those types of things. Just his decision making process I think, and the way he's delivering the ball has been tremendous."

PATRIOTS: The last meaningful streak is over for the New England Patriots.

New England carried a 12-game run of regular season road wins into Sunday night's tilt at the San Diego Chargers, the second-longest such streak in NFL history behind the 18 consecutive away tilts won by the San Francisco 49ers of 1988-90.

The Chargers paid little respect to the streak in a thorough 30-10 pounding.

"There were a handful of plays that caused us a lot of trouble and unfortunately, it very much overrode the other plays, which we were competitive on," said head coach Bill Belichick on Monday. "That is really the story of the game, other than the kicking game, where we really didn't do much to help ourselves field position-wise like we have in some many other games this year. Offensively and defensively it was a few plays that if we had played a little better, the game would have been more competitive."

The winning streak wasn't the only positive Pats mark that went up in flames on Sunday.

-New England also saw its run of October wins end at 11, dating back to a 28-20 loss at the Denver Broncos on Oct. 16, 2005. Coincidentally, the Patriots will be trying to start a new October streak when Denver visits Gillette Stadium this Monday.

-Kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who had nailed 17 consecutive regular season field goals since missing against the Steelers last Dec. 9th, missed on a 48-yard try in the first quarter. Gostkowski later started a new streak on a 47-yard kick in the second quarter, and made his only extra point try.