Curl, a veteran of 36 years of coaching, was charged this season with cleaning up an area in which Edwards acknowledged his teams have sometimes come up woefully short: clock management. 

Misspent timeouts and poorly orchestrated drives at the end of each half occurred with alarming frequency in recent years. So Edwards turned to Curl, a longtime offensive coordinator and a former head coach for N.F.L. Europe's Frankfurt Galaxy. 

On game days, Curl, a grandfather of 11 whose white hair is unmistakable along the Jets' bench, is assigned to cut through the chaos on the sideline and get situational information to Edwards. How many timeouts are left? How many plays are needed to run out the clock? How many yards are needed to get into field-goal position? 

''I just sort of mosey over to him and say, 'This may be four-down territory,' or, 'If we get a field goal here, we're O.K.,''' Curl, the Jets' former tight ends coach, said. 

Last Monday night, Edwards and his clock guru faced perhaps their toughest test this season. 

Leading Miami by 14-7, the Jets took possession of the ball at their 30, needing about 40 yards in the final 20 seconds before halftime to attempt a field goal. 

It was exactly the kind of situation in which the Jets have often failed. 

Although the drive had little effect on the final result, a 41-14 blowout, it might have been a subtle sign of how much the Jets (6-1) have progressed this season under Edwards after their sluggish starts the last few seasons. 

In a sign of Edwards's confidence in his young team, he said there was little hesitation about trying to add to the lead before halftime. 

''I said, 'Let's try to do this,''' he recalled.

 

 

 

 

GOOD GAWD IS THIS FRANCHISE CRUEL!!!!!!!!:lol: