"Jets special teamer Wallace Wright doesn't care who wins the coin toss before Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game. As long as the Jets kick off.

Wright will be looking for 43, the uniform number of Darren Sproles, the Chargers' electric return man.

"Absolutely," he said. "On this big stage, oh yeah."

"I know we've had Leon (Washington) back there and Brad (Smith) now. I know they can run touchdowns back at any time, but when I'm ready to go, I want to hit somebody. Kickoff, that sets the tone. When you kick off and the other team doesn't get anything, that sets the tone for the game."

In this case, special teams might even win - or lose - the game. The Chargers special teams have elite players across the board - Sproles, punter Mike Scifres, kicker Nate Kaeding and Pro Bowl gunner Kassim Osgood. And after the Jets' coverage teams were less than stellar against the Bengals, Rex Ryan called out his special teams during Wednesday's team meetings.

"We've got to step up our game," Ryan said yesterday. "We have too much talent to let people be bringing the ball to our 50 and past, you know what I mean - in our territory on our kicks? That doesn't make any sense."

The Bengals' shifty Bernard Scott brought the opening kickoff of last week's wild-card game back 56 yards to the Jets' 36. The week before, Scott had a 53-yard return against the Jets. Special teams coach Mike Westhoff said the Jets had an unblocked man in the middle of the field and missed the tackle both times.

"Yeah, we've got to make a play," Westhoff said yesterday. "They didn't tackle him. What do you want me to tell you? If they tackled him the ball would have been on the 24-yard line. You've got to make the tackle. He didn't make it. Those things happen sometimes.""