New Yorkers buzzing about a possible Giants-Jets Super Bowl

Photo credit: Urbanite

Leon Washington scored two touchdowns yesterday in the Jets’ 34-13 blowout win over the Titans. (Photo by Getty Images)

By Ryan Chatelain and Aline E. Reynolds

The Jets yesterday did what no team in the NFL has been able to do since the start of the football season nearly three months ago: They handily beat the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans, leaving no doubt in the minds of New Yorkers that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

And with Gotham’s two football teams on a roll, New Yorkers are buzzing about the possibility of a Big Blue-Gang Green matchup in Super Bowl XLIII.

“It would be great for the city,” said Ian Wallach, 26, of Murray Hill, a Jets fan watching the game at Stout, a sports bar in midtown. “You’re guaranteed a huge party, whoever wins.”With a 34-13 victory yesterday over the team that has the best record in the league, the Jets improved their mark to 8-3 — tied for second-best in the AFC.

“After this, we should look at ourselves as a great team,” veteran Jets cornerback Ty Law said after yesterday’s game.

The defending world champion Giants yesterday also trounced their opponents, the Arizona Cardinals, 37-29, despite stars Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress missing all or most of the game with injuries. At 10-1, the Giants have the best record in the NFC and have a three-game lead in the NFC East division.

While teams from the same state have faced off in Super Bowls twice before — including the Giants’ win over the Buffalo Bills in 1991 — never has there been a showdown between franchises from the same city in the NFL’s championship event.

“We’ve been through enough with the economy,” said Jessica Sattler, 30, of Manhattan. An all-New York Super Bowl “would be a good boost for the city,” she added.

The talk has evoked memories of and comparisons to the 2000 Subway Series, in which the Yankees defeated the Mets for baseball’s world title.

While some sports fans said a cross-town World Series trumps a Giants-Jets Super Bowl, Wallach disagreed.

“The Super Bowl is one game, one event. That adds to the importance and the hype,” he said.

Not everybody was convinced, however, that a Giants-Jets clash was likely.

“I think one of the two teams will falter before the Super Bowl,” said Keith O’Brien, 29, a Jets fan from Greenpoint.

Newsday contributed to this story.

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