DETROIT – The Lions should be no different to the Jets today than the Dolphins were a week ago or the Chargers were two weeks ago.

The Lions can put an end to the Jets’ playoff hopes with a win, just like the Chargers could have and just like the Dolphins could have.

The only difference between today’s game at Ford Field and the Jets’ last two opponents lies in the teams’ respective records and their places in the standings.

The Chargers were 6-1 and atop the AFC West at the time the Jets limped into San Diego. The Dolphins were 5-3, leading the AFC East and already owners of a 30-3 win over the Jets earlier in the season.

Those two opponents had the Jets’ attention in a big way.

The Lions represent a much different dynamic. They’re 3-6, coming off a 40-14 blowout loss in Green Bay and they’re breaking in a rookie starting quarterback.

That, however, shouldn’t give the 4-5 Jets a shred of comfort, because they’re not good enough to beat any team in the NFL unless they’re at their best.

Chad Pennington put it best the other day when he said, “The reality is they’re 3-6 and we’re 4-5, so we’re just one game away from being 3-6. There’s not too much difference there.”

During the week leading up to this game, the players in the Jets’ locker room said all the right things about how they’ll be just as focused against the Lions as they were against San Diego and Miami.

Today, beginning with the 4:15 p.m. kickoff, they need to show it. They need to show that human nature didn’t get the best of them.

“We go into this game like it’s a playoff game,” Jets TE Anthony Becht said. “We have to. Out of the last two games, this is the key game.”

Why?

“It can get us back to .500,” Becht said. “Detroit is playing decent, hanging in with everyone. I don’t think there’s going to be a letdown. We’re 4-5. We don’t have a winning record either, so we’ve got to go in there and play hard and fight for four quarters to win.”

The Lions, indeed, are a bit of a mirage. They truly represent a trap game, because they’re a team that belies its record.

They’re 3-1 at home. Three of their six losses have come by seven points or fewer. And Joey Harrington, Detroit’s No. 1 draft pick quarterback, has injected life into the Lions with his energy, enthusiasm and ability to make plays on the run.

The Jets, though, have a few things going for them as well.

They’ve won two games in a row, both against first-place teams. They’ve won three of their last four games to climb back into the race for a postseason berth and are only one game out of first place in the AFC East. And they, too, have been energized by a young quarterback in the wake of Pennington’s rapid development

Here’s another underlying factor in the Jets’ favor: They’re 9-3 in road games since Herman Edwards took over as head coach.

Edwards has been doing everything he can to keep the gas pedal down and emphasize to his players that, because of their poor start (1-4 and 2-5) they have no breathing room.

“Well, we won two,” Edwards said to a question about whether his team has “turned the corner” on the season. “That’s a good sign. We hadn’t done that since last year. There’s a lot of football left for us. What we have to do is keep the sense of urgency and continue to play like [the way they’ve played the last two games].

‘”If you do that, you have a chance to win some games.”

The Jets have made vast improvements since their awful start. After allowing an average of 32.5 ppg in the first five games, they’ve allowed an average of only 13.5 the last four. After allowing an average of 190.8 rushing yards per game in the first five games, they’ve cut it to 67.5 in the last four.

Those factors, along with the fact that Pennington is playing with the poise and leadership of a quarterback with years more experience, have rebooted the Jets’ season.

Today simply provides a different kind of test. We’ll see if the players got the message this week.