Tom E. Curran • E-mail

A very bad 2008 for Brett Favre (football-wise) has the potential to get even worse Sunday.

The legend, the icon, the mythological gunslingin’, butt-slappin’, MVP-winnin’ greatest quarterback in NFL history (to some) is about to get Buster Douglassed by Chad Pennington.

This little game Sunday between Favre’s Jets and Pennington’s Miami Dolphins? The one that will basically decide the AFC East?

Despite what you’ll hear, this is not the kind of game for which the Jets brought Favre to New York.

Playoff games, conference championships, Super Bowls. That’s why he was imported. Not so that — on the season's final weekend — the Jets would be looking up at a Miami team that was 1-15 last year. Or, for that matter, a New England Patriots team that played almost the entire season without Tom Brady.

The Jets' braintrust of GM Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Eric Mangini didn’t jettison Pennington and bring in Favre as the cherry on top of their offseason sundae for, for … this!

But here are the Jets, 9-6 after an 8-3 start. The lone win in their last four being a pennies from heaven job against Buffalo.

The Legend has thrown six picks and a touchdown in the last four games. Not the kind of finishing kick he’s supposed to bring.

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And then there’s Pennington. Drafted by New York in 2000, he was sanctified and vilified during his tenure. He's a player whose on-field strengths are accuracy, measured decision-making and off the field are selflessness and stoicism. Still, he and his noodle-arm were sent by packing by Tannenbaum when Favre came to town. And Favre’s game and persona are — to be sure — the polar opposite of Pennington’s.

You’ll hear a lot of people hype the game, “It duddn’t git any better than this!” Yeah, well, not for the Jets. This is the worst-case scenario. Lose and Miami wins the AFC East. Win and, quite likely, the hated New England Patriots will win the AFC East.

Even though Mangini said that Pennington and Favre, “Aren't in a cage match (on Sunday),” the fact is that one of them will treat it as such. For a win Sunday, Pennington would roll naked on broken glass.

He gave a lot to the Jets. And even if he didn’t have Favre's natural talent, he’s every bit the tough guy/great teammate Favre’s been built up to be. And New York showed him the door. As Miami teammate Vonnie Holliday said earlier this week, that hurt Pennington’s pride.

Now he’s poised to get his revenge. Not so much on Favre, but on the Jets team that jilted him.