Puzzling New York news: Super calendar! Rex Ryan maps out New York Jets' next month, from San Diego to ...

New York

BY Rich Cimini

dAILY NEWS SPORtS WRITER

Monday, January 11th 2010, 4:00 AM

Jets set for San Diego

Will the Jets beat the Chargers in the AFC divisional round?

The Jets' charter flight home from Cincinnati was decorated with green and white balloons, streamers and congratulatory poster boards. A nice touch, for sure, but nothing compared to what Rex Ryan has in mind for Feb. 9.

A Super Bowl victory parade up the Canyon of Heroes.

Ryan distributed a postseason calendar last week to the team, marked with the dates of everything from the wild-card game to the Super Bowl to the parade. He took that presumptuous step because he wants the players to visualize the journey, from the first game to the ticker tape.

"If you're not man enough or have enough faith in your team to put it on the schedule, you wouldn't," Ryan said Sunday. "But we do. We feel we have an outstanding chance. We feel we have an excellent football team. We're not ashamed of the fact that I believe it can happen."

The Jets' 24-14 victory over the Bengals was "a giant step forward," according to Ryan, but the road to the confetti blizzard is about to get a lot tougher. They're heading to San Diego for a Sunday afternoon showdown against the Chargers (13-3) in the AFC divisional playoffs.

The Jets avoided a rematch with the top-seeded Colts, thanks to the Ravens' upset of the Patriots, but they hardly consider it a lucky break. The Chargers are the hottest team in the league, having won 11 straight, and they haven't been held under 20 points in any game. Their last loss was Oct. 19 to the Broncos, 34-23.

Ryan's top-ranked defense will face a big-play offense led by Philip Rivers, who has passed for 4,254 yards, 28 touchdowns and only nine interceptions.

If you think Ryan is intimidated, you haven't been paying attention for the past 12 months.

"The reality is, if we win three games, we're the world champions," Ryan said. "It's so close you can almost taste it."

If the fifth-seeded Jets stun the Chargers, which would be one of the biggest upsets in team history, they would face the Colts-Ravens winner in the AFC Championship Game. It will be at the Meadowlands if Ryan's former team, the Ravens (the No. 6 seed), knocks off the Colts in the other divisional game.

And you thought the old stadium was history. Maybe not yet.

If it's the Colts, the Jets will get a chance to prove their upset two weeks ago wasn't a Curtis Painter-induced fluke.

But first the Jets have to figure out a way to stop the Chargers, who have three targets with at least 776 receiving yards - Vincent Jackson (1,167), tight end Antonio Gates (1,157) and Malcolm Floyd (776). They're coming off a bye week, so they will be well-rested.

The Jets won't be, but they do have plenty of their own momentum, having won six of seven. They also have a maturing Mark Sanchez to complement their league-leading ground attack. Sanchez, growing up before our eyes, has gone three straight games without a turnover.

"When our quarterback plays well," safety Jim Leonhard, "we feel like we have a great chance to beat anybody."

Ryan mapped out the postseason plan after the season-ending win over the Bengals. In Mangini World, it was always one week at a time. Maybe that's why, when they made the playoffs in 2006, it "was miserable," according to one player. "I know this sounds crazy, but some guys just wanted it to be over."

Ryan dares to dream big.

"Sometimes when you get in the playoffs, you think, ‘Okay, we're in the playoffs, but is it really reality to think we can win a Super Bowl?'" Ryan said. "When you lay it out in front of them, I think they can visualize it and realize, ‘Hey, man, we just take care of our business ... we can get this done.'"