FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Brett Favre and the New York Jets stand alone atop the tight AFC East standings — barely.

Jay Feely kicked a 34-yard field goal on the only series of overtime after New England tied the game on Matt Cassel's pass to Randy Moss with one second left in regulation and the Jets survived a Tom Brady-like comeback with a 34-31 victory last night.

The win broke a tie for the division lead between the teams and gave the Jets (7-3) sole possession of first place for the first time since Nov. 19, 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Patriots (6-4) have won the AFC East the past five seasons and six of the past seven.

New England "had all the momentum," said Favre, who threw two touchdown passes and directed the winning drive. "Based on history, you would have bet against us. This says a lot about our team."

The Jets, who led 24-6 in the first half, extended their winning streak to four with their sixth victory in seven games and are 1 1/2 games ahead of Buffalo and Miami in the division. They beat the Patriots for only the second time in 13 games.

"It's a great, great feeling for us," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "Everybody understands that this game was extremely important, and it's important because it allows us to make the next game (against Tennessee) extremely important. It's a really positive step for our team."

The loss wasted a brilliant performance by Cassel, whose first pro start after Brady's season-ending knee injury in the opener came in a 19-10 win over the Jets. Cassel completed 30 of 51 passes for 400 yards, all career highs, and three touchdowns. He ran eight times for 62 yards, sixth-most in team history for a quarterback and the most since Steve Grogan ran for 65 in consecutive games in 1978.

"It's not enough," Cassel said.

The Patriots got the tying touchdown on Cassel's 16-yard pass on fourth down. Moss' diving sideline catch was reviewed when he was pushed out of bounds by cornerback Ty Law, but the touchdown stood.

New England had marched to Moss' touchdown from its 38-yard line with no timeouts and 1:04 left

Stephen Gostkowski's extra point tied it and erased a 31-24 lead the Jets had taken on Thomas Jones' 1-yard touchdown run with 3:10 left.

"I don't know what their record was in overtime," Mangini said, "but I'm sure they've been pretty successful."

Favre made his 263rd consecutive regular-season start, an NFL record, and went 26-of-33 for 258 yards and, on the only drive of overtime, marched the Jets 64 yards on 14 plays in 7:50. His 16-yard pass to Laveranues Coles brought the ball to the Patriots' 24-yard line, three running plays moved it to the 16 and Feely connected for his second field goal of the game — giving Favre his 42nd win in games his team trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter.

"I was nervous as heck" heading into overtime, Favre said. "I said, 'Why can't we make this easy?' But it's what I'm capable of doing."

ELSEWHERE

Chargers: San Diego wide receiver Chris Chambers went through his first full practice since spraining his ankle Oct. 5. and coach Norv Turner said Chambers should play Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Chambers, who came over from Miami last year in a midseason trade, played in the Chargers' win Sunday over the Chiefs, but his injured ankle didn't allow him to start and he didn't have any receptions.

49ers: Frank Gore thought he had a concussion. The San Francisco 49ers say their star running back is just confused.

Gore, the NFL's sixth-leading rusher with 728 yards and four touchdowns, missed his second straight practice yesterday. Although he still expects to play against the St. Louis Rams this weekend, he hasn't recovered from a painfully strained neck in Monday night's loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Raiders: Oakland wide receiver Javon Walker is scheduled to undergo ankle surgery and likely will miss the remainder of the season.

No official announcement was made and interim coach Tom Cable did not mention it during his daily meeting with the media, but Walker told reporters yesterday that his season is over after injuring his left ankle during Oakland's 17-6 loss to Carolina last Sunday.

Rams: Steven Jackson's optimism after a full day of practice faded yesterday when the St. Louis Rams running back woke up and his thigh was stiff and sore.

After Jackson watched practice in sweats, coach Jim Haslett figured the Rams would be without their feature back for the third time in four weeks. "I doubt if we'll have him, to be honest," Haslett said. "But we'll see. You never know."