And Favre never saw him.

Favre instead threw short left for Thomas Jones, and got nothing.

Now it was fourth-and-1, and Favre went for it. And he found Brad Smith deep right for 29 yards.

Except an illegal shift penalty brought it back, and the Jets punted.

For sure, the Messiah quarterback of the Jets (9-for-12, 96 yards) titillated Giants Stadium with some wondrous Namathian throws last night against the Giants. But with Chad Pennington and the Dolphins alarmingly two weeks away, this is the only way to sum up the current state of the Jets' offense: Favre from perfect.

"You can't win making those type of mistakes and that's all of us," he said.

The icon quarterback of the Jets played the first half before giving way to Kellen Clemens. The score when he left, 0-0, is damning commentary on both offenses, but at least coach Tom Coughlin and Giants fans no longer have to fret so much about Eli Manning (10-for-17, 113 yards), the Super Bowl XLII MVP. He knows the playbook and he knows the name of everyone in his huddle.

Favre is Favre from perfect on both counts.

Jets coach Eric Mangini should absolutely let him play another half in the preseason finale against the Eagles. He's Brett Favre, he never gets hurt, right? He needs to play, and he needs to play with Laveranues Coles before the real bullets start flying.

Both Mangini and Favre said they were open to the quarterback playing in the preseason finale.

"I would love to play, but I would have said it every year," Favre said. "In this case, it would be easily justifiable to say 'play a series.' "

Of course, a running game and fewer mental errors around him would help.

Favre reached back into his past for one of his vintage Hall of Fame throws late in the second quarter when he uncorked a whistling Joba Chamberlain-like fastball that will defy any swirling wind East Rutherford can offer, and hit Jerricho Cotchery in stride past Kevin Dockery for a 49-yard touchdown.

Except that TE Bubba Franks had stepped off the line of scrimmage for an illegal formation penalty.

Please note that of Favre's nine completions, five went for six yards or less. Favre's rusty 38-year-old body stood up to Big Blue's physicality. Favre rolled right on the first series - a three-and-out - and was sacked by Justin Tuck. His 38-year-old legs scrambled right for eight yards and a first down early in the second quarter before Chase Blackburn tackled him as he headed out of bounds.

Favre-to-Cotchery combined for a 30-yard completion before 4, out of the shotgun on third-and-7, threw high for Cotchery. Favre was encouraged by the offense's potential. "I felt more at ease in the huddle; I felt more at ease on the field; I felt more like myself," Favre said.

At least he survived, because it was on this very play that Osi Umenyiora stumbled as he was pushed wide by LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson and had to be helped to the sidelines. A few minutes later, with 10:37 left in the first half, Umenyiora hobbled onto a cart for the ride to the X-ray room. The Giants exhaled when X-rays were negative on his knee.

Other observations:

Manning misses Plaxico Burress (and Jeremy Shockey) as much as Favre misses Coles.

Brandon Jacobs (6-26) looks better than Thomas Jones (6-11). Jacobs did his raging bull thing by bouncing outside for a 20-yard gain in the first quarter. The screen pass to Leon Washington, however, has a chance to be a Lethal Weapon. Jones didn't show much explosiveness.