EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — His bones and ligaments barking, his throwing arm hanging like a wet towel from a hook, Brett Favre paused as he inspected the mesh bag on the floor of his locker room stall.

He was debating whether to ask his 39-year-old body to bend over and pick it up. Finally, Favre planted his right hand on the back of a chair, gripped it for full support and lowered himself as slowly and carefully as an octogenarian would when feeding a pigeon in the park.

Favre grabbed the bag and then hobbled off to the showers, where he couldn't wash away one of the longest weeks of his historically long career.

This 282d consecutive start left him a physical wreck, left him one touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles away from the kind of epiphany he never wanted to blitz from the blind side.

If the Jets lost to the 1-5 Chiefs, Favre surely would've concluded that this was a terrible mistake, this decision to put his epic career in the hands of a franchise that hadn't won a title since Joe Namath and the '68 Jets looked a lot younger than they did at halftime.

Favre was beaten up in this game far more than he was last week over that quarterback sneak he ran on the Packers through Detroit. For much of the day, Favre wasn't even the best No. 4 on the field.

Tyler Thigpen, third-string quarterback on a second-rate team, had the hot hand while Favre was throwing three interceptions, including the one Brandon Flowers returned 91 yards for a touchdown to give the Chiefs a 24-21 lead.

Only sheer luck prevented Favre from serving up a 90-yard interception return in the third quarter, when Kansas City's Derrick Johnson dropped a pass from the Jets' quarterback that hit him in the breadbasket.

Leon Washington kept saving Favre, making like Gale Sayers one minute, Barry Sanders the next. Herm Edwards offered his share of help, too. True to form, Mr. You Play To Win The Game played not to lose it in the closing minutes, when a first down or two could've sealed the upset.

"We came out and ran three running plays," said the Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez, "something we didn't do all game. ... Then you put the ball in Brett Favre's hands at the end of the game. I don't care how he played all game, you just don't want that."

On the home team's sideline, with Favre staring down the barrel of a 6-10 season, his teammate from Green Bay, Bubba Franks, gave him a pep talk. "Just keep slinging it, kid," Franks told him.

It was easier said than done. Favre had been booed more than once, officially marking the end of his honeymoon. His error-ridden play started sending fans to the parking lots early in the fourth quarter; they apparently wanted to get home to watch Eli beat Big Ben.

Favre had thrown seven interceptions in three games. He had just come off that ghastly loss in Oakland, and several times he was seen gingerly holding his right arm, almost as if it were broken, after Alan Faneca appeared to crash-land on it in the first quarter.

Kellen Clemens even was asked to warm up in the pen. "Hey, I was ready to go in; I was getting loose," Clemens later told Favre. "You're one tough joker."

"Nah," Favre responded. "I don't know if it's tough or stupid. Maybe a combination of both."

After Edwards' play-calling and Washington's electric return ability gave him one last shot, Favre decided he was done making the Chiefs' rookie corners look like a pair of Night Train Lanes.

"I knew one thing," he said. "I'd go down swinging."

Favre also knew that he'd throw to Coles if he saw the Chiefs defend him with single coverage. On second-and-5 from the Kansas City 15, Favre saw Coles on the left flank, alone with Dimitri Patterson. The quarterback correctly guessed that Patterson would play the fade pattern aggressively, and he intentionally threw the ball behind his receiver with one minute left.

Concussed again just a week ago, Coles stopped short to make a hell of a touchdown catch. The receiver all but threw himself into the waiting arms of a quarterback he never wanted in Chad Pennington's place.

Favre paid a Pyrrhic price for the victory. His absorbed a series of direct hits and left a witness wondering if this high-priced offensive line has taken out an eight-figure insurance policy on his Canton-bound arm.

The quarterback also fired himself headfirst into a goal-line pile in an attempt to push Thomas Jones into the end zone.

"Every time you get hit," Favre said, "I don't find anything good that comes out of it, whether it be the arm, ribs, back, knees, feet, what else?

"But for the most part I still feel like I can throw with the best of them. I don't feel like I throw as well as I did 10 years ago, but I still would put it up there with the top guys in the league. I assume that I can take hits like that all year long. I may be kidding myself."

Favre shrugged off the booing and said he'd heard it in Green Bay. But it wasn't a fun week. Favre was roasted for giving the Lions inside information before they played Green Bay, and his wife Deanna responded by standing by her man on the Internet, blogging that Brett hadn't betrayed the Packers and that the criticism had taken a heavy toll on him.

Favre looked as old as Namath did Sunday, and now the schedule gets rough and tough. "We're all pulling for this team and we want to see them get to the Super Bowl," Namath said before the '68 Jets were honored at midfield.

Favre isn't making any Joe Willie guarantees, not as a battered 4-3 quarterback who was one underthrown pass away from oblivion.

So mark down Sunday as Favre's great escape, and one that had the unmistakable feel of a temporary reprieve.