(admit it, you had to flip a coin to decide)

Most of those lucky enough to watch the Jets’ 34-31 OT defeat of the Patriots last night considered the contest a playoff-caliber collision between two AFC East rivals, if not a season-defining moment for the victors.  To the South Coast Today’s David Brown, however, said event was an occasion to declare “Thursday Night Football is stupid.”

The league and the New England Patriots conspired to outshine a typically fantastic night of prime-time programming on Thursday when Randy Moss snared a game-tying touchdown pass with one second to spare in regulation.

Other things you could have been watching during this game? The Office, Survivor, CSI and ER. After a first half in which the Jets compiled 201 yards of offense, scored on a 92-yard kickoff return and built a 24-6 lead, each of those seemed preferable to the drama-free program on your TV set.

It was Ugly Betty minus the models.

The game appeared over at exactly 9:30 p.m., when the Jets, up 18 with 2:33 remaining in the first half, sacked Matt Cassel on a fourth-and-3 at New York’s 23-yard line. If you flipped over to NBC to watch 30 Rock, you’re excused.

Grey’s Anatomy probably had fewer patients than the Patriots did Thursday night. New England had to go without linebacker Adalius Thomas (reportedly broken forearm) and defensive Ty Warren (groin), among others. It was the first time the defense appeared to operate in a diminished capacity during this season-long spate of injuries.

I suspect that most persons with the NFL Network as part of their cable or satellite package also have a DVR of some type. Just in case, y’know, they wanted to watch last night’s Nuggets/Cavs game and Harvey Keitel doing a somewhat passable Harvey Keitel impersonation on the US edition of “Life On Mars”.