A the beginning of the season, I believed that both the 6-5 New York Jets and 7-4 Oakland Raiders would go deep into the playoffs. Both teams suffered through four-game losing streaks. Both teams were playing poorly. But these last few weeks are proof that in the end, talent and good coaching prevail in a 16-game season. The Jets and Raiders are now back on track -- making this a huge matchup on Monday night.

Five keys for the Jets
1. Offensive balance: The Jets must maintain a good run-pass ratio. By staying on the field, the green and white can wear down the Raiders defense.

2. Coles must beat Tory James: Laveranues Coles is one of the fastest guys in the NFL. With 738 yards and three touchdowns this season, Coles is playing very well and is becoming one of Pennington's go-to guys. The Jets should be able to sustain offense by moving the ball and controlling the clock. But they'll also need to be explosive with a few big plays of 20-plus yards. They need to get the ball to Coles, who has a lot more speed than Tory James, and try and exploit that matchup.

3. Velcro Secondary: When Rich Gannon leaves the pocket, he does a great job of allowing his receivers to uncover -- so, you must stick with you guy. The Jets need tight man-to-man in their secondary. They must have a Velcro-like game when Gannon leaves the pocket.

4. Pressure Gannon: The Jets will want to get players in Gannon's face as quickly as possible and force him to move. Off the edges, look for defensive end John Abraham to create that pressure.

5. Win Time of Possession: The Raiders' offense has been brilliant all season -- no one has stopped them. So, the only way to stop them is by keeping them on the sidelines. The Jets must win the time of possession battle.

Five keys for the Raiders
1. Attack the two-deep zone: Attack the Jets predominant two-deep zone in the middle, out of base formation -- two wide receivers, one tight end and two backs. This will allow opportunity for Charlie Garner out of the backfield to get down the middle of the field, matched against a linebacker.

2. Disrupt Pennington's timing: Chad Pennington loves to throw timing routes. The Raiders must breakdown the timing between Pennington and his wide receivers. To do that, they'll need to get a good jam on them at the line of scrimmage and play tight, man-to-man, bump-and-run coverage on the Jets wide receivers.

3. Offensive Balance: Oakland is definitely a passing team. But the Jets are particularly vulnerable to the run, giving up 4.9 yards per rush this season. The Raiders can not abandon the running game. They must commit to the run and balance out their offense.

4. Protect Gannon: The Jets' defense likes to play five underneath and two deep. The best way to attack them is by throwing deep to the middle and/or deep to the outside. However, the quarterback needs time for those plays to develop. Ff Gannon has time he can exploit that coverage scheme.

5. Pass-Rush Pressure up the middle: Don't let Pennington get comfortable in the pocket. He's a step-and-throw quarterback -- he plants his back foot, steps, and then throws. On a quarterback like Pennington, if you can pressure him up the middle and not allow him to step and follow through, you can create problems for him.

Ron Jaworski covers the NFL for ESPN.