It's mid-October. Fall. A time for death. So on Sunday afternoon, while sitting in the press box at Giants Stadium, I was fully expecting the Jets' six-game winning steak against the Dolphins to finally end.

Over my right shoulder, there was a TV tuned to the A's-Yankees game in Oakland. Gotta admit, I was fully expecting the Yankees' three-year reign over baseball to become a thing of the past as well.

At 4:35 p.m., it's dark and overcast in the Meadowlands when Lamar Smith scores on a 14-yard screen pass to put the Dolphins up 7-0. Three thousand miles away, it's a bright, sunshiny day in Oakland as the two teams take the field.

At 4:52, the Dolphins' Travis Minor takes one to the house from 29 yards out, while Derek Jeter gets thrown out trying to steal second. Weather aside, it looks pretty bleak in both places.

At 5:21, the Jets trail the Dolphins 17-0 at halftime, while the Yankees and A's are scoreless in the second inning.

At 5:40, Jets receiver Laveranues Coles scores on a 22-yard TD pass. Then five minutes later, after a Lamar Smith fumble, Curtis Martin scores from 27 yards out to make it 17-14. While this is taking place, Bernie Williams gives the Yanks a 1-0 lead.

At 5:56, Martin goes over 100 yards for the day and the Yankees go up 4-0. But at 6:11, John Hall comes up short on a 40-yard field goal just as Jason Giambi steps to the plate. Uh-oh.

At 6:23, Coles scores on a 25-yard TD pass to put the Jets up 21-17. Oh yeah, Oakland scored two runs to make it a 4-2 Yankee lead.

At 6:55, Jets LB Marvin Jones picks off a deflected Jay Fiedler pass in the end zone. Jets win. But I have to attend Jets coach Herman Edwards' press conference, so I had to wait until I got home to find out the Yanks had evened their series with a 9-2 win.

It was fitting that Monday was a beautiful, sun-drenched day in New York. And at 11:47 p.m. Monday night, when Mariano Rivera struck out Eric Byrnes on a 2-2 count, it was official. The Jets' dominance over the Dolphins and the Yankees' dominance over baseball were both still intact.

In New York this fall, October just might be a time for life.

E-mail Alan Grant at alan.grant@espnmag.com.