HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- After six games this season, the New York Jets were a mediocre 3-3 and their defense was a lot worse -- the worst, actually, in the entire NFL. That would be No. 31 out of 31. Ugh.

	John Abraham's 9½ sacks have helped the Jets into first place in the AFC East.

"We were all like, 'Wow!' We didn't understand it," cornerback Aaron Glenn said Thursday at the Jets' complex. "How, with all the talent back there, are we last?"

"Not good -- we're terrible," defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell remembers thinking. "We were really struggling then."

"That was awful," said defensive end Shaun Ellis. "We were, like, missing tackles, and people were just running up and down the field on us."

There was the opening 45-24 loss at home against Indianapolis, then a horrific 19-17 Monday night loss to San Francisco -- again, at home -- in which Jets defenders missed no fewer than 18 (count 'em, 18) tackles. The 34-14 loss to St. Louis, the third home loss in four games, was particularly galling. Marshall Faulk's backup, Trung Canidate, ran for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns in the first start of his career.

"If I was never in that position before, then I probably would have panicked," said head coach Herman Edwards. "But I was in Tampa when we took the Tampa job with Tony (Dungy) and our defense was basically the same way in the beginning. We kept improving week after week, so we never panicked."

Edwards and Cottrell knew there would be a learning curve when they installed Edwards' Tampa Bay 4-3 defense -- but they never imagined how steep it would be. The Jets, after all, had been playing a Bill Parcells-inspired 3-4 for the previous three seasons, and the veteran players had grown comfortable in the scheme.

When Edwards watched film of the Jets after he took the job last January, he saw two quick, physical corners in Marcus Coleman and Aaron Glenn, active safeties in Victor Green and Damien Robinson and three fluid, agile linebackers: Mo Lewis, Marvin Jones and James Farrior. He liked what he saw, too, in second-year defensive linemen John Abraham and Ellis.

It just took a little while to come together.

Through those first six games, the front line was a mess. Steve Martin (the nose tackle, not the comedian) had been cut by the Kansas City Chiefs in training camp and was picked up before the first game. Abraham, the No. 13 pick in the 2000 draft, played in only six games as a rookie and was primarily a third-down pass-rusher. He struggled with his full-time role as a run-stopper first and a pass-rusher second. Ellis, the No. 12 pick in 2000, had 8½ sacks as a rookie, but the Jets asked him to bulk up in the offseason with the idea of making him a defensive tackle. He put on 25 pounds, all the way up to 305, but ultimately his quickness forced the coaches to switch him back to end. Left tackle Shane Burton, naturally, started all 16 games last year at defensive end.

The Jets allowed 154 points in those first six games, including 15 offensive touchdowns, and opponents averaged 167.5 yards on the ground. The turnaround over the last four games -- all victories -- has been nothing short of astonishing.

New York has allowed 28 points in those four games (seven coming on a fumble return against the offense), including just two offensive touchdowns. Opponents have rushed for only 94.5 yards per game, and the overall ranking has gone from No. 31 to a respectable No. 17. The Jets have a league-leading turnover net of plus-22; the Browns (plus-15) are the only other team in double digits.

	“	It took us six games to get our head right. We knew we had the athletes that could be a good defense. But a lot of times ... we might not have known exactly what to do. ”
		— John Abraham

"It took us six games to get our head right," said Abraham. "We knew we had the athletes that could be a good defense. But a lot of times we weren't just game-planning against teams, but we were more game-planning against ourselves, because a lot of times we might not have known exactly what to do."

Abraham and Ellis, who were called into Edward's office three days after the loss to the Rams for a mild admonishment, have responded and are clearly more comfortable at their positions. Abraham has seven sacks in the past four games and an AFC-leading total of 10 to go with a team-high four forced fumbles. Ellis has three sacks and two forced fumbles.

"I knew it was going to come sooner or later," Abraham said. "I knew I wasn't producing like I was supposed to. I knew he wasn't calling me in there to tell me we were doing a great job -- 'Hey, John, you're doing a great job.' "

Said Ellis, "He told us, 'You're not playing the way you were last year.' He challenged us, and we've been doing good since then."

There is another element to the Jets that doesn't show up in the bottom-line statistics: Aggression.

According to the players and Cottrell, the early-season Jets would digress when the going got tough. They fell back on their old habits, the free-lancing techniques that worked in the 3-4 but caused critical breakdowns in the 4-3. When several players -- notably Robinson -- approached Cottrell about turning them loose, the former Buffalo defensive coordinator laughed.

"Let's stop all of that mess right now," he told the players. "If you want me to do this, you better get your assignments correct. We'll play some more man and get you matched up if you cover the guy and don't let him run free and don't slip down or blow your assignment, or say, 'I thought he had him.' "

	Jets defenders Aaron Glenn, top, Marvin Jones, center, and Damien Robinson have turned the corner with their new scheme.

After the players made a sincere effort to buy into Cottrell's system, he has returned their faith by letting them play more to their strengths, which in turn has put enormous heat on opposing offenses. Quite often, Lewis finds himself a fifth pass rusher in Cottrell's Zone Dog. The corners are asked to play more man-to-man coverage and Green plays closer to the line of scrimmage in a manner reminiscent of Tampa Bay's John Lynch. Middle linebacker Marvin Jones, 20 pounds lighter, has gone from run-stopper to pass-defender extraordinaire, and he has three interceptions to show for it.

Next up for the 7-3 Jets after a bye week are the New England Patriots, who are a surprising 6-5. Quarterback Tom Brady, who threw four touchdown passes last week against the New Orleans Saints, poses a very real threat. Still, the Patriots aren't the only thing the Jets are wary of. There is the small matter of history.

Last year, the Jets were 9-4 when they melted down and lost the last three games to fall out of the playoff race. In the past 15 years, the Jets have produced only three winning Decembers and the overall post-November record is 18-41.

The players say last year's team was nicked up and over-practiced under then-coach Al Groh. They swear there will be no late swoon this time around.

"You learn from history," said Glenn. "You look back and ask why did that happen? Maybe those teams didn't always have a lot to play for. We're in first place, and we're not just playing for first place in the AFC East, we're trying to win the conference. We want to have a bye and two home games.

"I think December now is a little different than those Decembers in history."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.