HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) – For the first six games of the season, Curtis Martin single-handedly shouldered the running burden for the New York Jets.

Martin hardly ever took a break in games, while his seldom-used backup fidgeted impatiently on the sideline. LaMont Jordan envisioned a bigger role for himself this year, but quickly landed in the doghouse during training camp because of his bad attitude.

So while Martin took a pounding, Jordan stood idle. That all changed in a 41-14 blowout win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Martin and Jordan each went over 100 yards, helping the Jets to 275 yards rushing, tops in the NFL this season.

Their outburst helped get the Jets off and running to their best game of the season. Now they are 6-1, tied atop the AFC with Pittsburgh and New England.

What’s more, the blowout victory came on national television following a close loss to the Patriots.

“People that hadn’t watched us a whole lot probably think these guys are pretty good,” coach Herman Edwards said Tuesday. “As a football team we knew all along we won some games but hadn’t played all together. That came out last night. Now the whole key is can we continue to do that?”

History says they can. Edwards has a near-perfect record in November, going 10-2 since he arrived in 2001. His .833 winning percentage is the best among coaches with at least 10 November games since the start of the Super Bowl era.

The schedule does not get much harder this month. The Jets play at Buffalo (2-5) this Sunday, followed by games against Baltimore (4-3), Cleveland (3-4) and Arizona (2-5).

“We know the month of November is important. It’s always been important around here for us,” Edwards said. “It’s what I call moving month. You start slotting yourself, where you’re trying to go. Win as many games as you possibly can in November because December takes care of itself. That’s how you play it in this league.”

Having two valuable backs also helps. The last time the Jets had two 100-yard runners in the same game was 1975. Martin had 19 carries for 115 yards and left the game as a precaution with a bruised knee in the third quarter. The Jets kept going with Jordan, who had career highs with 14 carries for 115 yards.

Each back had a 25-yard score, helping embarrass the proud Miami defense. The 31-year-old Martin now is third in the league with 798 yards rushing, and the Jets rank second in rushing, averaging 152.7 yards.

Coming into the game, Jordan had six carries. The sometimes disgruntled back becomes a free agent at the end of the season, but he will be needed to help spell Martin as the Jets keep making their playoff push.

Jordan provides a nice change of pace to Martin, a smaller back who needs a few carries to get going. The 230-pound Jordan gets going immediately, bowling over would-be tacklers with nearly ever carry.

“It just shows what kind of character I have, to go through everything I went through this offseason, to bounce back and have a game like I did,” Jordan said after the game. “It meant a lot to me to ask for the ball the way I was asking for it and then when I got my opportunities, taking advantage of them the way I did.”

The offensive line had its best game of the season, and Edwards said he would give a game ball to all five starters.

“In my opinion, this is the best that they’ve done,” Martin said.

Aside from the backs, Chad Pennington connected on five pass plays of 20 yards or more, including long touchdown passes to Wayne Chrebet and Justin McCareins.

The defensive line had a good performance, as well. John Abraham added to his league-leading sacks total (he now has 8), Jason Ferguson had 1 sacks and the line constantly harassed Jay Fiedler. Though he did not want to say it, Edwards said the unit is close to becoming the dominating force he coached in Tampa Bay with Warren Sapp and company.

“It’s close,” Edwards said. “It’s starting to resemble some things that I saw a long time ago.”

The Jets are also starting to resemble a team bound for the postseason.

“It was important for us as a team to bounce back from last week and not make losing a habit,” Pennington said. “The ultimate goal is about getting to 10 wins and trying to win the AFC East division, and fight for home-field advantage.”