FOR SUNDAY'S BEST, LIFE AS QB BEGINS AT 30.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Given the miracles of modern medicine - Rogaine, Botox and Viagra - old age isn't what it used to be (wink, wink). No wonder 40 is the new 30.

So, it follows that you should never trust anyone over 40.

Unless your season needs saving.

So goes the credo of Jets coach Herman Edwards, not because the Rolling Stones are still touring, but because Vinny Testaverde, a few weeks shy of age 42, is still the Jets' best quarterback option at the moment. That's what happens when Chad Pennington and Jay Fielder are wearing slings, Brooks Bollinger is wearing a uniform and Edwards doesn't have numbers for Richard Todd or Ken O'Brien in his Blackberry.

In comes Testaverde, the former Jet who two weeks earlier was sitting on his sofa on Long Island because nobody wanted him after last season in Dallas, and the Jets climb back into the playoff picture Sunday in the AFC East with a 14-12 win against previously undefeated Tampa Bay.

Testaverde's performance wasn't pretty - 13 of 19 for 163 yards, no touchdowns and one interception - but it might have been the first time anyone with a 72.9 quarterback rating was accorded a standing ovation in the Meadowlands.

Maybe it was New Yorkers getting sentimental, the way they demanded a curtain call Sunday night from Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams for a flyout in what might have been his last at-bat in pinstripes.

More than likely, they just know what it takes to win in the NFL. An old, experienced hand at quarterback.

Just look around the league Sunday, better known this week as Old-Timers' Day.

Here was Drew Bledsoe, 33 years-old, washed up in Buffalo and brought in to Dallas to manage the offense - a euphemism for stick the ball in Julius Jones' belly and otherwise don't screw it up. Lo and behold, he completes 24 of 35 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-10 whipping of Philadelphia that wasn't that close.

It was the second win against the Eagles in the past 11 tries for Dallas. Keep that up and they might erect a statue of Bledsoe, even if it moves only slightly less than he does.

In Buffalo, they turned to Kelly Holcomb, 32, after J.P. Losman - the kid the Bills dumped Bledsoe for - had guided them to 29 points in the past 14 quarters. Holcomb led the Bills to 17 points on their first three possessions and then managed them to a 20-14 win over Miami that pulled Buffalo back into contention.

In Green Bay, Brett Favre, whom it had been suggested should be traded in the wake of the Packers' 0-4 start and who turned 36 on Monday, turned back the clock - all the way to 1983, the last time Green Bay scored as many points as it did in a 52-3 thumping of New Orleans. Favre completed 19 of 27 passes for 215 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

In Cleveland, Trent Dilfer, 33, didn't look very good - by his own admission - until he threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Bryant late in the fourth quarter to rally the Browns to a 20-10 victory over the Bears.

Said Dilfer, who was 23 of 34, for 218 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions: ``It was ugly out there. I'll be the first to admit it. Two plays (are) all we made the whole day.''

That, of course, is often the difference between winning and losing in the NFL. And the difference in making a play or not - recognizing or being befuddled by a defensive alignment, a blitz or the anarchy that sets in on a broken play - is usually a matter of experience.

Notice that among those five quarterbacks, the only turnovers committed were the two interceptions by Dilfer.

Then consider Alex Smith, making his first start. He threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in a 28-3 loss to Indianapolis. Or Josh McCown, who in his 15th career start threw 394 yards but had three passes picked off in a 24-20 loss to Carolina. Or rookie Kyle Orton and second-year starter Carson Palmer, who lost fumbles late to thwart comebacks by the Bears and the Bengals, respectively.

Coincidence or not, nine of the 13 winners Sunday were quarterbacked by someone who was at least 30 years old. Two of the exceptions were named Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

Even in defeat, there wasn't much to quibble with the play of Washington's 35-year-old quarterback Mark Brunell. He completed 30 of 53 passes for 322 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Brunell drove the Redskins 94 yards for a touchdown with 1:09 left, but his two-point conversion pass was knocked away to seal a 21-19 loss to Denver.

Asked at the end of an improbable day if anything about the experience of quarterbacking in the NFL gets old, Testaverde again played it like he's been down this road before.

``Just me,'' he said.

Elsewhere around the league in Week 5:

--Explain how two Baltimore Ravens are ejected when they make contact with a referee protesting a call but Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber stays in the game after knocking down an official with a punch that was intended for Jets center Kevin Mawae. Expect the NFL to come down very hard on Barber.

--There won't be any arguments from the Redskins, but the tuck rule is a ridiculous one. When Jake Plummer pulled the ball down after he started to pass, he lost his grip and fumbled it despite nobody touching him. Instead of a safety, it was ruled an incomplete pass. Those two points would have meant a victory for Washington instead of a loss to Denver. Somewhere, Al Davis just muttered an obscenity.

--Former Cal State Northridge receiver D.J. Hackett, thrust into the starting lineup because of injuries to Michael Jackson and Bobby Engram, caught five passes for 43 yards in Seattle's 37-31 win over St. Louis - the first receptions of Hackett's career.

--A note last week that only four playoff teams from a year ago had a winning record this season omitted Pittsburgh.