Brett Favre and Kurt Warner are older players playing a young man’s game. On Sunday, they’ll try to get back on track — against each other as starting quarterbacks — coming off disappointing performances in Week 3.

“When you’ve been in this league for a long time, it’s kind of like a badge of courage to say, ‘I’m still playing, I’m still being able to accomplish things, even at this stage,'” Warner said this week.

Favre’s ankle, which he sprained against the Chargers on Monday in a mistake-filled loss in San Diego, has been the subject of much focus this week, but there’s little chance he’ll miss what would be his 257th consecutive start.

The 37-year-old Warner, whom the 39-year-old Favre called “a young guy” this week, played fairly well in the loss to the Redskins last week, but the team has suffered from a lack of red-zone conversions (only six touchdowns in 13 possessions inside opponents’ 20-yard line) and with timing in the hurry-up offense. But a win Sunday would make the Cardinals 3-1, and the team would be very happy with that, considering three of those four games will have been away from home.

In fact, the Cardinals — who were 1-3 in Eastern time zone games last season — have remained on the East Coast this week after playing the Redskins last Sunday, staying in Vienna, Va., a Washington D.C. suburb. They practiced at Catholic University this week, and the players reportedly have responded well to the trip, with Warner and some teammates even taking the time to visit New York this past Tuesday, the players’ day off.

On Sunday, the visitors will be treated hostilely, as the 1-2 Jets try to get back on track after an opening-week win. The sense is that the team — especially the offense — is trying to gain an identity, with Favre’s relationship with his receivers and his offensive line being the main issues.

Are there encouraging signs, at least?

“I like the way the guys have handled the last two weeks, even though they were losses, [with] the character they have shown,” Favre said. “I really believe this team is not only good — and [head coach Eric Mangini] stressed this the other day and before and after the [Chargers] game — I think it’s so true that once this team starts believing, all 53 guys start believing that it can be done, then it will be.”

When the Cardinals have the ball Blitz pickup will be a key element of this game on both sides of the ball. Warner is lethal when his teams pick up extra rushers effectively. He has pinpoint accuracy, even in tightly-covered spots, and can do serious damage if the Jets are left to cover either Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin with a single defender or only one deep safety to help. Fitzgerald beat the Redskins’ safeties with a post pattern last week, and the week before, Boldin was the hero with three touchdowns.

But right now, they are the only two big-play options for the Cardinals. The Jets were unable to get pressure on Chargers QB Philip Rivers, which makes heavy blitzing a scary notion, and they’ll need to tighten up their man coverage a bit after giving up some big plays in the pass game on Monday. Cornerback Darrell Revis likely will mark Fitzgerald, and Dwight Lowery — who has been mostly good but allowed some plays against the Chargers — likely will match up with the physical Boldin.

Edgerrin James is a tough, between-the-tackle runner, but he’s no concern as far as breaking anything much more than a 12-15-yard run. Look for the Cardinals to give young running back Tim Hightower a few more looks going forward, including in this game. Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins left the game Monday with a back injury, and though he should play, Jenkins might not get a full passel of snaps. The Jets’ run defense was not as stout with him out in Week 3.

When the Jets have the ball Favre still hasn’t gotten on track completely, and he’ll have to face the Cardinals’ pressure. They have racked up eight sacks in 91 opponents’ dropbacks, which is the 10th-best sack percentage in the league. Expect the Jets to counter with getting Favre to run more three-step drops in the passing game and to ask more from the running game.

The Cardinals would like to test the pass-protection skills of Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, but they’ll likely have to do it without outside linebacker Bertrand Berry, who is expected to miss the game with a torn groin. Berry had sacks in each of the first three games and was part of a four-man rotation at the outside linebacker spots with Clark Haggans, Chike Okeafor and Travis LaBoy. Now, the other three guys are expected to split snaps at those spots, but it could dampen the pass rush somewhat.

Jets running back Thomas Jones had his worst game Monday, held to 37 yards on the ground and losing a key fumble at the Chargers’ 16-yard line. He must gain yards after contact against a Cardinals front that has been fine, but not great, against the run. Leon Washington could be asked to be a threat on screens, draws, and delays, giving the offense more of a change of pace.

Ideally, the Jets would like to cross up the Cardinals with some short passes that turn into long gains, drawing the linebackers away from the line of scrimmage and creating fewer blitz opportunity. The Jets also could opt to change the tempo of the game with some no-huddle offense.

Prediction The Cardinals will be fresh after the week spent out east, and they’ll be able to get some things done against Favre defensively. It’s tough to contain both Fitzgerald and Boldin, and the Jets won’t in a 24-20 Arizona win. Though things will be more close than in San Diego, the Jets right now are losing the field-position battle much of the time and will need to rely on turnovers going forward.

Mr. Edholm, a senior editor at Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at eedholm@pfwmedia.com.