The winds are starting to howl here in Fort Lauderdale just hours after the Jets swooped in to get the first win of the season. It was an important one. We have the story here.

Quarterback Brett Favre gave Jets fans plenty to cheer about, including an amazing heave to Chansi Stuckey, who came down just inside the endzone for the second Jets touchdown of the day. The play came on 4th and 13, with kicker Mike Nugent temporarily unable to play with a thigh injury.

It didn’t matter how obvious the options were in that situation, Favre didn’t look like an aging hero trying to stave off a retirement of celebrity golf and black tie charity dinners. He was throwing a 56-yard end-zone pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the first quarter instead, playing by heart until he memorizes the playbook.

“There’s only so much studying you can do til you’re staring at the wall,” Favre said. “A couple times I just winged it and I said ‘OK, guys same play.’ They’ll go ‘OK ready, break. (Pause). Same play what?’ “

Favre – with 15 completions on 22 attempts, two touchdowns and no interceptions – was as vital and effective as he was in Green Bay, where he won the Super Bowl in 1997, and the Jets have an indication of what kind of quarterback they have.

Pennington said this loss hurt. No doubt that sting was compounded by the fact that he was on a team he never thought he’d join and many of the those across the ball are good – even best – friends. Visibly upset after the game, he was asked what hurt most.

“Right here,” Pennington said, tapping on his chest, “in my heart. My pride is hurt. Losing is not fun. We put a lot of hard work into it. True professionals bounce back and continue to fight another day. It’s one thing to have a will to win, but you have to have a heart to lose, which means you have to continue to improve and fight through those things.”

Some other notes:

Lowery aims high: With three solo and one assisted tackles, rookie Dwight Lowery had a solid game starting at corner opposite Darrelle Revis. Impressively, two of those solo tackles kept Pennington from connecting with end zone receivers on third and fourth downs in the fourth quarter with two yards to go. “Any time they are driving to the end zone, and you can make a play and prevent them from scoring points, it’s usually your mission,” Lowery said.

Williams returns: Miami RB Ricky Williams, back after missing parts of the last three season to injury and suspension, gained 24 yards on 10 carries yesterday, mostly early on and four receptions for 15 yards. As the game wore on, Chad Pennington seemed to prefer going to tight end Anthony Fasano, who ended the day with 84 yards on eight catches.

Pace maker: Calvin Pace, who came over from Arizona in the offseason, said he felt a little strange to start off yesterday in a Jets uniform, but the outside linebacker soon felt at home. He had five tackles including a sack yesterday against Miami, and at the end of the game was holding a bag of ice to his swollen lip while his left forearm was freshly reddened from a scrape.

Jets out of the game: QB Kellen Clemens, OL Will Montgomery and T Wayne Hunter did not play, and QB Brett Ratliff, QB Erik Ainge, WR Marcus Henry, WR David Clowney (shoulder), CB Justin Miller (foot), LB Kenwin Cummings, OL Rob Turner and DL Kareem Brown did not play.