Jets v. Colts Pregame

Wow.  The AFC Championship game.  Who would have thought that the team that Rex Ryan proclaimed as having no chance for a playoff spot after the Falcons game would be in this position.  I am truly surprised, shocked, and unbelievably excited about this game.  The Jets team and fans have not been in this position since 1998 against the Broncos (If you look back to my first post you will see that the Broncos game is one of my earliest memories of being a Jets fan).  This is the biggest game I have ever experienced as a Jets fan and I truly believe that we have a chance to win it.  The Jets will travel into Indy to take on a Colts team that has run through opponents all year.  Peyton Manning is a god in football circles and he turns an otherwise good Colts team into an almost unbeatable one.  The Jets pass rush will have to get through an average Colts offensive line in order to combat Manning's quick release. 

What to watch for....

• Will the Jets pass rush be able to negate Peyton Manning's brilliance?  The difference between Manning and the average NFL quarterback is two fold.  First, he is able to recognize defenses and blitz schemes at the line of scrimmage and adjust his play to beat them.  Second, his release is so quick that the pass rush always seems half a second too late.  In order for the Jets to win this game Rex Ryan is going to have to design schemes that can challenge Manning.  If he is able to stand back in the pocket with time to throw the Jets will have no shot of slowing him down.

• What are the effects of the Week 16 game?  The Jets have heard for weeks that they have been "let into" the playoffs and that they "backed in".  Now, let me dispel the notion that they "backed in".  When you back into a playoff spot you get in by losing.  However, the Jets in Week 16 and 17 beat the team that was put on the field in front of them.  However, the "experts" don't fully understand this and have been selling the Jets short on that Week 16 and 17 victory (despite the fact that the Bengals played their starters while the Jets built a 27-0 lead).  This could be motivation as the Jets will come out wanting to prove that they really are a team that deserved that Week 16 win.  This could also work the other way with the Colts wanting to prove what a joke it was that they "let" the Jets win in Week 16.

• Could Rex Ryan's itinerary come true?  Rex Ryan wrote up an itinerary before the playoffs started that included a schedule for every day and an eventual Super Bowl parade.  As with most things Ryan does most of the country took this as a giant joke.  However, the Jets players have bought into it and now they are one win from going to the Super Bowl.  Can miracles happen?  

Who to watch for..

• I feel like I post the same thing every week but it is never hard to predict who the big players are for the Jets.  Shonn Greene has led the Jets rushing attack with two straight 100 yard games.  He runs harder than any running back I have seen in a long time and he will need an absolutely GREAT game against a weak Colts rushing attack in order for the Jets to have any chance of winning this game.

• The entire secondary will have to play the game of their lives as Peyton Manning loves to spread the ball around to his various targets.  Reggie Wayne is obviously a favorite but he should be blanketed by Revis for most the game.  The player I am concerned about is Dallas Clark.  Kerry Rhodes and Eric Smith have done a fairly good job of covering tight ends this year and stopping Clark could end up being the key to stopping the entire Colts offense.  Jim Leonhard is going to have to continue his great play in these playoffs and will have to get pressure on Manning with the overload blitzes. 

• The Jets offensive line is the best in the league and will have to give Sanchez time on play actions while opening up holes for Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene.  The success of Mark Sanchez in these playoffs has been reliant on a good play action game which will need to be set up by a strong running game.  Another key will be stopping the pass rush of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.  These are two of the best pass rushers in the league and they could hurry Mark Sanchez into some bad passes if the Jets don't neutralize their pass rush.

The reason I love football so much is that any team can win in any given year.  The 2009 New York Jets are a perfect example of this notion.  However, despite this feeling that "any team can win it" I have never been able to picture the Jets in the Super Bowl.  My emotions while watching that game may border on dangerous.  However, before worrying about that the Jets must take care of business against a great Colts team.  Can this miracle run continue?  We are about to find out.

Game Prediction:

Colts- 23
Jets- 17