Jets Edge Colts; Ground Peyton Aerial Show
There are but two ways of stopping Peyton Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the game. The first one is by utilizing a strong pass rush; Manning is basically immobile, and does not like to be harried. The second is by controlling the ball, and not allowing Peyton to direct the offense in his typically incomparable manner. The Jets have a formidable defensive line, but have no more then an average pass rush. Coach Rex Ryan chose the second alternative. Ryan played a superb chess match all evening with Peyton Manning, mixing coverage, eschewing the blitz, and often playing as few as five men in the box, daring the Colts to run. Peyton took the bait, but the Colt’s running attack proved to be almost irrelevant, managing only 93 yards on 27 carries, for a 3.4 yard average. Peyton didn’t eschew the run until late in the game, when it was imperative to do so. Yet the Jets offense in the first half was basically rudderless, with Mark Sanchez seemingly feeling the effects of either his nerves, or his shoulder injury, which will likely need surgery after the end of this season. In order to counteract Mark’s appalling lack of accuracy, Gang Green re-discovered Ground and Pound in the third quarter, and proceeded to march down the field in a drive that consumed just several seconds short of 10 minutes. The huge Jets Offensive Line dominated the swift but relatively light Colt Defensive Line, negating the pass-rushing prowess of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Eric Mangold demonstrated why they are pro-bowl selections this season. RB LaDainian Tomlinson (15-82, 2 TD’s) and Shonn Green (19-70) played smash-mouth football in a brutally eloquent fashion. Together, they fashioned perhaps the finest example of eating up the clock and keeping a superior offense off the field since the New York Giants, to the delight of John Madden, fashioned a 13 minute drive against the Buffalo Bills in the 1987 Super Bowl. Tomlinson capped the 87 yard, 17 play “3 yards and a cloud of dust” marathon that ex-Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes would have been proud of with his second touchdown of the game.
Of course, there was plenty of football still to be played after the touchdown, and a roller coaster of excitement in the last quarter of the affair, but ultimately, the Jets win would not have been possible without this drive. Mark Sanchez was sailing the ball throughout the first thirty minutes of the game, capped off by two end zone passes to a wide open Dustin Keller, both of which would have resulted in touchdowns. For most of the first three quarters, Sanchez was, quoting premier sportscaster Chris Collingsworth, “awful”, and perhaps some Jets fans thought that the team would at some point need to bring in ancient Mark Brunell if they were to have a chance of winning the game. The long march calmed down the Sanchise, resulting in a brilliant last quarter, where he directed two drives, shaking off the pain in his shoulder, and seemingly coming of age
The Jets defense was generally superlative. “ Revis Island” was again quarantined; Reggie Wayne wound up catching one pass for a total of one yard. Outside of CB Antonio Cromartie being beaten for a 57 yard TD catch by WR Pierre Garcon, there were no major breakdowns. However, Peyton Manning was still not finished for the evening. With the Jets ahead 14-10, he calmly led the Colts on two successive drives, each ending in an Adam Vinatieri field goal, the second one for 52 yards, and his longest of the season. Vinatieri is perhaps the greatest clutch kicker of all time, and likely the first field goal kicker who will be honored with a bust at Canton, so the results of his efforts were hardly surprising. At that point, there were but 53 seconds left in the game, and the elated fans at Lucas Oil stadium were convinced that their team was going to advance to the second round, despite the inordinate amount of injuries suffered by their squad this year, especially to their wide-receiving corps.
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Yet 53 seconds can be a lifetime. This Jet team, claimed by the ‘perts to be lucky rather then good for most of the season; squeaking out a victory against the Lions, pulling the Browns game out of the hat, and escaping defeat against the Texans in a manner that magician David Copperfield would be proud of, were not daunted by the task. On the sidelines, LaDainian Tomlinson quietly told the offensive unit: “Guys, we’ve done it before.” And so they would, once again.
Cromartie, subbing for the injured Brad Smith, made up for his faux-pas earlier in the game with a scintillating 47 yard kick-off return to the Jets 46. The Sanchise, who apparently has the gift at focusing in crucial moments, regardless of his prior performance, came out confidently. A pass for nine yards to Braylon Edwards, was followed by an 11 yard completion to Santonio Holmes. The Colts then called a rather inexplicable time out, which allowed Sanchez to lobby for his favorite play in that situation. He through an out-pattern to Braylon Edwards, who made up for his plethora of dropped passes during the season with a brilliant catch for 18 yards. With the ball at the Indianapolis 15 yard line, the crowd went deathly quiet. Nick Folk, who has been erratic most of the season, came out for the most important kick of his career. Folk responded by knocking it true from 32 yards out; the clock read 0.00, the scoreboard read New York 17, Indianapolis 16, and the Jets ecstatically ran off the field.
The Jets and their fans will enjoy the moment while they can. Next Sunday it gets that much more difficult, when they make the trip to Bean Town to play the 14-2 New England Patriots. The Pats have been installed as an early 8 point favorite, and rightly so, having crushed Gang Green the last time they visited Foxborough, 45-3. The peerless Tom Brady was 21-29 for 326 yards on that day, with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. Yet one thing can be said about this 2010-2011 edition of the Jets – they are undaunted by any task, and fearless in the face of opposition. Stay tuned, and see if the gods of football have another miracle in store for the Green and White.
By: Paul J. Nebenfuhr
ProFootball-fans.com New York Jets Correspondent