After their shellacking of the Bills by their JV team, the Jets finished the regular season at 11-5 and clinched the six seed in the AFC. Despite Rex Ryan's goal of being able to host a home playoff game, the Jets are now forced to take their show on the road ,a road that goes through Indianapolis and New England respectively. In a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game, the Jets will go to "Peyton's Place" to face arguably the best quarterback in the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts. This is not exactly the match-up Ryan and the Jets were hoping for considering how easily Manning was able to carve up the Jets number one defense in the second half of the AFC Championship game denying the Jets a trip to the Super Bowl. The Jets would have much rather faced Matt Cassell and the Kansas City Chiefs who sputtered into the playoffs after losing at home to the Raiders.
However; these Colts are not the 2009 Colts who came within a half of being crowned Super Bowl Champions. These Colts are very banged up, missing major weapons Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, and Anthony Gonzalez as well as All-Pro Safety Bob Sanders. Peyton Manning has looked human this season turning the ball over in big spots but was able to engineer a team turn-around, rallying the Colts to four straight victories, finishing 10-6 and clinching the number three seed in the AFC. Peyton Manning will always be Peyton Manning but the Colts have become increasingly one dimensional, ranked first in passing offense but only 29th in rushing. The Colts defense is still formidable with the most dangerous edge-rushing tandem in the league with Dwight Freeny and Robert Mathis.
By the same token, these are not the 2009 Jets, Mark Sanchez has matured considerably, showing tremendous poise and a great command of the offense while significantly reducing his turnovers. The Jets offense comes into Indianapolis with more fire-power than last year, with the addition of Santonio Holmes and Ladainian Tomlinson coupled with the emergence of Shonn Greene and Dustin Keller has made the offense more dynamic. The offensive line will be back to full strength as well, with right tackle, Damien Woody returning to the lineup after under-going knee surgery in early December following the Dolphins game. He will be able to help neutralize the Colts tremendous pass rushers.
Although the Jets defense has taken a step back statistically, they are deeper especially at cornerback, with the acquisition of Antonio Cromartie. If Cromartie and Revis are able to shut down Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon, it will make life much easier for Rex Ryan's defense. What is most troubling is the Jets inability to get consistent pressure on the quarterback without blitzing defensive backs. The lack of a conventional pass-rush has made the Jets vulnerable in the secondary, elite quarterbacks like Manning or Brady will be able to exploit those weaknesses as we saw in the 45-3 debacle in New England.
Recently Safety depth has been problematic for the Jets after losing Jim Leonhard for the season, coupled with injuries to Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo. The Jets have been forced to play Brodney Pool and converted cornerback, Dwight Lowery at safety, which has caused communication issues on defense. Eric Smith and Ihedigbo are expected to return to the lineup in Indianapolis on Saturday giving the Jets much needed depth.
The Jets are also much healthier than the last time they faced the Colts. In the AFC Championship game both David Harris and Bart Scott were hobbled by leg injuries, defensive end Shaun Ellis was playing with a broken hand, nickelback Donald Strickland left the game with an injury, running back Shonn Greene left the game with a rib injury and Thomas Jones was playing with a hurt knee. This time around the Jets are considerably healthier at key positions than the Colts and hopefully that will be reflected on Saturday.
If the Jets are able to beat the Colts it will put them on a collision course with Tom Brady and the top-seeded Patriots. The Jets will be out for revenge, with the 45-3 drubbing still fresh in their memory, where Bill Belichick seemingly ran up the score with the game already in hand. It is a very tall order to go on the road and knock off the reigning conference champions and the likely MVP in succession however; if Ryan's Jets want to accomplish their goal of winning the Super Bowl, it is a necessity. In typical Rex Ryan fashion he refuses to be intimidated or back down from the challenge saying, "regardless of who we play, we think we're better than any team out there, we got to go prove it though." The Jets will attempt to back up their coach's words on Saturday night at 8:00.
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