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| Dwayne Smith. 21st January, 2010 - 4:40 pm
 On December 20, 2009, the New York Jets were done. After all, their head coach, Rex Ryan, said so after the Jets lost a tough game 10-7 against the Atlanta Falcons.
?We?re obviously out of the playoffs, and that?s unfortunate,? said Ryan after his team fell to 7-7.
So what happened to put the Jets one game away from their first Super Bowl appearance in 41 years one month later? A fortunate combination of playing teams that had nothing to play for, along with all the teams in front of them losing in Week 16 to set them up for the playoffs. The best running game and defense in the NFL, closed the deal.
Since the Jets entered ?The Tournament?, as Ryan calls it, New York has played his style of football to a tee. Aggressive, opportunistic defense, along with a vanilla offense that features a grinding running game and a passing attack that merely needs to not make mistakes got them past the Cincinnati Bengals and then, in a big upset, the San Diego Chargers.
In San Diego, the Jets were able to play an almost rope-a-dope style. Sustaining an early Chargers touchdown, with little to no aggression on offense. This left New York with a 7-0 halftime deficit. How feeble was New York?s offense in the first half? The Jets punted at the end of all six possessions, four of those were three and outs.
The tale of the tape after one half, had the Chargers doubling New York?s total yardage and keeping the Jets to 47 rushing yards. By the end of the game, New York?s 169 yards on the ground told the end of the story. A steady pounding on the aggressive, talkative defense of San Diego, eventually wore them down and when that happened, they became frustrated and undisciplined. This was indicated by numerous penalties and an inability to stop the Jets offensively in the second half. The big play was the second long touchdown run in the postseason by Jets running back Shonn Greene.
The formula is no surprise, in fact it was a year ago, when Ryan introduced his vision of Jet Football in his first press conference as Head Coach. It featured an aggressive defense that attacks ?through the whistle? and an ?all weather offense? that starts with the running game that is key to a Super Bowl run. So far, the plan has been executed just the way Ryan drew it up. The defense keeps the team in the game, while the offense chips away until breaking through in the second half. It worked this way in Cincinnati and then again in San Diego. So can it work again against the Indianapolis Colts?
When the Colts last played the Jets, Indianapolis had a perfect 14-0 record and a 15-10 lead in the third quarter. At this point, as 99% of NFL fans know, the Colts decided to lift their starters and abandon their quest of perfection for a well rested team entering the playoffs. While the Colts only had a five-point lead and were backed deep in their end of field, conventional opinion saw the retreat as the only reason New York was able to achieve their 29-15 victory.
On Sunday, the Jets look to show that this was not a fluke and hope the same formula can work against the AFC?s best team and the favorite to win the Super Bowl. Looking at the numbers, the Jets seem to have an advantage when they have the ball as their NFL best rushing offense faces the 24th best run defense in the NFL. The Colts have a finesse defense, built on speed and have had difficulty when faced with big time run games. However, when the Colts have the ball things get exciting as their second ranked passing attack faces the best passing defense in the NFL. This is more than likely where the game will be won.
The Jets need to make Manning uncomfortable and perhaps force a mistake or two. Ryan acknowledged that this will not be very easy as the Colts allowed 13 sacks for the entire 2009 season, the best protection in the NFL.
Not deterred, Ryan explained, ?You have to do something. Whether you get him off the spot somehow, whether that's blitzing, whether that's having a guy beat somebody up front, whatever it is. You've got to try to get them off the spot. You can mix your coverages, you can do all those kinds of things. He's seen it all, but you just hope there is a slight hesitation where he's not able to just sit back and fire it at will on you.?
If Ryan?s defense is unable to do this, the Jets may wind up grounded in Indianapolis. |
