The New York Jets travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts in the first AFC Wildcard matchup of the playoffs. This is an interesting matchup because these are two teams that struggled for long stretches this season after a lot of Super Bowl hype going into training camp. The two most important things to remember about this game are #1 - these aren’t the same Indianapolis Colts that have been dominating the AFC South for the past decade. Peyton Manning has looked downright human at times this year, throwing 17 interceptions - his most eight seasons. The second thing to remember is that this is not the same scary, dominating, smack you in the mouth Jets defense that nobody wanted to play this time last year, no matter what they like to tell themselves (and everybody else).
Keys to this game are simple with the biggest one being for both teams to run the ball and run it well. That is going to be a difficult task for the Colts considering they finished the season 29th in the league in rushing. Of course they did have to deal with some major injuries at the running back position, but with Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes back in the lineup at the end of the season the Colts looked much more balanced on offense and hopefully they can take the momentum of a four game win streak into this game.
For the Jets, a lot of talk has been going around about how Shonn Greene should be the feature back in this game because of how well he matches up against the Colts defense and because of the eye-popping numbers he put up in the playoffs last year. Personally, if I’m Rex Ryan all I have to look at is the fact that Indy finished 25th in the league against the run. With that kind of vulnerability he could give a few carries to the water boy to grind out a couple of yards. Every team that beat the Colts ran for at least 129 yards, and that’s a recipe New York should be able to cook up since they averaged almost 150 yards per game on the ground.
This game will also be determined by who’s star shines the brightest. Peyton Manning is one of the best ever at his position, no doubt about that. But he has been criticized for much of his career about his playoff performances. And even though he had a good run last year, that last pick-6 against the Saints surely didn’t raise his stock in that regard. As for Mark Sanchez, the Colts would love nothing more than to make the second year quarterback beat them with his arm. Sanchez did come up with some pretty clutch plays this year, particularly during a three game stretch where he almost singlehandedly willed the Jets to win by 3 points in all three games with some late heroics. I doubt Indianapolis is shaking in their cleats, though. All three of those games were against teams that finished a combined 17-31, something that’s making the Colts defense giggle I’m sure.
So for my prediction….Despite some erratic play from their QB, the Jets are a more balanced team than last year. But the balance on offense doesn’t make up for the slippage on defense. Throwing the kitchen sink at Peyton Manning will prove to be costly, and I’m taking the Colts by a TD in a low scoring game.
No comments:
Post a Comment