Winning the Hard Way

Well, that was satisfying.

The Jets played some of their best football of the year to beat those damned Indianapolis Colts and their infuriating quarterback, Peyton Manning, 17-16, last night. That was the best part.

I would’ve been even happier if they had won 14-13 and I didn’t have to spend a few minutes cursing Brian Schottenheimer for calling the ridiculous long pass to Braylon Edwards on third and five with a little over two minutes left and the Colts with just 1 timeout left.

But they did jeopardize the game, they did have to give the ball back to Peyton Manning with all that time left, and Manning did come through for the Colts, leading them down the field for another Adam Vinatieri work of art that sailed directly through the uprights with 57 seconds left, giving the Colts what should have been a 16-14 victory.

I figured that was the end. It would take a miracle for these Jets to work their way all the way down the field to regain the lead. Sanchez hadn’t been exactly lights out the whole game and he had just finished badly overthrowing Edwards on that ridiculous third down pass. I figured the Jets had wasted 58 minutes of really good football. They’d be done in by their failure to make that third and five.

But I hadn’t figured on Antonio Cromartie running the ensuing kickoff back 47 yards. I hadn’t figured the Colts laying back on receivers and letting Sanchez make a couple of easy completions to shorten the field even more. And I really couldn’t have figured the Colts calling a timeout to give the Jets even more time to collect themselves and strategize how best to work their way even farther down the field.

But the Colts really did allow Cromartie to make that run, they did play soft and they did call a timeout. Right after that timeout, the Jets called the same play that had gotten them in this situation in the first place.

But this time it worked! Sanchez threw it up, Edwards went up and grabbed the football and it was all over but the shoutin’. Surely even Nick Folk couldn’t blow one from that close. (I did have a minute or so to contemplate that no distance was short enough for Nick Folk). But Folk put it through to save everybody’s ass and make me a happy New Jerseyan once again.

Later on, Rex Ryan was asked about that third down call. He responded that it was a good call based on the coverage and the matchup or words to that effect so I guess he has more confidence in Sanchez and Edwards than I do. But my point is, why throw a thirty yard pass when you need just five yards? What about a nice five yard pass?

That the Jets won is besides the point. They shouldn’t have had to win that way. They really need to re-think their short yardage options when the defense stacks the line with 9 bodies. They’ll never beat the Patriots that way.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m really happy the Jets pulled it out. And maybe you lose the forest for the trees a little bit when you see Sanchez make that same pass to Edwards time after time in practice. I don’t know. I just know it’s a really poor percentage decision. If you need five, go for five.

But Jim Caldwell helped lose that game by calling that timeout. It was obvious that Peyton Manning thought so. I have a feeling we might not see the same Colts coaching staff next year. I know I wouldn’t rehire them.

And how many times will you get a long kickoff return from Antonio Cromartie? And how many times will you run into a bad coaching staff? I know it won’t be next week, that’s for sure.

If I were a different sort of person, I’d just be happy that they won, I guess. There certainly was a lot of great football being played by those Jets last night. I was especially impressed by that 10-minute drive ending in the touchdown that gave them the lead.

But all throughout the game, the Jets had played it just the way I thought they should, by running the ball and stopping the run, by playing conservative and jamming those receivers. They did blow the coverage on the Manning touchdown pass to Garcon but you had to figure they’d get beat for at least one Manning touchdown.

Their offensive line was pushin’ em back all night long. Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson were running hard and running smart. And they had only lost the football one time on a Sanchez interception just 45 seconds before the half that was devastating in that it had wasted a nice long time-eating drive.

But, except for that one mistake, the Jets played brilliantly. They were the better team and they proved it on the field. Offense, defense, special teams, the Jets were all in line. It was beautiful. Rex Ryan had his team ready to go.

Much to Ryan’s credit too, he ripped Cromartie a new butt for giving up the Garcon touchdown and let his guys know at halfime how upset he was. There’s probably nobody in football better than Rex Ryan at motivating a team, both before the game and during the game. The Jets will certainly need all that and more when they once again have to face the Patriots next week.

The Pats are not the Colts. They’re a better team with a much better coaching staff. And I don’t even want to think about how tough they’ll be yet. But, on a day when the Seattle Seahawks upset the Super Bowl Champion Saints, anything seems possible.

Besides, one of the two Pats losses this season was to these Jets. Yeah, the Jets lost 45-3 in the other one but the Jets defense is back, Tom Brady.