NY’s Next Nemesis

Defense wins championships. The upstart Jets are the AFC’s best defense. New York blistered the Bengals and crushed the Chargers. The next task is demoralizing and daunting. The Jets must find a way to overcome the Indianapolis Colts with Peyton Manning behind center. Both New York and Indianapolis held their divisional round opponents to under fourteen points. Sunday afternoon’s title game should be stellar. It really shouldn’t surprise Jets fans to see Gang Green reach this round of the playoffs. They shouldn’t be shocked their team is still alive and kicking. The Chargers were favored to win yesterday by a touchdown. But Rex Ryan’s defense wore down San Diego’s offensive line. The Chargers’ Phillip Rivers wore his emotions on his sleeve the entire game. His exposed frustrations gave the Jets the juice they needed to make plays. New York quietly halted the Chargers’ 11 game winning streak by performing like an elite football team. It shouldn’t be surprising the Jets won because the Chargers have had a useless running game the entire season. Their kicking was just as unproductive yesterday. Pro Bowl kicker, Nate Kaeding essentially booted the game away for the Chargers. Had Kaeding made just one of his three misses, the Jets might not be talking Superbowl today. Sports are wonderful because you just cannot predict the outcome. Who would have guessed Kaeding would miss three field goals after connecting on 69 straight? Maybe it’s a testament to the Jets’ will to win. With all due respect to the Jets, they have gotten some very lucky breaks during their run to the AFC championship round. Gang Green will need all the lucky green attire when they storm Indianapolis in one week.
There are countless storylines to next week’s rematch of Week 17’s showdown between the Jets and Colts. The teams share a storied history. The 2010 versions will add to that history next Sunday. The coaches, for starters, are intriguing enough. Ryan is a cocky and bold first year head coach. Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell, also in his first season as an NFL head coach, is exactly the opposite. Both coaches have been to the Superbowl in inferior roles before. Caldwell appeared with the unassuming 2006 Colts as Tony Dungy’s assistant head coach. Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens in earning a 2000 Superbowl ring. Caldwell is an offensive guru while Ryan is brimming with defensive know-how. The Colts are the low-key team even though New York appears to be the underdog. The two franchises collided in Superbowl III, when the AFL Jets were the heavy underdog to Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. New York, lead by their outspoken leader Joe Namath, pulled away with the only Superbowl in franchise history. Broadway Joe predicted a Jets upset. The correlations between the 1969 and 2009 Jets are eerily similar. Ryan’s defense and deliberate running game have keyed the Jets this far. The head coach emphatically remarked how his team would be in the Superbowl three weeks ago. Now, the Jets are sixty minutes away from making that statement a reality. Namath went without a touchdown pass in Superbowl III, yet was named Most Valuable Player. Gang Green quarterback, Mark Sanchez, might not be able to make that claim. The Jets need their quarterback to throw touchdowns against the Colts. Indianapolis possesses an offense capable of much more than any team in the league. New York can’t fall behind and rely on the defense to beat Manning. It won’t happen. The Colts can rewrite history by stopping Darrelle Revis and containing New York’s pass rush. If the Pittsburgh corner is shut out and the defensive line is unable to get to Manning, the Colts prevail. Manning is not Rivers or Carson Palmer. The NFL’s Most Valuable Player won’t lay down, especially not in a post-season game. Gang Green’s defense won’t hold the Colts to 33 yards rushing like they did with San Diego’s Darren Sproles. LSU product, Joseph Addai, will have more than three carries next week. Manning has more offensive weapons in Indy than Palmer could ever dream of having. Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are a only a few of those threats. Automatic Adam Vinatieri is not going to pull a Kaeding. Need I remind Jets fans about the kicker’s ability in the playoffs? Ask any Patriots fan who the best clutch kicker in the history of the NFL is, and I don’t have anything more to say. It should be a great game, and I give the Jets a chance. Their defense keeps them in the game until the fourth quarter. But, like magic, Manning and Vinatieri will fly away with the win and hop a plane to Miami for the Superbowl.
Parting Points: Maria Sharapova falls at the Aussie Open and the Cowboys get run over by the Vikings just in case you missed it.

Chargers Control Christmas

The San Diego Chargers closed out a perfect December, won their 10th straight game and locked up the number two AFC playoff seed Christmas night in Nashville. The Chargers earned a first round bye in a clinching 42-17 rout of the Titans and improved to 12-3 on the season. Philip Rivers threw a pair of touchdown passes and LaDainian Tomlinson ran for two more for the AFC West champion Chargers. The streaking Chargers wrapped up December on Christmas night by outgaining the Titans in yards, dominating time of possession and grabbing twice picking off Tennessee’s Vince Young. The Titans’ comeback quarterback completed only 8 of 21 passes for 89 yards without a touchdown. Young was 7-1 as a starter at home since coming off the bench early this year. He threw only four interceptions in that time. Young turned the ball over on successive drives Friday night. The Titans were facing very long odds of making the playoffs. Now their chances are gone with one game remaining on the schedule. Tennessee fell to 7-8 and was never even a match for Rivers and the Bolts. The Chargers are now 7-1 in road contests this season. Rivers is 18-0 as a four year starter in December football games.
San Diego seemed scintillatingly sharp from the first snap following a three and out on the opening possession of the game. Titans’ running back, Chris Johnson, took a handoff 25 yards up the field at the Tennessee 20 yard line to begin the home team’s initial drive. Young hit Nate Washington and Johnson for 12 and 14 yard receptions but the Titans settled for Rob Bironas’ 46 yard field goal and the early advantage. Rivers answered on the ensuing San Diego possession by orchestrating an efficient seven minute drive. Tomlinson scored on the 13th play with a one yard touchdown run. Tennessee fell victim to two Young miscues in the second quarter. Rivers responded by making the Titans pay on both turnovers. The Bolts’ leading receiver, Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates, finished with 74 yards on three catches. His 36 yard pass from Rivers following a Young interception early in the second quarter put San Diego on top by 11. Darren Sproles made it a 21-3 icing with just over three minutes before halftime after a fumbling Young turned the ball over to the visitors. It was Sproles first of three touchdowns, and came on a three yard toss from Rivers. Young discovered the end zone with .17 seconds remaining in the second quarter to trim the Titans lead back to 11.
Titanic rusher Tomlinson scrambled for his second touchdown in the third quarter. LT finished with 59 yards rushing on 16 carries. He scored to put the Bolts up by 18 on a one yard run with 9:49 left in the third. The Chargers’ defense forced the Titans out on three plays on their first two drives of the second half. Sproles did the rest of the scoring for the visiting team the rest of the way as the San Diego lead grew to 35-10 before the final quarter. The Chargers ran for 166 yards. Sproles scored on a nine yard run to end the third. He began the fourth quarter by cranking out a 1 yard touchdown run for the final Chargers score. Johnson, the MVP-like back, continued his quest to become the NFL’s sixth player to run for 2,000 yards in a season. The Tennessee runner bolted for 142 yards, including a touchdown in the final quarter, to notch his 10th straight 100 yard effort of 2009. He finished Christmas night 128 yards shy of the 2,000 mark. Alabama native Rivers topped 4,000 yards for the second straight season. Tomlinson added two more to decade-leading rushing touchdown total of 138. Norv Turner’s Chargers are a focused and prepared team poised to threaten any AFC opponent this postseason. Last night, they scored on six straight possessions and forced three turnovers. The patched-up offense looked vulnerable and exposed against a strong, sturdy Chargers defense. Young’s top target, Washington, had just 39 yards on four receptions. The Bolts’ defense held Young and the Titans to 25% on third downs. The Chargers were playing with backups by the fourth quarter as their league leading passer secured them a playoff spot. The Bolts are excellent shape and a great position heading into the 2010 postseason.

Parting Points: Song for the day after Xmas- “Brick” by Ben Folds Five