The season started out nice when we were 3-0 and there were talks that a Rookie head coach and a Rookie quarterback were going to take this team to the Super Bowl. Then, the wheels fell off and it looked bleak heading into the final two weeks. All of a sudden after upsetting the Chargers, we are ONE game from the Super Bowl. Can you believe it? I get chills just when I say it.
In my almost 40 years on this planet, I've seen the Jets in this spot twice before. Once back in 82 for the Mud Bowl and we all know how that turned out with AJ Duhe ruining our chances. It was then a long drought until 1998's season when we had that 10-0 lead in Denver. We all know how we fumbled away that game in the 2nd half. Now, about 12 years later, we are back, one game from the Super Bowl, playing the Colts who are favorites to get back to the Super Bowl.
What is keeping me positive is that we beat the Colts. Yeah, they pulled some players but when the starters were in, it was just a 5 point game. And, writers were saying that the Chargers were the better of the two teams so maybe we got the harder team to beat out of the way. Finally, I use the Giants theory. Nobody said the Giants were going to Green Bay to win and they did. Then, nobody said two weeks later that they were going to beat the undefeated Patriots and they did to win the Super Bowl. So, anything can happen and with the the defense playing the way they are then maybe I do have to believe ! We're in the Final 4 ! One more win and we are in the Super Bowl !
Things weren't looking good in the beginning of the game after falling behind 7-0 and it could have been 10-0 if Nte Kaeding was able to kick a field goal. We couldn't move the ball on offense and couldn't even get a first down. Luckily, we were able to stick with the game plan and continue to run and eventually kicked a field goal to only be down 7-3 which was just like a victory at that point based on how poor our offense was playing.
The story of the game was defense. Darrelle Revis had a HUGE interception that went off the defender's foot and somehow never touched the ground stopping a potential Chargers' scoring drive. But the biggest interception was Jim Leonard picking off the ball deep in the Chargers end. On 3rd down and goal, Sanchez rolled out and hit Dustin Keller in the endzone to go up 10-7 and the Jets never looked back but it wasn't pretty.
After some more great defense including Kerry Rhodes' huge sack of Phillip Rivers, it was time to work the clock with the run and just try and get first downs and keep the clock moving. However, we did even better with Shonn Greene darting up the middle for a 53 yard touchdown score ! Wooooo ! We were now up by 10 in the 4th quarter and I still didn't feel safe as these are the JETS and we've lost games up 10 too many times in the 4th quarter.
What drove me bananas when we kicked off the ball to the Chargers, it was a squib kick that gave the ball to the opponent on the 48 yard line. Come on. You can't just give them the ball at mid-field. It's so rare when a kickoff is returned for a touchdown so kick it deep and let them beat you instead of giving them the ball so close. A minute later, they were knocking on the door after a long pass which we then threw the red flag to review and a moron on their team kicked the red flag for a 15 yard penality which helped. But, they scored way to fast and there was still over two minutes left and they had one time out and the 2 minute warning. So, it was time for the on-sides kick which luckily Kerry Rhodes bobbled and then recovered.
Now, it was 4th and 1. Do we punt? Hell no. We go for it to try and ice the game. Thomas Jones get the ball. Runs for a yard and a half. FIRST DOWN. Game Over ! We're off to the Championship Game. Can you believe it ! Can you believe that their All-Pro kicker missed three field goals at crucial times in the game? Can you believe we totally stopped their running game. Can you believe we stopped their 11 game winning streak? Can you believe we are playing for the rights to go to the Super Bowl? Rex believes. Sanchez believes. The team believes. So, I gotta believe ! Bring on Manning and the Colts !
NOTES:
1.) The Jets won two playoff games in a season for the first time since 1982 and the second time in team history.
2.) New York was the second 9-7 team since 1997 to beat a team in a divisional playoff game that was 12-4 or better.
3.) Nate Kaeding missed three FGA for the Chargers and was the first kicker to go 0-3 in an NFL playoff game since 1995. He only missed three in the regular season and is 3-9 at home in the postseason in his career.
4.) Opponents are 0-5 against the Jets on FGA this postseason after going 19-23 in the regular season.
5.) Mark Sanchez threw for 100 yards, the fewest by a Jets quarterback in a playoff win (minimum 20 att).
6.) Shonn Greene's 53-yard TD run was the second longest TD run in Jets postseason history.
7.) The Jets have two straight playoff wins on the road.
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