Holy Folk !

It was right there almost a year ago. It was the same stadium. It was in the same month. It was against the same team. It was against the future Hall of Fame quarterback. And, now, after another regular season ended, the Jets were back to face the Colts.

That eleven point lead in the first half still haunts me like does the ten point lead we had in 1998 against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. This may not be the Championship Game but it is still Mr. Manning standing in the way of the Jets mission of winning the Super Bowl.

Rex Ryan has been telling us since he was hired that we are going to win the Super Bowl. We fell 32 minutes short last year but are back in the hunt again and he still believes we are going to win the Super Bowl. But, first we must seek revenge on that same team that ended the dream last year.

It’s been a crazy season so far. Twelve of the Jets 16 games have come down to the last five minutes with the Jets winning many of them including some comebacks that us Jets fans will remember forever. And, after this first round match-up to start the postseason, another miracle comeback gets added to the Sanchize resume.

Yes, Mark Sanchez is starting to become the next generations’ Mr. Comeback with his 53 second drive, on the road, to beat the Colts by a point after things were looking bleak.

Let me back up a little bit. The Jets had the ball and a two point lead and basically needed two first downs to end the game. It was third and 5 and we had been driving the ball nicely with a combination of short passes and some ground and pound running. You would think that Schottenheimer would call a short pass for a sure first down. Instead, Sanchez overthrows the ball deep for an incompletion. Thus, the clock stops and we have to put the ball back to the Colts. At the time, this was an utter disaster getting the ball back in Manning’s hands.

And, in true Peyton Manning form, he drove the Colts down to field goal position with the Jets finally stopping them on 3rd down. However, Mr. Clutch, Adam V, was coming into the game as confident as ever to boot a 50 yard field goal to give the Colts a one point edge.

Could Mark Sanchez, the 2nd year wonder, lead the Jets down the field with two time outs, on the road, again as he’s done so many times this year? The Colts kick off the ball with 53 seconds left and we have Cromartie doing the returns with Brad Smith slightly injured and this was a great move to put Cromartie in as he showed a nice burst of speed on his prior return. And, Antoino took the kick about 40 yards to put the Jets in great field goal position.

The Jets ran a few plays and a call came in that Sanchez and Braylon Edwards waved off. Braylon said he could get open and Sanchez voiced that to Schottenheimer who then basically said, “Go for it” and Sanchez hit him. YES. The Jets were in field goal position.

Now, kicking game winning field goals makes me extremely ill. We all remember the Doug Brien game, whom I still do NOT blame as no one would ever make that kick in Pittsburgh, but the kicker still always gets blamed.

And here was Nick Folk who had had a decent year replacing Jay Feely after a rough few game patch a few weeks ago. He confidently enters the field with three seconds left and boots a 32 yard field goal to win the game. The Jets Win. The Jets Win. The Jets Win.

Rex Ryan had beaten a Peyton Manning team. The Jets win ANOTHER road playoff game. We came back. We beat a good team. The Super Bowl chances are still alive.

There were a few things that I loved. We returned to our roots with the running game. LT and Shonn Green were looking great and you could tell that last week’s rest paid off as they both had their legs.

I loved the play of Darrelle Revis. Hell, he just gave up one yard to one of the BEST receivers in the game and basically made him non-existent. I guess it sucks to get banished to Revis Island.

The Defense was amazing in general. The Colts could barely generate a running game and Peyton didn’t have a ton of open players for his throwing game. You can’t complain holding a Peyton Manning team to just 16 points.

Sanchez was a bit rusty in the first half throwing high many of his targets and killed us with his interception in the end zone in the end part of the second quarter. I know he was trying to do too much but we can’t afford those kinds of mistakes as the interception negated a field goal attempt.

Cromartie getting burned on a long touchdown was one of the low points of the game and he heard it from Rex Ryan. He looked much better after that.

And the game almost changed on the first punt with Santiono Holmes letting a ball go through his legs that almost grazed him which would have been a fumble and that could have destroyed the entire game. Luckily, the Colts reviewed and it never grazed him but Santonio…stay the F**K away from the ball next time!

So, it’s back to New England where the Jets suffered one of the worst loses in team history. Can we stop Tom Brady? Can we out coach Bill Belicheck? I know Rex Ryan doesn’t want to kiss another of his rings so let’s hope we can figure out the Patriots mystique by next Sunday. For now, I’m gonna enjoy this game for a few more days before I start getting nervous all over again for this next huge hurdle.