NFL Playoffs – AFC Championship Edition: A lost opportunity

Jets blow chances to pull off upset

INDIANAPOLIS – In the end, it was the Jets feeling blue.

Make no mistake they lost to a superior team in all phases of the game. They would up losing to a quarterback who legitimately may go down as the greatest ever to play the position.

No shame in that.

While they will hold their heads high after a season that brought them more than they ever thought would happen, the Jets will reflect for months about what might have been.

The Jets will look to three instances in this game where they could have either had momentum on their side or put themselves in a position where they would have put the threat of a possible upset into the minds of the Colts.

When they did not capitalize, the ending was almost predictable.

Early in the first quarter after the Jets sacked Manning and forced a punt, they drove 45 yards down the field to the Colts 26. Attempting to get the first three points of the game, Jay Feely would miss a 44 yard field goal to keep the game scoreless. It was an early victory for the Colts and a bad sign that the offense was able to move the ball effectively early and still come away with zero points once they were inside the 30.

This would be slightly negated by the Jets great red zone defense limiting Manning The Great and offense to two field goals, including a tremendous goal line stand at the 1 when he attempted to push forward three feet and the defense would not let him move an inch.

With the Jets now leading 14-6 late in the second quarter, they got another big break as Calvin Pace forced Joseph Addai to lose the football and Jim Leonhard recovered. The ball was now at the Colts 29 and upset was in the air.
Could the Jets really do this?

A touchdown would have put made the margin 15 and would have sent their confidence through the roof. At the same time, Lucas Oil Stadium would have the feeling and silence of a funeral procession.

The offense elected not to go for their Colts throats and instead slit their own wrists. A conservative run call was then met by a false start penalty and a four yard loss by Thomas Jones on another running play. Eventually, it was fourth down and Feely was back on to try a 48 yard field that he would make this time.

17-6 is different than 21-6. With enough time on the clock, it gave Manning the opportunity to lead his team down the field to score a touchdown before the half. The Jets defense had not necessarily stopped the Colts offense as much as it was timely defense. Surely, there was no way that the Jets were going to limit Manning and his offense in this championship game to only six points.

On cue, it took only four plays and just under one minute for Manning to drive down and stick the ball in the end zone. For all they had done to that point, the lead was only 17-13 and both the Colts and the crowd were back into the game.

When Jets elected to preserve the lead by running out the clock instead of attempting to increase their lead, storm clouds began to hover.

Those storm clouds grew dark when the Jets faced a fourth down at the Colts 35 yard line needing seven yards. In essence, the game was on the line right here.

There were three options to choose from in this situation.

Option 1 was to kick a 52-yard field goal with Feely. He already had made and missed kicks shorter than this one earlier in the game.

Making this field goal would have made the score 20-13, but still giving Manning a chance to tie the game anyway. A miss would give the Colts the ball at their 43, which would be a death sentence.

Option 2 would be to pooch punt the ball and pin them inside the 10. Problem is that if the execution fails, this would equate to giving up 14 yards of field possession, giving them the ball on a touchback at the 20.

Translation: It makes no sense.

This leaves us with Option 3, and that is to go for it. Settling for field goals in this game against Manning is another way of asking to lose the battle. Punting was not an option and going for it was the best chance of winning the game and keeping Manning off the field as long as possible. If you do not convert, you give them the ball at that spot and take your chances.

Essentially, you ask yourself whether your percentages were higher kicking a 52-yard field goal or attempting to convert on fourth down. Both seems to be in the same vicinity, so you may as well take your chances.

Instead, Rex Ryan elected for the Feely field goal and he missed for the second time in the game. Manning took the ball at his own 43 and eight plays later, the Colts were on top and the game was all but over. After trailing by 11, Indianapolis scored the game’s final 24 points, shutting the Jets out 17-0 in the final 30 minutes.

Perhaps the Jets still would have lost anyway. However, they had their chance and you don’t know when that opportunity will come around again.

It was there for the taking.

They just couldn’t take it.

NFL Playoffs Talk – AFC Championship Game: Fun while it lasted

Manning, Colts end Jets playoff run

INDIANAPOLIS – When the Jets were leading by 11 points late in the second quarter, there was a real sense that this improbable journey they have been on since the beginning of the playoffs may actually end up in South Florida for the Super Bowl.
Peyton Manning would have none of it.

To get to that ultimate game, they were going to have to find a way to continue to slow down the Colts and their weapons. Relentless pressure and two red zone stops inside the 10 kept their offense to six points, but he was not going to be held down much longer.

The Jets, possessors of the NFL’s top-rated defense had no answers for stopping Manning as he continues to make the case as the greatest quarterback to ever step on an NFL field. A touchdown just before the half trimmed the lead before the half, followed up with 17 unanswered second-half points in their 30-17 AFC title game win to end the Jets season on a somber note after a memorable postseason.

While they walk away losers and ponder a golden opportunity wasted, they leave knowing that they were indeed beaten by a better team and can look ahead to a promising future. The Colts, returning to the Super Bowl for the second time in four season, have not lost a game (16-0) in which their starters have played four quarters, and show to be the superior team.

After limiting the Colts to four plays and a punt on their first possession, the Jets moved the ball from their own 29 to the Colts 26, but kicker Jay Feely missed a 44 yard field goal that would have given them the first points of the game. Indianapolis would drive down later in the quarter into the red zone before settling for a 25 yard Matt Stover field goal.

It took one play for the Jets to answer.

On a play action, Mark Sanchez got safety Antonie Bethea to bite and found an open Braylon Edwards streaking deep down the left sideline, beating cornerback Jacob Lacey for an 80-yard touchdown strike to take the lead 7-3.

Manning moved the offense down the field, but once again the Jets defense stiffened on the successive plays with the ball resting on the 4. Needing one yard for a touchdown to go ahead, Manning tried a quarterback sneak up the middle, but great interior penetration and Calvin Pace coming off the edge shut the play down, forcing another Stover field goal.

Breaking out their bag of tricks, the Jets surprised the Colts when Brad Smith, running out the Wildcat, faked the option to the right and throw deep to an open Jerricho Cotchery for 45 yards. Three plays later, Sanchez stood in the pocket, took a hit, but found tight end Dustin Keller in the end zone for a touchdown at 14-6 lead.

More good fortune would come when Pace made a stop on running back Joseph Addai in the backfield causing a fumble that safety Jim Leonhard recovered at the Colts 29 on the very next possession. However, instead of creating serious distance scoring a touchdown, a false start and then a four yard loss by Thomas Jones set the offense back. This led to a 48-yard field goal by Feely to increase the margin to 17-6.

It took Manning four plays and 58 seconds to cut the lead to 17-13 at halftime. The biggest play came on a 46-yard reception by Austin Collie down to the Jets 16. For all they had done for the first 30 minutes, they found themselves only leading by four points, which was an ominous sign.

With their defense shredded in the final minutes of the half, things became even worse when running back Shonn Greene left the game early in the third quarter with rib injury and did not return.

Needing seven yards on fourth down at the Colts 35, the Jets opted for a 52 yard field goal that Feely would miss to the right. Manning took advantage, moving his team 57 yards in 8 plays culminating in a beautiful four-yard touchdown fade pass to Pierre Garcon, who kept his toes in bounds.

It was the Colts first lead of the game and the 11 point advantage once held by the Jets had been eliminated. Momentum was on the side of Indianapolis and there was nothing that can be to take it back. Two punts by the Jets followed drives that did move the ball into Colts territory and Manning had his offense back out to the field against at their own 20.

Putting this game away, Manning embarked on a championship winning drive. After two first down receptions by Collie and tight end Dallas Clark, a 15 yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the Jets 19. Two plays later, Manning would find an open Clark over the middle for a touchdown and 10 point lead 27-17.

It all came to an end with 2:11 remaining when Sanchez, trying to rally his team back with the score now 30-17, had his pass deflected and intercepted by Kelvin Hayden at the Colts 46.

The interception was Sanchez’s only mistake of the game. In the biggest game of his career, he was not afraid of the moment, finishing the game completing 17 of 30 passes for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns. 100 yard receiving games came by both Edwards and Cotchery. Keller hauled in six receptions for 63 yards.

However it was Manning that ruled the day. The four-time MVP completed 29 of 36 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. He played like the ultimate field general, directing his team and taking apart the league’s top rated defense.

Garcon (151 yards) and Collie (123 yards) each had big receiving games while Clark and Reggie Wayne were held in check, which is little consolation to this Jets team that played valiantly and prideful despite falling in defeat.

Giants Talk: This cannot stand

Change needs to be in order

MINNESOTA – Two games.

Two thorough beatings.

One worst than the other.

When it was over, finally over, the only thing substantive comment Coach Tom Coughlin could only muster that his team “tried” in his postgame press conference.

If you remember the movie “Any Given Sunday”, a scene was reminiscent to what this Giants team looked like.

In the scene, the team in disintegration shows little effort in being killed in the game and in the shower area of the locker room, both the quarterback Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) and running back Julian Washington (LL Cool J) get into a fight that the coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) ends up breaking up.

He screams, “Stop! Stop this now.”

Unfortunately, Coughlin couldn’t do or say anything to prevent his team from if not quitting (he said they didn’t) on Sunday. Aptly put, the veteran team that he put his trust in not only failed, but also lied down like dogs.

“30 years in football, I’ve never seen something that stinks like this.”

In the world of 24-hour news cycles, message board and sports talk radio, had he said what he really thought, the tabloids would be screaming.

Therefore, he couldn’t use the unfiltered terms that he wanted to use thus tried to make everyone act like fools when he would later say that stalled offense and penalties were the reasons for “The Lay Down: Act II”.

“Today out there, D’Amato continued. “ You embarrassed yourselves. Today I’m ashamed to be your coach.”

This edition was worse than what took place at Giants Stadium last week and that is saying a lot considering the utter disgrace that performance was. All week the team tried to promote the good word about wanting to close strong and go out on a positive note to save face on what was a lost season.

It was all a joke.

They came to Minnesota in search of Giants pride and left as a team suddenly infected by a virus of certain players having individual agendas, declining players, and some lacking the ability to compete anymore.

All this came to a head in the final two games of this roller coaster ride of a season. One that started promising and ended with not only missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, but also ending in such non-competitive fashion that alarms must go off.

Change was already in order after the loss to Carolina, but this 44-7 demolishing by the Vikings, serious reform needs to take place.

The stench of this season is going to be felt all through the winter. Upheaval needs to happen in order for this team to rebound and get back to being Super Bowl contenders.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan clinched his fate last Sunday, but put the final nails into his coffin with another 30 point half and above 40 point performance by his defense. When asked last week why he should return, he stated because he described himself as “competent” and “diligent”, despite none of that found its way to the field as a combination of his communication skills, defensive schemes and teams overall effort were far below expectations coming into this season.

When given the job, the mandate to him essentially was “don’t screw it up.” This proved to be an epic failure with numerous missed assignments and alleged “miscommunications” all causing enormous breakdowns in coverage and on running plays.

All of this led to the team giving up 427 points on the year, 360 coming after the team’s 5-0 start. Giving up 36 points a game is too much for any offense to overcome. This is all before the atrocious red zone defense that allowed teams into the end zone at a rate of nearly 70 percent.

However, Sheridan is not totally to blame for this mess. These defensive players failed him and did so miserably.

Justin Tuck injured his shoulder in the win at Dallas after Flozell Adams tripped him. Though he did not miss a game, he wore a harness for safety, clearly rendering his effectiveness the rest of the season.

Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield did not provide the interior presence needed to collapse the pocket and establish the line of scrimmage. Coupled with Osi Umenyiora’s either unproductive play or unwillingness to play 100% due to his initial rift with Sheridan before the year ever started potentially sabotaged any real chance the he had.

The average linebackers played below average. This magnified the eventual secondary problems once Kenny Phillips injured his knee and was lost for the season. CC Brown was not a capable back and Michael Johnson regressed. When things got rough, The Giants signed Aaron Rouse off the Packers practice squad to little success.

It’s obvious what the needs are on that side of the ball. A stud defensive tackle either via the draft (think Terrance Cody) or free agency (think Vince Wilfork). Add to the list one more linebacker if not two. In addition, upgrades in the secondary.

The special teams needed an overhaul. Giving teams the ball at the 35 yard because the kicker can’t kick the ball into the end zone is unacceptable and this is before the abominable kick coverage displayed this season. This creates short field for the already porous defense to defend.

The offensive line has seen their better days. David Diehl did an admirable job at left tackle, but he’ll need to be moved. Rich Seubert played through a bad shoulder, but he cannot start anymore. Kareem McKenzie has back and knee issues he dealt with and his replacement Will Beatty waits on the bench.

As the Giants far away?

Not in the NFL. However, it is clear that they to design their team to find a way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles at some point in the near future, and to have a defense capable of slowing down the numerous spread offenses that have begun to permeate the NFC.

In addition, Coughlin is not absolved from criticism too. When asked about his ability to accurately read his team’s psyche, he was not able to. As the breakdowns continued along with the losing, he continued to say that he did not know what was going on.

As Sheridan’s defense was failing miserably, he did nothing to step in and stop the bleeding. In the end, the same players he put his faith in, quit on him. Is his message getting through to the players? Has he lost them?

For one thing, Coughlin has to win next year. Simply making the playoffs is not enough. With one year remaining on his contract after the 2010 season, if the Giants do not win at least one playoff game, he will (and justifiably so) be fired.

Winning the Super Bowl doesn’t give you a lifetime pass no matter how special that moment was in Glendale, Arizona. Changes have to be made swift and decisively.

Otherwise, the change will start with Coughlin and his people.

The off-season awaits.

Giants Talk: One for the dogs

Giants lay down in season finale


MINNEAPOLIS – After last week’s dismal performance at home that ended their playoff hopes, the Giants talked all week that they wanted to use the final game against the Vikings as a way to restore some pride from this lost season.

It was all lip service.

With the Vikings needing the game to enhance their chances for a bye week, the Giants made sure that would happen, starting their vacation early as they rolled over for the second straight game, losing 44-7, mercifully finishing the season a disappointing 8-8.

The dog nature in which they lost again one week after being humiliated at home last week is sure to have repercussions throughout the organization. Losing their last two games by a combined score of 85-16 is a black mark on a proud franchise. Anything not resembling serious change before the start of next season would be insulting to its own paying customers.

Why they bothered to make the trip to Minnesota for this game is anyone’s guess. Forfeiting would not have been a bad option if such a thing existed. However, on a day where other teams around the league also eliminated that played with effort, this Giants team showed none of it, leading many to believe that run that they have had with this group of players needs to be broken up and that simple tweaking will not be enough.

Brett Favre and the Vikings offense to march quickly down field for a touchdown against a Giants defense showing little resistance. Going 60 yards in five plays, Favre found former Giants Visanthe Shiancoe for a 10-yard touchdown pass to jump on top early.

With the score 10-0 in the second quarter, Minnesota started with possession at the own 9 and drove 91 yards, culminating in a one-yard touchdown to up the lead to 17-0. The lead would later grow to 24 when Sidney Rice hauled in a perfect Favre pass in the corner of the end zone despite good coverage from Terrell Thomas.

Things would snowball when Eli Manning short pass over the middle to Kevin Boss deflected into the air, intercepted by Chad Greenway at the Giants 40. With 0:11 left in the half, Favre found Rice again for a 12-yard touchdown to increase the whipping to a laughable 31-0 at halftime.

It was the fourth time this season the defense allowed 30 or more points in a half and seventh time allowing that amount in a game. When it was over, the 41 points given up increased the final season total to 427, was the most points allowed by the franchise since 1966 when they gave up 501.

Minnesota racked up 343 yards of offense in the half and Favre was 19-of-23 for 271 yards. The only silver lining was Steve Smith got the three receptions needed to reach the century mark.

The score was 37-0 and still Manning was in the game, presuming for him to reach the 4,000 passing yard barrier despite a heavy, consistent pass rush. At his own 15, Jared Allen sacked Manning and forced a fumble that would eventually recover. Three plays later, the Vikings were at the one-yard line facing fourth-and-goal. With the Giants not showing any ability to stop them, Minnesota elected to go for it. Whether it was disrespectful of not is irrelevant, because the defense had yet to make a stand all season. True to form, Favre on a play-action found Tahi wide open in the end zone for a touchdown as the lead ballooned to 44.

It was the fifth time this season the Giants yielded 40 or more points in a game. Not since 1971 had the team allowed at least 40 points in back-to-back games.

How bad was the defense? Similar to games against the Saints, Eagles and Panthers, the drive summaries were ugly. Minnesota scored on eight of its nine possessions.

Manning finally eclipsed the 4,000-yard passing mark in the fourth quarter as the offense scored for the first time when Danny Ware scored on a one-yard run as the Vikings had already removed most of their starters.

Chances are that even if Minnesota did not play its starters, the Giants likely had no chance anyway.

It was a fitting end to the season.

Dogs.