A Gift for the Jets To Enjoy

Count this columnist as surprised to see what took place.

He figured the Colts would play all their starters in an attempt to go undefeated, but when an unhappy Peyton Manning stood in the sideline for most of the second half, it was a sign the Colts gave up.

It's hard to believe this is Jim Caldwell's call. Coaches like to win every game while executives seek to protect their players from injuries in games that mean nothing to their team.

Understandably, the audience at Lucas Oil Stadium booed the decision by the Colts.

The Jets hid their glee well by acting indifferent about Curtis Painter's presence at quarterback.

Painter predictably struggled to the point he made Kellen Clemens' critics appreciate what Clemens does.  The Jets created turnovers off the Colts backup quarterback, and that helped them destroy the Colts out in the second half by scoring off Painter's mistakes.

Rex Ryan's team does not have to apologize for getting a victory here. They did what they had to do by finishing off a team that basically wanted to get out of the game without any injuries as they head to a Super Bowl run.

It would have been another Sunday of Jets doing what they do best had they lost this one so don't expect any complaining about this win.

Not only did the Jets won on the field, but they won off the field too when Denver, Jacksonville, Miami and Baltimore lost their games.

They control their playoff destiny as a result of those both factors.

Now, the Jets must finish off the Bengals at home next Sunday night for them to make the playoffs, and that's feasible.

It's hard to believe Marvin Lewis will be trotting out his best Bengals players for that game. There's no reason for him to do that considering his team should be locked as the 4th seed on Wild-Card weekend.

Talking about being blessed right there. They face a team that will likely hand them a victory.

Not even the Jets can screw this one up no matter how hard they try.

It will likely be Jets/Patriots on Wild-Card weekend at Foxborough. That should be a great draw for the league.

It's remarkable how the Jets are in this position.

The critics counted them out so many times this year. They thought everything ended after last week's disappointing ending to the Falcons. Even Rex Ryan thought it was a lost cause when he admitted it in the start of the press conference after that game.

Fortunately for them, everything worked out with the other AFC teams losing games they should be winning.

It's also a credit to Ryan for getting his players to keep playing even when it looked like it's a lost cause.

Everyone thought the Giants would be the lone New York team in the playoffs, but it doesn't look that's going to happen after the team quit on themselves this afternoon in their final game at Giants Stadium.

It's up to the Jets now to represent the city for the playoffs.

Who would've thought everyone banking their hopes on the team?

Giants Stadium may not have had a good ending today by the landlords of the building, but an another tenant can close the building in style in the final game ever at that place.

Talk about a Christmas miracle.