Colts Beware! Peaking Jets No Fluke

Who'd have thunk it? The New York Jets with a rookie coach and quarterback are taking the field today for a crack at the AFC crown against the Indianapolis Colts.

Not many think the Jets deserve to be in this AFC title match up. Just ask any fanatic in San Diego feeling like a jilted bride forsaken at the altar.

For sure, most Indy fans are thinking the Jets are illegitimate contenders. They reason that the Jets would not have even made it into the playoffs had not Coach Jim Caldwell pulled QB Peyton Manning and other key Indy starters in the third quarter of a game the Jets went on to win at the Colts' home turf. That victory opened the door for the Jets to squeak in to where they are now.

There are even sports radio geeks in New York who buy into the theory the Jets were lucky Caldwell passed on a shot at a perfect season by resting his starters and making sure none of them got injured in a meaningless game for them.

I don't buy into that theory at all. I think Coach Caldwell sat out his starters in that third quarter of that Jet game because he respects the ferocious defense Jets Coach Rex Ryan has assembled in New York. Caldwell was smart not to risk any of his key players getting hurt in a game they did not need.

Jet Coach Rex Ryan, QB Mark Sanchez and the entire "Gang Green" cast have catapulted from that first meeting with the Colts and are knocking at the door of the most improbable of opportunities.

The Jets are peaking when it matters most. Manning and the Colts' feasted on a buffet of mistakes served up by the Baltimore Ravens. Don't look for the Jets' fast and ferocious defense to be as generous as the Ravens.

Ryan brings to Indianapolis a team schooled in ball control with two big running backs and an even bigger offensive line that will wear down the defense in the course of 60 minutes. It's old fashioned football that would make Vince Lombardi smile.

That brings us to Game Day. Today, there can be no holding back for either team. The winner goes to the Super Bowl against the survivor between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints.

For sure, the Colts deserve to go into the AFC title game as overwhelming favorites. Yet, to say the Jets don't have a chance is to forget NFL history. Lets, see. Oh, yeah, like that 1969 Super Bowl in which an upstart New York Jets team beat the odds by beating a certain Baltimore team. Sorry about that Colts fans.