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Are the Jets the Real Deal?

Nearly a month ago, upon clinching the wild card, Jets coach, Rex Ryan boldly pronounced that his team should be favorites to take this years Super Bowl title. At first, this prediction seemed little more than the optimistic ramblings of a new coach trying to pump up a mediocre 11-7 Jets team. No one took the Jets as a serious threat to make a run in the payoffs.

However, four weeks later, this prediction seems less ridiculous and more prophetic every time the Jets take the field. While Sanchez is certainly no Favre, Manning, or Brady his performance in the playoffs thus far has been solid, certainly an improvement on the regular season. He has stepped up and taken the reins of the Jets offense, becoming a patient and accurate passer. Watching him march the ball down the field twice in the fourth quarter to finish the Jets latest, come from behind, victory over the Chargers must have certainly let Jets fans everywhere breath a sigh of relief – this guys the real deal.

Credit much of Sanchez’s current success to the stellar performance of Shonne Greene, the prolific rookie running back who has come into his own stardom this playoff season. Greene rushed for 128 yards in the weekends victory, capped by a 53 yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter that put the Jets over the top. The Jets success on the ground has opened up the passing game, allowing Sanchez to pick apart opposing secondaries.

As far as defense is concerned, the Jets have been solid on this side of the ball all year and last weekend’s game was no different. Coming into the game, the Chargers were the number one scoring offense in the NFL, averaging around 28 points per game. Yet, the Jets held San Diego to 7 points in the first half and dominated the second half with two sacks and two key interceptions that gave Greene and Sanchez the chance to steal the game away.

Looking ahead to the Colts this week, the Jets are still the heavy underdogs in many circles. I’ll join the minority and say that if the Colts don’t show up with some kind of threat from the ground, the Jets defense will eat Peyton Manning alive. Rex Ryan’s squad is excellent at hiding coverage and bringing pressure from a variety of angles and will attempt to hassle the Colts all game long. If the defense is able to own the day look for Ryan’s game plan to mirror last weekend’s. The bulk of the running will be handled by the hard-nosed rookie, Greene, with Sanchez working heavily out of the play action. If things go the Jets way, it’ll be a low scoring game and a defensive struggle. In an era dominated by the fun ‘n’ gun pass attack, the Jets defense and rush oriented strategy is an appreciated gem of the past

The irony of the meeting only adds to the excitement of this contest. It was the Colts after-all, who benched their starters and dropped their last regular season games, giving the Jets the opportunity to sneak into the AFC wild-card. It would be poetic justice for the Colts to lose to Gang Green now.

Spencer Jones is a sophomore analyst with WPRB sports