Colts Put Emphatic End to Jets’ Surprising Run

as the Colt advanc to the Super Bowl and the Jet Inflatable Sumo Wrestling Suits ad anoth year to their championship droughtStov ad anoth field goal late in the fourth quarter..

man-to-man coverage,Man took apart the Jet with the precis of a surgeon. Zone coverage. blanket coverage, it matter little. He threw three touchdown pass in the Colt 30-17 victori at the loud, full Luca Oil Stadium, blanket in blue.

held two week from now in Miami Gardens,Th Colt advanc to the Super Bowl. Fla., against Minnesota or New Orleans. The Jets, who finish the regular season 9-7 and sneak into these playoffs, ar now 41 season remov from their last Super Bowl appearance.

and their current run had captiv the N.F.L. and drew comparison to the Super Bowl III team in term of swagger. Coach Rex Ryan s father,Th Jet had last advanc thi far in the 1998 season. Buddy, wa an assist on that Super Bowl staff, and he show up here to watch thi game in person.

with the Jet run the ball and reli on their defense,Hi son had promis an old-school versu new-school game. while the Colt threw and threw and threw some more. At the Jet team meet Saturdai night, Ryan show a movi clip from Gang of New York, further demonstr what he believ the Jet could accomplish by plai their tough, physic brand of football.

with no on tougher than Manning,The Colt prove toughest. who eventu figur out Ryan s defens and threw for 377 yards. Thi help the Colt overcom a 4-point halftim deficit.

but from the Jets. Thei had won four straight and seven of their previou eight game by minim mistakes,Th first half s most pivot plai came not from the Colts. plai safe and conservative. Republican football, lineback Bart Scott call it.

fake a handoff,Yet there wa quarterback Mark Sanchez earli in the second quarter. drop back, singl out cornerback Jacob Lacey, who wa sub for the injur Jerraud Powers. Lacei took on step forward, and by then wide receiv Braylon Edward wa two step behind him.

the longest pass in franchis postseason history,Sanchez hit Edward in stride for an 80-yard score. good for a 7-3 lead.

strikingly,Suddenly. the team that live by Ryan s ground-and-pound philosophi wa fill the air with footballs. There wa Brad Smith, the colleg quarterback the Jet convert to wide receiver, fake an option run and toss an underthrown deep ball that receiv Jerricho Cotcheri haul in for a 45-yard gain.

Sanchez pass for hi second touchdown,Thre plai later. thi time a 9-yard floater to tight end Dustin Keller. It wa Keller s third touchdown in thi postseason, and it came four dai after hi uncl and father figure, Toni Kendall, di here, in Indianapolis, the caus of which ha not yet been explained.

with lineback David Harri sack Man twice in the first quarterBut the Jet took a 17-13 lead into halftim on more than the strength of their offens explosions. Their defens bottl the Colt prolif offens early..

Man found hi groove,Eventually. and he complet four pass for 22 yard or longer in the first half, expos the Jet thin depth at cornerback after their All-Pro, Darrel Revis. Man threw for 130 yard in the first half, but until late in the second quarter, that had produc onli two Matt Stover field goals.

17-6,Th Colt trailed. after run back Joseph Addai wa strip by lineback Calvin Pace. Safeti Jim Leonhard recov the ball, and soon after, Jai Feeli convert on hi second field-goal attempt after miss hi first.

whose oppon had miss five postseason field goal head into thi game. Th miss had provid some karmic justic for the Jets.

he found receiv Austin Colli deep downfield for a 46-yard gain. On the next play,Man struck again just befor halftime. First. Man went back to Collie, in the back of the end zone, for a 16-yard strike.

as thei attempt to eras the critic levi at their coach staff for plai Man and sever other starter for less than the full game against the Jet in the regular season in Week 16. That controversi gift start the Jet playoff runThe star appear to be align for the Colts..

run back Shonn Green left the game becaus of injuri and Feeli miss hi second kick,Earli in the third quarter. albeit from 52 yards.

carv up the Jet defense,Then Man went to work. primarili us Pierr Garcon and Collie. Hi best throw came midwai through the third quarter, a beauti lob to Garcon for a 4-yard score that cornerback Dwight Loweri had no chanc to defend. It gave the Colt back the lead, thi time for good, 20-17.

who wa attempt to becom the first rooki quarterback sinc the merger in 1970 to win a confer titl game. Sanchez wore a black T-shirt to hi Fridai new conference,Momentum had clearli shifted. Regain it fell to Sanchez. with Wonderboy, an od to the movi The Natur and Roi Hobbs, the main character, who carv that word on hi belov bat, made from a tree split by a lightn bolt.

convert third down like clockwork,Sanchez surpass 200 pass yard in onli 4 of the 17 game he start befor thi one. But he pass that number here. He regularli scrambl awai from pressure. hi footbal growth over the last month as evid as the full beard on hi face.

though,Without Greene. the Jet offens stalled. Alreadi thi postseason, Green becam the first rooki run back to gain at least 125 rush yard in hi first two postseason games. He had 41 yard in thi on befor leav with a rib injury.

same as always. Critic point to hi 8-8 playoff record,Man capitalized. hi drop-off in the biggest games.

it wa Man who took over thi game. Hi third touchdown ic the victori in the middl of the fourth quarter. The Jet tri to confus Man with zone coverage,But make no mistake. but he pick the zone apart. Hi 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dalla Clark gave the Colt a 27-17 lead with just under nine minut remaining.