The Jets came out flat and it cost them the game yesterday.  The Jets scored the last 19 points of this game but they were just to far back to prevail.  Mark Sanchez get an outstanding performance in the second half as he finished up this game by completing 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Shonn Greene had 9 carries for 52 yards (5.8 ypc) in this game and the Jets probably should have given him the ball more but hindsight is always 20/20.  LaDainian Tomlinson had a rough night with 9 carries for only 16 yards (1.8 ypc) in this game.  TE Dustin Keller led the way for the Jets in this game with 8 grabs for 64 yards (8.0 avg).  WRs Santonio Holmes (2 rec, 61 yards, TD), Braylon Edwards (3 rec, 50 yards) and Jerricho Cotchery (5 rec, 33 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Jets in the passing game yesterday.  The Jets finished up with 70 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 33 passes for 219 yards as they had possession of the football for 25:19.

The defense gave up a lot of rushing yards in the first half but they really tightened up in the second half as they shut out the Steelers.  LB David Harris (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and CB Darrelle Revis (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed) led the way for the Jets on D in this game.  DE/DT Mike DeVito (7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and a safety) and safety Brodney Pool (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also had solid games for the Jets last night.  OLB Bryan Thomas pitched in with 1 tackle, 1 pass defensed and a interception.  The Steelers finished up with 166 yards rushing on 43 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 10 of 19 passes for 121 yards.

This was a hard way for the Jets’ season to end.  But they have nothing to hang their heads about as they had a outstanding season.

The Jets have to feel very confident coming into this game.  They have just beaten Tom Brady and Peyton Manning on the road so they are not intimidated at all by the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger.  The Jets beat the Steelers 22-17 on Heinz Field just five weeks ago so they are confident they can knock them out of the playoffs tomorrow.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are going to come out running the ball with Shonn Greene & LaDainian Tomlinson.  Despite the Steelers having a great run defense, I think the Jets are going to rush for over 100 yards tomorrow.  If the establish the running game, I look for Mark Sanchez to have success throwing the ball downfield to WRs Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Santonio Holmes.  The Steelers corners are vastly overrated so I expect the WRs to make their share of big plays as long as the Jets’ O-Line can keep OLBs James Harrison & LaMarr Woodley out of the backfield. 

When the Steelers have the ball:  Rashard Mendenhall had some success running against the Jets the first time around but I don’t think he’ll be so lucky tomorrow.  ILBs Bart Scott & David Harris are going to be keying Mendenhall all night long and I don’t expect him to come anywhere near the 99 yards he had in the first meeting.  The Jets will likely be blitzing the outside linebackers a lot in this game to put pressure on Ben Roethlisberger.  Because, if he has too much time to throw, he’s going to make plays down the field.  The Jets’ inital plan is to have Darrelle Revis on Hines Ward and Antonio Cromartie on Mike Wallace, but that could change.  I like both of those matchups for the Jets.

PREDICTION:  JETS 17, STEELERS 16

The Jets acquired 26-year old WR Santonio Holmes from the Steelers last summer for a 5th round pick!  That was a gift that keeps giving for the Jets.  Holmes wants to make the Steelers pay for letting him go and he will get multiple chances to do just that at Heinz Field tomorrow.  Holmes has only caught 7 passes for 66 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab in his first two playoff games.  I expect Holmes to be much more motivated than he was last month against the Steelers when he caught 6 passes for 40 yards (6.7 avg).  The Jets would like nothing more than to see Holmes flying like an airplane early and often tomorrow!

The Jets have been getting solid production out of their RBs so far this post season.  25-year old Shonn Greene has carried the ball 36 times for 146 yards (4.1 ypc) and he has also caught 1 pass for 9 yards in his first two playoff games.  31-year old LaDainian Tomlinson has carried the ball 26 times for 125 yards (4.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has also caught 8 passes for 19 yards (2.4 avg) with a TD grab so far in the playoffs.  The Steelers have a great run defense but that’s not going to intimidate the Jets as Shonn Greene & L.T. combined to rush for 89 yards on 23 carries (3.9 ypc) against the Steelers in the Jets’ 22-17 win over them at Heinz Field last month.  Sanchez is going to need the ground support to open up plays down the field off of play action so they hope that Greene & L.T. step up tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

Just like last season, 24-year old QB Mark Sanchez has picked up his play during the post season.  In his first two playoff games this year, he has completed 34 of 56 passes (60.7%) for 383 yards with 3 TD passes and 1  INT (91.6 QB Rating).  The Jets hope that he will be better this time around than he was in the AFC Championship last season.  That being said, Sanchez is a remarkable 4-1 in the post-season in his first two years in the league and all of those games were on the road.  The Jets beat the Steelers earlier this year on Heinz Field (22-17) and they will need Sanchez to protect the ball to duplicate that result.  Sanchez completed 19 of 29 passes (65.5%) for 170 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (81.1 QB Rating) against the Steelers in December.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) with a TD run in that game.  This is Mark Sanchez’ chance to follow in the footsteps of Joe Namath.

The Jets backed up all of their trash talk by taking down the Patriots in New England yesterday.  Mark Sanchez had his best game in a long time as he completed 16 of 25 passes for 194 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Shonn Greene led the way on the ground for the Jets yesterday with 17 carries for 76 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  LaDainian Tomlinson pitched in with 43 yards rushing on 10 carries (4.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 2 yards with a TD grab.  WRs Jerricho Cotchery (5 rec, 96 yards), Braylon Edwards (2 rec, 52 yards, TD) and Santonio Holmes (3 rec, 20 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Jets yesterday.  The Jets finished up with 120 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 25 passes for 194 yards despite only having the ball for 25:04.

The Jets sacked Tom Brady five times yesterday and that got into his head as he hurried some throws that he usually completes.  LB David Harris led the way for the Jets in this game with 12 points, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and a interception that he returned 58 yards.  Safety Eric Smith was also outstanding yesterday with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and a recovery on the Patriots’ last onside kick to seal the win for the Jets.  DE Shaun Ellis pitched in with 5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  The Patriots finished up with 113 yards on 28 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 45 passes for 259 yards.  The Jets will move on to the AFC Championship in Pittsburgh next week.  The Jets have already beaten the Steelers at Heinz Field this year.

Rex Ryan and some of the Jets’ players have been talking a lot of trash this weekend leading up to Sunday’s afternoon’s tilt in New England.  The Patriots don’t seem to be biting as they are likely going to be doing their talking on the field.  The Jets whipped the Patriots 28-14 on September 19 in New Jersey.  But the rematch on December 6th is a day the Jets’ keeping trying to forget as the Patriots applied a 45-3 beating to them!  Here is a look at the rubber match:

When the Jets have the ball:  The best chance the Jets have of pulling an upset is to run the ball to try to control the clock.  That means that LaDainian Tomlinson & Shonn Greene are going to have to keep moving the chains against the Patriots’ D.  The Patriots don’t have much of a pass rush so Mark Sanchez should have time to throw the ball.  He will have to be smart with the ball though as the Patriots have some ballhawks in the secondary.  Look for Sanchez to spread the ball around to Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller in the passing game this Sunday.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Jets have to go all out to try to stop Tom Brady.  They need to get a good pass rush on him (easier said than done) because if he has time to throw the ball he’s going to dice up the Jets’ secondary.  The reason is that Brady never keys on throwing to one guy which makes him almost impossible to defense because double covering any of his WRs or TEs is just plain dumb.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis & Danny Woodhead gave the Patriots a very underrated running game so the front seven of the Jets will have to deal with them.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 30, JETS 23

The Jets have placed 33-year old starting RT Damien Woody on the Injured Reserve List due to a torn Achilles tendon.  Woody started 13 games for the Jets this year and he is considered the best run blocker on the team.  He has now played in 45 games (all starts) in his three years with the Jets.  This is a huge blow to the Jets going into the big showdown with the Patriots in Foxboro this weekend.  29-year old Wayne Hunter will replace Woody in the starting lineup and the team hopes he steps up.  Hunter has played in 14 games (4 starts) for the Jets this year and he has played in 44 games (5 starts) in his three years with the Jets.

The Jets looked like they were in trouble when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 50-yard field goal for the Colts to put them up 16-14 with only 53 seconds left in the game.  But that’s when the Jets went to work.  It all started when CB Antonio Cromartie returned the kickoff 47 yards to set up nice starting field position for Mark Sanchez & the Jets’ offense.  A couple of decent passes later the Jets were in field goal range when head coach Jim Caldwell of the Colts called a timeout with 29 seconds left.  That allowed the Jets to take their time calling the next play on which Braylon Edwards made an outstanding catch along the sidelines.  That set up Jets’ kicker Nick Folk for a 32-yard game winning field goal!

The Jets’ gameplan was to hog the ball on offense and keep the Colts’ offense off the field and that’s exactly what they did in this game.  Mark Sanchez was so-so as he completed 18 of 31 passes for 189 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  But, he did make the big throws during crunch time in the fourth quarter.  LaDainian Tomlinson led the way for the Jets on the ground in this game with 82 yards rushing on 16 carries (5.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 4 passes for 17 yards (4.3 avg).  Shonn Greene also had a decent game as he carried the ball 19 times for 70 yards (3.7 ypc) in this game.  WRs Braylon Edwards (4 rec, 62 yards), Santonio Holmes (4 rec, 46 yards) and TE Dustin Keller (3 rec, 42 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Jets.  The Jets finished up with 169 yards rushing on 38 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 31 passes for 184 yards as they had possession of the ball for 33:07.

Safety Eric Smith (10 tackles, 2 passes defensed), LB David Harris (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and safety Brodney Pool (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Jets’ on D yesterday.  But, CB Darrelle Revis was the star of the game for the Jets on D as he held Reggie Wayne to 1 catch for 1 yard!  The Colts finished up with 93 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 26 passes for 219 yards.  The Jets have earned another trip to Foxboro to deal with the Patriots next weekend.

This should be a very interesting football game tomorrow night.  The Jets are 6-2 on the road this year and they are looking to avenge a 30-17 loss on this very field last January in the AFC Championship Game.  The Colts have played much better at home (6-2) then on the road (4-4) this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are without a doubt going to come out running the ball against the Colts tomorrow night.  Shonn Greene, LaDainian Tomlinson & Brad Smith are likely going to do a lot of damage against a Colts’ D that is allowing 127.0 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  If the Jets’ O-Line gives Mark Sanchez time to throw the ball he could be deadly in play action tomorrow as the Colts’ secondary isn’t too good.  WR Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Santonio Holmes will stretch the Colts’ pass D softening things up for TE Dustin Keller on the shorter stuff.

When the Colts have the ball:  The Jets’ front seven should be able to stuff the Colts’ running game as Joseph Addai, Donald Brown and Dominic Rhodes couldn’t scare a good college team.  It all comes down to putting pressure on Peyton Manning and the only way to do that is to blitz him some.  I have a feeling that Jason Taylor might have at least one more big game in him and it might come in Indy.  Darrelle Revis will likely be covering Reggie Wayne the whole game but Manning will still throw the ball his way, so Revis needs to win that battle for the Jets to win.  Antonio Cromartie will likely be matched up with Pierre Garcon quite a bit tomorrow night.  TE Jacob Tamme and WR Blair White could wind up being the keys to the Colts’ offense tomorrow night.

PREDICTION:  JETS 26, COLTS 20