There were several reasons New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan was looking forward to Sunday night’s showdown against his old defense on Sunday night.

First, it was Ryan’s first visit back to the place where he made a name for himself as a coordinator while building one of the NFL’s most feared defenses.

Second, Ryan wanted to pay back his former team for locking down his new team during the Baltimore Ravens’ 10-9 victory over the Jets’ in the teams’ season opener at the Meadowlands last year.

And, finally, after starting this season with a pair of home victories before losing in Oakland last week, and with a divisional showdown looming with New England next week, the Jets simply needed a win.

But, in an unconventional, record-setting game, Ryan’s offense couldn’t do much against his old team for a second straight year, during a 34-17 loss at M& T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

While the Jets got two returns for touchdowns and held the Ravens’ offense to just 13 points, 16 first downs, and only 267 total yards, New York’s offense was even more anemic in a game that featured seven turnovers and an NFL record five touchdown returns.

Last year, the Ravens (3-1) held the Jets (2-2) to just six first downs and 176 total yards.

This year, Baltimore was only slightly more generous in allowing eight first downs, but the Ravens were even stingier than a year ago when it came to yardage allowed, giving up just 150 total yards.

Baltimore came after New York quarterback Mark Sanchez (11-35, 119 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) early and often.

On the Jets’ first play from scrimmage, Sanchez was hit by veteran pro bowl safety Ed Reed and fumbled. Linebacker Jameel McClain returned the loose ball six yards to give Baltimore a 7-0 lead 3:02 into the game.

Kick returner Joe McKinght however, took the ensuing kickoff back 107 yards to tie the game, 7-7.

The Ravens responded on their next possession, going 70 yards on nine plays for a 38-yard field goal by kicker Billy Cundiff, to take a 10-7 lead with 6:27 left in the opening quarter.

A Jets’ three-and-out on New York’s next drive, led to an eight-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by running back Ray Rice (25 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 64 yards), to give Baltimore a 17-7 lead with 1:14 left in the period.

In a game that saw over 50 points being scored, that was surprisingly the only touchdown scored from scrimmage.

Sanchez fumbled in New York territory on the Jets’ next possession, leading to another 38-yard field goal by Cundiff, which pushed Baltimore’s lead to 20-7 with 13:19 left in the first half.

The teams then traded punts before Sanchez fumbled again after another hit, as defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (a 2006 first-round pick by the Ravens) sacked the Jets’ battered quarterback, allowing linebacker Jarrett Johnson to race 26 yards with a fumble return that extended Baltimore lead to 27-7, with 8:11 left in the half.

While the Jets’ offense couldn’t score, their defense decided to put some points on the board instead.

Three plays after another New York three-and-out, Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco (10-31, 163 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) was intercepted by linebacker David Harris, who returned the ball 35 yards for his first career score to trim Baltimore’s advantage to 27-14, with 6:17 remaining before halftime.

The Jets then forced a Ravens’ three-and-out before New York finally mounted its first scoring drive, going 25 yards on seven plays for a 40-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk that drew the Jets to within 27-17, with 2:14 left in the half.

Neither team could move the ball much in the second half, as the only scoring of the half came on a 73-yard interception return by cornerback Lardarius Webb off of a Sanchez pass, with 8:49 left in the third quarter.

New York is in the midst of its first three-game road swing since 1982. Although they’ve had a lot of road playoff success each of the past two years, judging by the way the past two weeks have gone, if the Jets don’t turn things around at New England (3-1) next Sunday at 4:15 pm ET, they might hope for at least another 29 years before having to play three straight regular season road games again.

Once the current road stretch is done, the Jets will finally return to play at home (against Miami and San Diego) for two straight weeks before their bye week.

Sooner or later in the young regime of head coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez, the New York Jets might realize how to put together more than one good half of football in an AFC title game.

And, they might even discover how to reach that game without having to do it the hard way.

For the second straight year however, an end to the Jets’ long Super Bowl drought wasn’t meant to be.

One year after New York surprisingly rode a five seed to the AFC championship game only to get outscored 17-0 in the second half of a 30-17 loss to Indianapolis, the sixth-seeded Jets (13-6) ran out of road miracles in a 24-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (14-4) after falling behind 24-0 late in the first half of this year’s AFC title game at Heinz Field on Sunday.

Several times this season, New York looked like it might be a team of destiny, and for a while, it again appeared that way against the now Super Bowl-bound Steelers.

Six times this year – including five times on the road, once in the playoffs, and once, five weeks ago against Pittsburgh – the Jets had rallied from second-half deficits to pull out unlikely victories.

This time, the hole was just too big for New York to dig out of despite a terrific effort that turned a first-half laugher into a serious situation for the Steelers down the stretch.

The physical Steelers took it to the Jets in the opening half, pushing the New York’s offensive and defensive lines around with ease.

Behind a stout defense and an unstoppable running game, Pittsburgh outgained New York, 231-50 (135-1 on the ground), and held the ball for 21:04 to New York’s 8:56, while getting 16 of the game’s 21 first downs during the first half.

The tone was set early, on the game’s first drive.

Although the Jets began a Week 15 win in Pittsburgh with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Ryan decided to defer the opening kick, a decision for which New York would pay by subsequently allowing a long, punishing Pittsburgh drive.

The Steelers consumed 9:06 before the Jets touched the ball, going 66 yards on 15 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a first-down, one-yard touchdown plunge by running back Rashard Mendenhall, who rushed for a game-high 121 yards (95 in the first half) on 27 carries.

Pittsburgh then forced a punt on New York’s first possession and moved 55 yards to the Jets’ 32 yard-line, but a 4th-and-1 pass by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (10-19, 133 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT) deflected off of Mendenhall’s hands and was caught by linebacker Bryan Thomas for the first turnover of the game.

The Jets then had their first of three consecutive three-and-outs, the last of which, ended with what proved to be a decisive fumble return for a touchdown.

Before that, the Steelers would score on two straight possessions.

Pittsburgh went 60 yards on eight plays in 3:41, to lead 10-0, on a field goal by kicker Shaun Suisham with 6:54 left in the half, and traveled 66 yards on seven plays in 3:57 to extend its lead to 17-0 on a two-yard touchdown run by Roethlisberger with 2:05 to go in the half.

The backbreaker came three plays later for the Jets, as Sanchez (20-33, 233 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) fumbled after being hit from behind on a blitz by cornerback Ike Taylor. The only New York turnover was scooped up by cornerback William Gay, who raced 19 yards into the end zone to give the Steelers what eventually became an insurmountable 24-0 lead with 1:13 remaining before halftime.

Sanchez, who left the field after the play, holding his non-throwing left arm in considerable pain, showed some great toughness, immediately directing the Jets on their first scoring drive of the game.

He completed four passes to move New York 44 yards on seven plays in just 1:04, to set up kicker Nick Folk for a 42-yard field goal attempt which hooked left before fading right, just inside the left upright.

The kick trimmed the Steelers’ lead to 24-3, nine seconds before halftime, and just as importantly, gave the Jets a much-needed emotional boost which they carried into the second half.

Taking the second-half kickoff, New York struck quickly, going 90 yards on five plays in just 2:47, with half of the drive coming on a 45-yard touchdown bomb up the right side to wide receiver Santonio Holmes (2 catches, 61 yards). The former Steeler whose game-winning catch as a Super Bowl MVP won Super Bowl XLIII for Pittsburgh, pulled the Jets to within 24-10, just 2:38 into the third quarter.

The play was just the beginning of a second half that flipped around New York’s disastrous first half and gave the Jets some realistic hope late in the game.

New York outscored Pittsburgh 19-0 and outgained the Steelers 239-56 after halftime.

Roethlisberger moved Pittsburgh 35 yards and into Jets’ territory, but he was intercepted by safety Brodney Pool, and New York took over at its own 14 yard-line.

The teams then traded punts, before the Jets embarked on their longest drive of the game, only to come away empty.

The Jets went 80 yards on 17 plays in 8:06, as Sanchez threw incomplete on second and third down before running back LaDainian Tomlinson (9 carries, 16yards) was stopped on 4th-and-goal with 7:44 left in the game.

However, with starting center Maurkice Pouncey lost to an injury earlier in the game, a bad exchange on the next play led to Roethlisberger covering the ball up in the end zone for a safety in the same end zone in which the Jets had a key safety in the fourth quarter that helped them beat the Steelers in Week 15.

Trailing 24-12, New York drove for another score to get even closer, going 58 yards on ten plays in 4:32, cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 24-19, on a four-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (5 catches, 33 yards) with 3:09 remaining.

The Jets had all of the momentum and needed one more stop to give Sanchez and New York’s offense an opportunity to send the Jets back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1969.

But, it never came, as Roethlisberger, who hadn’t completed a pass In over 21 minutes, connected on a pair of 14-yard throws to clinch the win for the Steelers.

A completion to tight end Heath Miller (2 catches, team-high 38 yards) gave the Steelers a first down at the Jets’ 44 yard-line, and facing a 3rd-and-6 from the New York 40 yard-line with two minutes left, Roethlisberger completed to rookie wide receiver Antonio Brown (his only catch) for a first down to the Jets’ 26 yard-line.

Three Roethlisberger kneel-downs ran out the clock and ended the Jets’ dreams of once again defying long odds to reach their elusive Super Bowl.

The Steelers’ win marks the eighth straight year that one of this season’s top three AFC seeds, each with Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks – New England, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis – has represented the AFC in the Super Bowl.

The Jets were trying to finish off beating that trio of teams on Sunday, after playoff wins over Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, and over Tom Brady in New England, to reach Pittsburgh.

Instead, it’s a fairly safe bet that New York Jet fans, some of whom have been waiting as long as 42 years to finally see their team back in the Super Bowl, might be thinking, “If only the Jets could have put together last year’s first half and this year’s second half over the past two AFC title games, we wouldn’t be waiting anymore.”

But, as Sanchez said after the loss, “You can’t play 30 minutes in a game of this magnitude.”

Next, year, the Jets will again try to win the AFC East and avoid the tough road route to the Super Bowl, especially after starting last season 7-7 and winning two road playoff games each of the past two years only to come a game short of the Super Bowl in each year.

Just after Brown’s catch gave the Steelers the final first down they needed, Ryan ripped the headset off his head and threw it to the ground in disgust.

Reflecting later on, he said “I believe in our football team… We’ve got a lot of heart… Our team is resilient… I’m proud of our guys. We played a good half, we just never played a good game… There’s obviously a huge amount of disappointment… [but] our goal for next year won’t change… we’re going to chase that Super Bowl until we get it, and then we’re going to chase it again.”

When asked if he would have toned down the Jets’ brash, trash-talking nature, he responded defiantly, “I’d change the outcome of this game, that’s the only thing I’d change. We’ll be back and you’ll see… this football team’s going to be good for a number of years.”

Quite possibly, as the future for the Jets appears bright. But, for now, the team that very prematurely boasted of winning the Super Bowl since being filmed on HBO during the preseason, ends its season for a second straight year the way It began – with hard knocks, indeed.

In addition to writing for New York Sports Day, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com

Despite some typical early growing pains, the New York Jets have been very lucky to have had second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez leading their offense.

Sanchez came through as a rookie during a surprising playoff run that had the Jets 28 minutes from Super Bowl XLIV in last year’s AFC title game in Indianapolis.

This year, overcoming some struggles earlier in games, Sanchez repeatedly helped the Jets pull out several dramatic wins in the final moments, helping New York to a 9-2 record.

But after a 45-3 defeat in what was supposed to be a first-place showdown in New England, and a disappointing, rain-soaked, 10-6 loss to division rival Miami (7-6), Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan may not be feeling so lucky to have Sanchez and his signal caller anymore.

Prior to the Jets’ meeting with the Dolphins at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday, Ryan said “I think (the New England) loss was just a bump in the road. We’ll respond really well and we’ll know a lot about our team after these next four weeks.”

That “bump” just became a pretty big hill to climb as Ryan considered benching Sanchez during the third quarter of the Jets’ fourth single-digit offensive output (all losses) of the season.

The Jets’ offense has operated in extremes this year.

With Sanchez and the Jets’ offense clicking, New York (9-4) scored between 23 and 38 points, averaging 27.2 points per game, in their nine wins this season.

The Jets needed Sanchez and the offense to step up and bail out a defense that hasn’t been nearly as dominant as it was last year, when it was the top-ranked defense in the NFL.

In those nine victories, the Jets allowed 20 or more points six times.

The losses however, have been a completely different story, and that seems to have gotten to Ryan after the Jets’ first multiple-game losing streak of the season.

In three of the Jets’ four losses, New York’s defense did look like last year’s version, allowing just 10 points twice and nine points once, but Sanchez and the Jets’ offense was shut out once and never scored more than nine points in any of their four losses.

It’s now been more than nine quarters and over 139 minutes since the Jets last scored an offensive touchdown in the third quarter of a home win against Cincinnati on Thanksgiving night.

Sunday’s inaccurate and mistake-prone performance by Sanchez, affected by a steady rain throughout most of the game, was enough to prevent the Jets from beating the Dolphins even though New York held Miami to just five completed passes, 55 yards passing, and 131 total yards of offense.

It was the second time in as many seasons that Miami – which used two kickoff returns of at least 100 yards and a fumble return for a touchdown last year – beat the Jets on the road while being held to a little more than 100 yards of total offense (Miami beat New York 30-25 at Giants Stadium last November, while gaining just 104 total yards).

On Sunday, the Dolphins took a 10-0 first-quarter lead off of two Sanchez turnovers.

On the Jets’ second possession of the game, Miami converted a Sanchez interception into a 47-yard field goal. Sanchez then fumbled the next time the Jets had the ball, and Miami turned that break into the game’s only touchdown, a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chad Henne to wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

That would prove to be all the Dolphins would need, with Sanchez and the Jets’ offense sputtering for most of the game.

New York managed only 280 yards of offense themselves, while managing only a field goal in the second quarter and another in the fourth, in fifteen possessions. In addition to committing a couple of turnovers, the Jets punted eight times and turned the ball over on downs three times.

Sanchez finished the game just 17 of 44 for 216 yards, while being sacked six times.

Forty year-old quarterback Mark Brunell, who once enjoyed a successful NFL career for several years with Jacksonville before later having a sixth 3,000-yard passing season with Washington in 2005, doesn’t appear to be a better choice over Sanchez, having thrown just 31 total passes since the 2006 season.

But, that might just be how much Ryan’s level of faith has quickly diminished in his young first-string quarterback.

It would appear that it might not get any easier for Sanchez and the Jets next week, as New York travels to face a tough defense in AFC North-leading Pittsburgh (10-3), the AFC’s only team to allow less than 200 points (15.9 per game) this season.

The Steelers, winners of four straight, mostly shut down the run, however. Against the pass, Pittsburgh ranked 23rd, allowing 239.3 passing yards per game, entering this weekend. So, there may be some opportunities for Sanchez to once again prove to Ryan that he needs to stay on the field to help the Jets return to their earlier winning form.

In addition to writing for New York Sports Day, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com).

The primary reason that the New York Jets (7-2) remain Super Bowl contenders in the AFC has been their uncanny ability to rescue victory from the grasp of defeat on the road this season.

Twice already, the Jets could have, and probably should have, lost away from home.

On Sunday, New York had its closest call yet, pulling out yet another dramatic road win just seconds before settling for what would have been a tie in Cleveland.

This time, the heroes were cornerback Drew Coleman (who forced a huge fumble) and the duo of quarterback Mark Sanchez and wide receiver Santonio Holmes, when the two connected on a game-winning touchdown with just 16 seconds left in overtime to give the Jets a thrilling 26-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns (3-6).

Instead of a mediocre 4-4-1 season, the Jets, who got help from the Broncos during the final moments in Denver, and who had the Lions gift wrap an overtime game for them in Detroit last week, moved to a perfect 5-0 on the road to stay in the hunt for AFC’s top playoff seed, holding a tiebreaker edge for the moment, over New England (7-2), which lost in Cleveland last week.

Such is the fine line sometimes, between success and either mediocrity or failure in the National Football League.

It’s a line that the Jets have been walking all season, partly because they’ve been playing from behind early in road games.

Once again, that was the case on Sunday, as the Browns, led by former head coach Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (the brother of Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan), took first-half leads of 3-0, 10-3, and 13-10 before the Jets battled back each time.

For the fifth time this year, the Jets — whose defense has been good, yet not nearly as dominant as the league’s top defense it was last season — won despite allowing at least 20 points, thanks to their own resilience.

Cleveland got on the board first, taking the opening kickoff 69 yards on 11 plays in 5:01, settling for a 3-0 lead on 34-yard field goal by the Browns’ franchise-leading kicker in Phil Dawson.

New York immediately answered on the ensuing drive, going 33 yards on 9 plays in 3:59, to tie the game, 3-3, on a 27-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk.

The Jets were then unable to capitalize on the first of two Browns’ turnovers. Running back Peyton Hillis (19 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble) coughed the ball up, but New York could gain only a yard before Folk missed a 48-yard field goal.

The teams then traded scoring drives, with the Browns marching 62 yards in just 5 plays, to score on 12-yard touchdown run by Hillis in the first quarter, and the Jets answering with Sanchez (27-44, 299 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) capping a 9-play, 76-yard drive on a 25-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (3 catches, 43 yards, 1 TD) in the second quarter.

Each team only touched the ball once more before halftime, with each scoring. The Browns took a 17-13 lead on a Dawson 23-yard field goal after 10-play 66-yard drive stalled at the Jets’ 5 yard-line. New York came right back with a nice 11-play, 80-yard drive in 4:50, to take a 17-13 halftime lead on a one-yard plunge by Sanchez with 23 seconds left in the first half.

The Jets held the Browns in check during a scoreless third quarter, limiting Cleveland to just 11 yards on 7 plays on two drives.

New York meanwhile, punted on one drive in the quarter after an earlier a long, methodical drive which yielded nothing. The Jets took the opening kickoff of the second half and traveled 60 yards on 10 plays in 9:58, only to have Folk miss a chip shot 24-yard field goal attempt.

In the fourth quarter, the Jets were able to sustain another long drive, going 56 yards on 13 plays in 7:45, with Folk redeeming himself by making a 25-yard kick to push New York’s lead to 20-13 with 2:42 left.

The Jets’ defense was unable to get the stop it needed to put the game away though, as Browns’ rookie quarterback Colt McCoy (18-31, 205 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks) directed 10-play, 59-yard drive in 1:51, tying the game, 20-20, on a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi with 44 seconds left in regulation.

New York got won the coin toss to begin overtime, but punted quickly.

The Browns then appeared to be in great position to win after moving 28 yards on 6 plays and close to field goal range, but former Jets wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, after already picking up a first down, was stripped by Coleman while fighting for a few extra yards. The fumble was recovered by Jets’ cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

While the Jets couldn’t turn that into victory just yet, it prevented a good chance for the Browns to end the game, especially with a good kicker like Dawson on the sidelines.

Speaking of a kicker ending things, Folk got another opportunity, but missed his third kick of the game, pushing a 47-yard attempt wide right after the Jets took Stuckey’s fumble and went 35 yards on 9 plays in 5:13.

The Jets then forced a three-and-out but were pinned back at their own 9 yard-line with 3:06 left in the game, but Sanchez moved the Jets into Cleveland territory.

A holding penalty moved New York back to its own 46 yard-line, however, and on 3rd-and-14, Sanchez went for the win, but he was intercepted at the Browns’ 3 yard-line with 1:35 left by rookie first-round pick, cornerback Joe Haden, who made a game-high tackles while producing the Jets’ only turnover.

While not satisfied with a tie yet not wanting to risk a loss, the Browns weren’t in a position to be aggressive at that point. McCoy attempted a short pass to move the ball, but it fell incomplete. The Browns then rushed Hillis for two yards, before McCoy gladly took a sack after escaping a near game-ending safety in the end zone.

The Jets then took over at Cleveland 37 yard-line with 24 seconds left after an 18-yard return by Jim Leonhard.

They only needed one more play from there, which was a good thing for them, with time running out and Folk having already missed three field goals.

For the second straight week in overtime, Sanchez and Holmes made a late play to finish off a big win, as Sanchez hit Holmes (5 catches, game-high 76 yards, 1 TD) on a crossing route and the speedy receiver did the rest, blowing by the Browns’ defense and into the end zone on a 37-yard touchdown.

Giving Sanchez and the Jets’ passing game some nice balance, was a rushing game that outgained the Browns 172-107, while helping New York dominate the ball for 47:08 to Cleveland’s 27:36. The Jets were led by running backs Shonn Green (20-72), LaDanian Tomlinson (18-57), and out of the wildcat, Brad Smith (5 -39).

“You talk about how resilient this team is, that’s two road games in a row in overtime,” Rex Ryan said. What Ryan didn’t know at the time he uttered those words, was that the Jets had become the first team in NFL history to win consecutive overtime games on the road.

Once again, pulling out an improbable win.

The Jets will try to make things easier on themselves next week, when they host Houston (4-5) which has lost three straight.

In addition to NYSD, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com)

When New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan decided to risk a fake punt on 4th-and-18 from his team’s own 20 yard-line during a scoreless game in the first quarter, he did so believing his defense was good enough to allow at worst, a field goal –- and that his offense would more than make up for that.

It turned out that Ryan was partially right, as the Jets’ defense kept the Green Bay Packers out of the end zone and limited them to just three points after the Jets failed to turn the fake into a first down.

But, the last thing that Ryan ever envisioned at that moment was that the field goal would be the game’s only points until past the halfway point of the fourth quarter.

It was just one of several mistakes that haunted the Jets (5-2) on a day when Gang Green’s offense was frighteningly ineffective, in a 9-0 horrow show of a loss to the Packers (5-3), who won their second straight game on a windy Halloween Sunday afternoon at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Ryan would make some other decisions later on that would also backfire, but the Jets were also done in by an inability to protect the ball and by a couple of calls that didn’t go their way, like the way you find in online sports betting.

First, there was the faked punt.

With neither offense getting much of anything going early, each team’s punters were the stars of the game, each averaging 50 yards or better in the first quarter, giving each opposing offense poor field position to start their drives in the period.

The one time that didn’t happen however, was when Jets’ punter Steve Weatherford, concluded the Jets’ third possession of the quarter with the aforementioned fake. Weatherford stepped out of bounds at the New York 36 yard-line, with the ball at the 36-and-a-half, about a yard-and-a-half short of the first down marker.

On the next play, Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings (6 catches, 81 yards) took a pass over the middle from quarterback Aaron Rodgers (15-34, 170 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 2 sacks, 59.7 rating), and turned it into a 30-yard gain to the Jets’ 6 yard-line.

At the time, no one in the building would have imagined that play would have already been enough to win the game, but in essence it was. The Jets’ defense held through three Packer cracks at a touchdown, but a 20-yard field goal by kicker Mason Crosby with 4:41 left in the first quarter, to give Green Bay a 3-0 lead, would stand up for the rest of the game.

Although the Jets, running 29 times, outgained the Packers 119-81 on the ground, they weren’t able to run quite effectively enough to open up a passing game that like Green Bay’s, was severely affected by the infamous Meadowlands wind which picked Sunday’s holiday to play tricks on both quarterbacks.

The Jets also held an advantage in passing yards (241-156), but aside from the fake punt, their other possessions ended in with five punts, three turnovers, a missed field goal, and two other times that they turned the ball over on downs.

Green Bay wasn’t much better, punting eight times and missing a field goal of their own, despite adding two more fourth-quarter field goals to ice the game.

With the offense struggling to score, the Jets, appropriately for the date, resorted to further trickery, but each time, it wouldn’t work.

Having moved from their own 30 yard-line to the Packers’ 36 yard-line after Green Bay’s first field goal, New York tried to run Brad Smith out of the wildcat offense, but Smith fumbled.

Ryan challenged the call, which was a good one, and Green Bay was correctly awarded possession, which would end in yet another punt, but one that pinned the Jets back at their own 10 yard-line.

It was one of five times on the day that Green Bay punter Tim Masthay, an undrafted rookie out of Kentucky, forced the Jets to start from inside their own 20 yard-line.

New York also began four other possessions between its own 20 and 27 yard-lines.

Later in the second quarter, one play after running back LaDanian Tomlinson (16 rushes for 54 yards) joined Walter Payton as the only two players to ever reach at least 13,000 rushing yards and 4,000 receiving yards in a career, Tomlinson looked to throw off an option run, but that bit of deception didn’t work either, as the Packers covered well and Tomlinson was tackled after only a modest gain.

A few plays later, wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (4 catches, 89 yards) appeared to have a reception at the Green Bay 41 yard-line on what looked like simultaneous possession with cornerback Tramon Williams, with the tie-up going to the offense, as Cotchery went to the ground with 4:48 left in the first half.

The play however, was initially ruled and interception. Ryan challenged the call, which was upheld, thereby leaving New York without a challenge for the remainder of the game.

That played a major factor later on, as a drive that started in the third quarter ended with another questionable Packer interception with 10:34 left in the game.

After going 61 yards on 7 plays only to miss a 37-yard field goal that would have tied the game in the third quarter, the Jets, starting at their own five yard-line on their ensuing possession, moved 48 yards on 10 plays to the Packers’ 37-yard line.

A holding penalty moved the ball back to the Green Bay 47 yard-line before Mark Sanchez (16-38, 256 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 2 sacks, 43.3 rating) was intercepted by cornerback Charles Woodson, who ripped the ball from tight end Dustin Keller. Unlike Williams’ play on Cotchery, replays clearly showed the call was missed when Woodson was awarded with the pick and ruled down by contact. Keller should have been ruled down, with possession.

Ah, but remember those two challenges Ryan couldn’t get overturned in the first half? Well, no recourse for that play any longer and to bet on the NFL.

Green Bay turned that fortunate trick into a treat in the form of a 41-yard field goal by Crosby with 6:36 left in the game, to take a 6-0 lead, after going 34 yards on 8 plays.

The Jets then drove from their own 19 yard-line to the Packers’ 37 yard-line, but they turned the ball over on downs with 4:12 to go after Sanchez misfired on three straight passes.

Bothered by the wind, Sanchez accepted blame for his inaccuracy, saying, “Some passes got away from me… we left a lot of completions out there.”

Ryan then began using his time outs perhaps a little too soon, but the Jets couldn’t muster a meaningful drive the next time they had the ball anyway, again turning the ball over on downs at their own 22-yard line with 2:30 remaining.

That led to a 40-yard Crosby field goal with 27 seconds left, to close the scoring.

Although one turnover came on a questionable call and another happened due to a bad call, the three turnovers for the Jets sounded the continuation of an alarming recent trend for New York.

After four straight games without a turnover (to tie an NFL record), and committing just one turnover in their first five games, the Jets turned the ball over three times for the second straight game.

The time off last week might have also affected the Jets’ momentum. While Ryan said, “We were fresher and healthier then we’ve ever been,” the bye week from the week before seemed to slow down what had been one of the NFL’s hottest teams.

After losing their home opener, the Jets reeled off five straight wins before last week’s bye. Now, not only is that streak over, but the Jets have also relinquished their hold on first place in the AFC East to New England (6-1), which is now the league’s hottest team with its own five-game winning streak.

Suffering their first shutout loss since a 10-0 home defeat to Chicago on November 19, 2006, the Jets will look to get back on track against the Lions (2-5) in Detroit next Sunday, at 1pm EST.

In addition to NYSD, Jon Wagner contributes at Pro Football NYC (www.profootballnyc.com) and Giants Football Blog (www.giantsfootballblog.com)

When Rex Ryan boasted all summer about how his team would win the Super Bowl this season, the type of performance he saw from his team in the second half of the Jets’ game with the New England Patriots on Sunday was exactly what the New York Jets’ head coach envisioned.

After failing to back up Ryan’s words with a lackluster season opening effort in a loss to Baltimore last week, the Jets (1-1) turned it on after halftime on Sunday, outscoring the New England Patriots (1-1) 18-0 in the second half to rally for a solid 28-14 victory at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Unlike last week, the Jets took the conservative reigns off of quarterback Mark Sanchez, and it paid off, as Sanchez outdueled Patriots’ star quarterback Tom Brady, going 21 of 30 for 220 yards, and 3 touchdowns for a 124.3 quarterback rating.

Brady meanwhile, was 20 of 36, for 248 yards, and two touchdowns, but he threw two picks and lost a fumble on New England’s final drive.

That was just part of the havoc the Jets’ defense caused the Patriots, as that unit was able to step without star shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis, who left just before halftime after aggravating a hamstring injury he suffered in practice earlier in the week.

Sans Revis, the Jets’ defense took over the game in the second half, during which the Patriots committed all three of their turnovers, while gaining a total of just 14 yards and punting twice on their other two second-half possessions.

The Jets also played a lot more disciplined football than last week, when they lost one turnover and committed 14 penalties for 125 costly yards. Against New England, New York avoided any turnovers and cut the penalties down to just 6 for 58 yards.

It all added up to a much more successful formula, and a much-needed AFC East victory before the Jets travel to AFC East-leading Miami (2-0) next week.

The game didn’t start out that way for the Jets, however.

New England moved the ball well on its first two drives, while New York went three-and-out on its first possession.

The Patriots took the opening kickoff and went 53 yards in 13 plays, but kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a 37-yard field goal. On their next drive though, the Patriots went 75 yards on 15 plays in 8:10, with Brady throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Wes Welker, to give New England a 7-0 lead 1:43 into the second quarter.

The Jets then responded the next time they touched the ball, tying the game, 7-7, on a 12-play, 62-yard drive in 6:47, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass to the left side of the end zone to wide receiver Braylon Edwards (5 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD).

After the teams then traded punts, Brady needed just four plays and 48 seconds to get the Patriots back in the end zone. Brady threw a couple of incomplete passes, but then connected with rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez (who became the unlikely Patriots’ leader on the day with 101 receiving yards on 6 catches) for 46 yards to the Jets’ 34 yard-line. That set up a 34-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Randy Moss, who burned Revis before making a brilliant one-handed right-handed grab at the back of the end zone, to put New England ahead, 14-7, with 53 seconds left in the first half.

That was just enough time for Sanchez to direct the Jets with four completions in six attempts during a 7-play, 49-yard drive that culminated with a Nick Folk 49-yard field goal which trimmed the Patriots’ lead to 14-10 as the first half expired.

After that, the Jets took control of the game, especially holding the Patriots’ two biggest receiving threats –- Moss, and Welker — in check, with newcomer defensive backs Antonio Cromartie and Brodney Pool each grabbing second-half picks.

Moss’ touchdown (the 150th of his career) before halftime was his last reception and other than that catch, he caught only one other ball for a mere four yards. And, although Welker matched Hernandez’s 6 catches, the usual Jet killer finished with just the same 38 receiving yards that Moss had.

A frustrated Brady, put it very succinctly after the game, saying “We couldn’t do anything there in the second half… we couldn’t run it, we couldn’t throw it, we just sucked.”

In sharp contrast, the Jets, after a three-and-out to begin the second half, scored the game’s final 18 points on three of their next four possessions.

New York drove 80 yards on 10 plays in 4:47 to pull within 14-13 on a 36-yard field goal by Folk with 4:53 left in the third quarter. The key play on that drive was a 39-yard connection from Sanchez to tight end Dustin Keller, who led all receivers in catches (7) and receiving yards (115).

The Jets took the lead for good on their next possession, on a 6-play, 70-yard drive in 3:02 that was highlighted by a rushing game that outgained New England 136-52, led by running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who finished with a game-high 76 yards on 11 carries.

A good portion (31) of those yards came toward the end of that drive on a nice run up the right side which set up a two-yard touchdown toss from Sanchez to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery. Sanchez then completed to Edwards on a two-point conversion to put the Jets up 21-14, with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, New York put the game out of reach, capping an 8-play, 63-yard drive which took 4:59, on a 1-yard touchdown throw from Sanchez to Keller, to give the Jets a commanding 28-14 lead with 6:09 left in the game.

With the Patriots trying to rally, linebacker Jason Taylor sacked Brady on a first down from the New York 16 yard-line, forcing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker David Harris (who had 4 tackles) with 4:06 left in the game.

The Jets were able to run out the clock on the ground from there, and take a lot of the pressure off of themselves that that Ryan’s unchecked swagger had placed on his team for months.

After all of the preseason Super Bowl talk, the prospect of playing in a media market like New York at 0-2, heading to first place Miami in Week 3 would have created a difficult situation for the Jets to handle and in which to succeed.

But, setting Sanchez free with Keller, Edwards, and Cotchery, and the contributions from newcomers like Cromartie, Pool, Tomlinson, and Taylor, were enough to at least for one game, have the Jets finally looking like the team Ryan told us his Jets would be this season.

For all of the bluster, arrogance, cockiness, brashness, and any of the other attributes that New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan demonstrates which can often rub many people the wrong way, Ryan is mostly and quite simply, just about the game of football.

So, when it came down to the Jets finally getting their best and most important player back on the field, it was Ryan, the ultimate players’ coach, who made it about football for star cornerback Darrelle Revis.

A very good thing not only for the Jets and for Jet fans, but specifically for Ryan, after his typical no holds barred attitude nearly prevented the Jets from having Revis back in time for the start of the 2010 regular season.

That’s because this is the year that the Jets, just 28 minutes from reaching the Super Bowl last year, entered their 2010 season with Super Bowl expectations knowing such prospects hinged on whether the defense-first Jets had the NFL’s best cornerback anchoring the strength of their team. In essence, the Jet’s chances for success this season were only as good the game’s best corner being their cornerstone.

However, it was Ryan who was partially to blame for Revis missing the entire preseason this summer because it was the Jets’ head coach who early on in Revis’ 36-day holdout, boastfully claimed that Revis was not only the best cornerback in the NFL, but that Revis’ 2009 season was the best year any cornerback ever had.

He wasn’t wrong (at least on that first one; the second is debatable). But, much like negotiating a car you love with a showroom salesperson, it would have been a lot wiser for Ryan to go against his own nature and keep quiet rather than extol Revis’ virtues. By choosing to do the opposite, Ryan helped to create a drawn out, five-week long saga in which he took much of the Jets’ negotiating leverage away and gave it to Revis’ agents.

Doing so had many Jet fans, as much as they love Ryan’s unorthodox approach, blaming Ryan’s big mouth for Revis’ M.I.A. status this summer. And, had Revis not come back until much later (or not at all this season), and had the Jets failed to make the playoffs without him, it’s not a stretch to say that Ryan would have gone from last year’s lovable leader who changed the Jets’ culture, to the city’s villain in a New York minute.

Without the return of Revis Island, Ryan might have found himself on his own figurative island, cast off by Jet fans everywhere.

But, Ryan more than made up for initially costing the Jets at the bargaining table, with a trip this past weekend, along with Jet’s owner Woody Johnson, to meet Revis in South Florida.

After all of the talk all summer long of Revis wanting to be the highest paid corner back in the league, in line with Oakland’s Nnamdi Asoumugha at $16 million per year, Revis spoke with his head coach and his long standoff with the Jets suddenly became more about Revis doing what he loves to do on the football field for the Jets, and less about money.

No longer was gap between the Jets offering a ten-year deal for $122 million and Revis’ camp seeking $160 million for the same length of time.

No, after talking to Ryan, Revis realized that he didn’t want to miss out on being the difference between his teammates being good — but not good enough without him — instead of the legitimate and perhaps feared Super Bowl contenders that Ryan believes they are.

In the end, Revis accepted less than the roughly $12 million per season that the Jets initially offered, taking $46 million for four years. And, with a potential NFL lockout looming for next season, the Jets’ best player got the security he sought, with the Jets guaranteeing $32 million.

It’s a relative bargain for the Jets when you consider the comparable four-year, $48 million contract with $30 million guaranteed signed last Wednesday by Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, who while having developed into one of the best players at his position, isn’t quite the game changer that Revis is.

Would Revis have missed football enough to make winning and wanting to be back with his teammates the priorities over money?

Perhaps. But, the chances of Revis’ return increased exponentially with Ryan’s encouragement.

When asked by reporters if Ryan and Johnson visiting him the difference, Revis said “I have no clue, but they did. And, that was good thing.”

In a separate interview, Revis said “When [Ryan] came in, I was just excited. I was just like, I need to get back. Let’s get this done.”

Reading between the lines, it was Ryan specifically, who convinced Revis to get it done, even though he humbly gave all of the credit to Jets’ general manager Mike Tannenbaun and Revis’ agents for dotting the i’s an crossing the t’s.

As a result, everyone wins. Revis gets his security in the form of guaranteed money without missing any of the regular season. Ryan gets the player he desperately needed to make all of his great defensive schemes work. Jets’ management didn’t have to break the bank in terms of total dollars to re-sign that player. And, Jet fans are once again dreaming of a trip to the Super Bowl.

For five long weeks, Ryan’s initial comments were part of the problem. This weekend, the Jets’ outspoken coach guided the solution.

And, Jet fans can now forgive their head coach knowing that Ryan ultimately made it right.

Less than four weeks ago, Indianapolis Colts’ president Bill Polian left the door open, and now, whether he wants to see them or not, the New York Jets have crashed the NFL’s postseason party.

Championship Sunday, on January 24th, was supposed to be a private affair, with only the top four playoff seeds invited.

Instead, three of those four seeds will be there, and then there are the misfits among the crowd — the only team in this year’s conference title round seeded lower than second, and the only squad left without one of the greatest quarterbacks in the league or an explosive passing game capable of lighting up a scoreboard at will.

Yes, the fifth-seeded New York Jets, the unwelcome visitor, the big pests who simply won’t go away, return to Indianapolis on Sunday, and although under far different circumstances than before, will try do what they did the last time they were there –- make themselves at home in Lucas Oil Stadium and leave with a victory that the Colts should have.

Although the stakes are much higher this time, don’t expect THIS lower seed to be intimidated at all.

No, these Jets are brash, brazen, unabashed, and supremely confident that they deserve to be where they are, and that they’re quite capable of defying the odds and going from the brink of playoff elimination, to a good postseason team, to super, despite doing things differently than the other three seeds competing for a Super Bowl berth this weekend.

And, the Jets owe it all to Polian for giving them the opportunity.

Rather than taking a shot at extending one kind of history and taking aim at another which has yet to be accomplished in the NFL, Polian wanted his team to rest up for the playoffs, even when his own players, and his own head coach (whether he admits it or not) sought perfection.

It’s the old debate each year in the final week or two of an NFL season for teams that clinch playoff berths early. Rest or rust?

While Polian had done the same before, the move was curious to most this year. Had a precedent been set of the Colts producing multiple Super Bowl titles coming off of late regular season rest, many would have been in Polian’s camp.

However, the Colts have usually come up short in the postseason after shutting down their starters at the end of a regular season.

This was also no ordinary year to choose rest over continued momentum.

To Polian, an NFL-record 23-game regular season winning streak and building on a 14-0 record in 2009 meant absolutely nothing, even if that view alienated most Colts fans and caused a backlash among the blue and white nation in Indianapolis which Polian never expected.

More importantly, with a 15-10 third-quarter lead, holding the Jets’ offense to a mere three points, the Colts -– the real Colts — had a chance to end the Jets season on December 27th, before the Colts’ bench allowed the Jets to win, 29-15.

Polian had his team shut it all down against its will, a decision which might come back to haunt him and his Colts on Sunday.

Football is often a game of momentum and week-to-week growth. The Jets return to Indianapolis possessing both of those things.

While they won’t see the watered-down Colts Lite version they saw when Polian handed Gang Green a Week 16 gift that jump-started the Jets’ improbable run to Sunday’s rematch with the Colts, the Jets are a lot different themselves, since then.

They arrive with key ingredients –- the NFL’s top ranked defense playing with the confidence that it can stop any offense (even one directed by Peyton Manning), and the league’s top rushing game, now bolstered by running back Shonn Greene -– which give any outmanned team a chance to pull a postseason upset against even the best.

The Jets may also have some karma and magic on their side:

- Though they certainly played well enough to earn their way to Sunday’s AFC title game, they might not have arrived at this point without a little luck.

- Two missed chip shot field goals by Bengals’ kicker Shayne Graham helped the Jets win 24-14, in Cincinnati, in the wild-card round. And, in stopping the Chargers’ 11-game win streak with a narrow 17-14 win in San Diego last week, the Jets, to keep San Diego from scoring 20 points for the first time all season, needed the help of three more missed field goals, including two from 40 yards and less, by All-Pro kicker Nate Kaeding, who had made his previous 69 kicks from that same distance.

- Chargers’ leading wide receiver, Vincent Jackson, dealt with the distraction of being briefly arrested and having his car impounded for driving with a suspended license and an expired registration after he was pulled over for loud music hours before kickoff last Sunday.

- The Jets got a key, fluke interception from shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis on a ball that bounced off of Jackson’s leg before literally falling out of the sky and into the Revis’ lap.

Want more?

- The last time the Jets had the top-ranked defense and the top rushing game, they went to the Super Bowl, their only Super Bowl.

- For numerologists, fullback Matt Snell, born in ’41, who wore number 41 both at Ohio State and as a Jet, scored the only touchdown in Jets’ Super Bowl history to date, 41 years ago.

- In the Jets’ 50th anniversary season, New York has the ironic opportunity of going through the Colts, to return to Miami in two weeks, to the same city where the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III.

Like that Jets team, it’s the Jets’ talented defense, powerful rushing game, a young quarterback who’s avoiding mistakes, and especially, the belief in themselves despite the doubters, which seem to have spawned their current run.

The only thing right now that’s soaring higher than the Jets’ quick ascent from late regular season mediocrity is their confidence, behind the bravado of inspirational head coach Rex Ryan, who has pushed all of the right buttons since the Jets’ Week 15 home loss to Atlanta which at the time, caused Ryan to say his team’s season was over.

And maybe, that was all part of the master plan of the Jets’ master motivator.

Some thought Ryan might be crazy when he broke down and cried in front of Jets’ players in their locker room earlier this season, only to go back to maintaining how great his team was during a poor 4-7 mid-season stretch following a 3-0 start, before making the comment after the Atlanta loss.

Crazy?

Crazy like a fox.

All of that the “season was over” talk might very well have been carefully calculated by Ryan.

For one, that move has allowed Ryan’s team to play loose ever since.

Additionally, Ryan might have deliberately planted a seed in Polian’s head at the time that the Jets were done and were no longer a threat.

It was a message as if to say, “Sure, Bill, go ahead and rest everyone. Our season is over, you won’t have to worry about seeing us in January.”

In fact, once other AFC contenders started to lose their own grips on the AFC wild-card race, Ryan publicly advocated for the Colts resting their starters leading up to the Jets’ Week 16 visit to Indianapolis –- the game which thrust New York right back into the playoff picture.

Fast forward a few weeks, and the savvy, shrewd, and manipulating Ryan now says he’d “be shocked” if the Jets don’t win on Sunday, and prior to the playoffs, he called the Jets “Super Bowl favorites.”

That’s a far cry from “our season is over” less than five weeks ago.

This week, Ryan also said that we “won’t ever see a looser team for an AFC championship game.”

And, he’s probably right.

After all, the Jets weren’t supposed to be here. They’re simply shocking the world week by week, much like Giants’ Stadium’s other former tenant, also a five seed, two years ago. And, we all remember how the magical run ended for the New York Giants that year. So, why not the Jets, this year?

All of the pressure is squarely on the Colts, who are not only favored, but who thanks to Polian, now have the added weight of having to prove something in a “real” game after losing with their backups to a Jets team which has since grown leaps and bounds ever since that Week 16 win over the Colts.

It’s true that the Colts might have had even more pressure on them had they been trying for an undefeated season right now. And, maybe that figured into Polian’s thinking. Perhaps Polian figured that the pressure they’re facing now would be nothing compared to that of having to navigate through a postseason while remaining undefeated. It could also easily be argued that the rest was more beneficial to the Colts, whose well-rested defense was flying around the field in stopping the Baltimore Ravens, 20-3, in last week’s divisional round playoff game.

But, because Polian didn’t allow the Colts to knock the Jets out when they had the chance, they now have to play a very dangerous and confident team that no one wants to play.

Thanks to Polian, the Colts are not only playing for a Super Bowl trip, but they have the added pressure of proving that Week 16 was indeed a fluke, while the Jets get to play for the same high stakes with house money.

Still, by Sunday evening, Polian may very well be vindicated, especially by Colts’ future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning.

Manning certainly has the receiving weapons needed to do what the fourth-seeded Cincinnati Bengals and the second-seeded San Diego Chargers couldn’t do against the NFL’s best defense. And, he’s had a lot of past success (including regular and post seasons) against Ryan-led defenses when Ryan was with the Ravens.

But, the Jets definitely have their own weapons to counter.

It’s been joked that water covers 75 percent of the earth, and Revis covers the other 25 percent.

The Jets will have to start there and run the ball well enough to control the clock, shorten the game, and keep Manning off the field.

Even that, and more, could likely not be enough against a Colts team that will be favored by over a touchdown on Sunday, and which has yet to lose this season while playing its starters for a full game.

Yet, sometimes in football, an edge in talent doesn’t beat an edge in momentum, or a date with destiny.

It’s a date — and a risk — that Polian could have avoided had he done the right thing nearly a month ago.

Polian gave the Jets a gift in Week 16, and now, it might be time for him to pay the bill on that charitable donation.

The Colts’ president may be banking on the fact that things will be different with the Jets now trying to beat Manning and company instead of players like Colts’ backup quarterback Curtis Painter.

However, by not seizing the chance to make history before, the Colts’ season could quickly become history, while the Jets could go from beating Painter to painting Polian’s town Gang Green.

Jets rookie head coach Rex Ryan admitted after his clubs shocking 17-14 win Over San Diego in the AFC Divisional round Sunday at QualComm stadium, that a rematch with the Colts for the rights to go to the Super Bowl, was not what most football fans wanted to see yet added “That’s too bad. Here we come.” As the moments passed shortly following the Jets 17-14 shocker over the AFC West champion Chargers, it was hard to believe that it was the 13-3 Chargers, NOT the 9-7 Jets who were going home. Eliminated. Finished. Packing up. Well, believe it. The Chargers, a team that averaged 28 points per game in 2009, could muster only seven against the Jets until the games waning minutes Sunday. The Jets, owners of the NFL’s number one defense once again seized the moment to record their second straight road playoff win and now look to cap off an improbable month long run with the biggest win of them all. A victory against the Colts that would ironically propel the Jets shockingly into the Super Bowl in Miami.

After all it was the Colts back in week 16 who infamously resuscitated the fading Jets by benching star QB Peyton Manning in the third quarter of a 15-10 game in which the Jets trailed. Throwing their undefeated season away in exchange for the assurance of the health of their key players for the post season, the Colts handed the reigns over to QB Curtis Painter who hand’t taken an NFL regular season snap in his career. The Jets then did what THEY had to do by stripping backup QB Curtis Painter and turning it into a TD and a 17-15 lead. What ensued from there was a 29-15 win that, coupled with the following weeks 37-0 shutout of the equally unmotivated AFC North champion Bengals, paved the way for a bizarre and controversial playoff berth.

Many questioned if the Jets even deserved to be in the playoffs. Most fans will tell you that the Colts would’ve easily held on to beat the Jets and then the Bills in week 17 to go 16-0, yet the truth is, we’ll never know how THAT would’ve turned out. Instead, the Jets and Colts will do it again next Sunday both with a chance at setting their own record straight. The Jets can prove all those who feel the Colts handed the Jets the game that day wrong, by beating the Colts at full strength. By beating the Jets, the Colts can quiet the detractors who disagree that resting starters after locking up the one seed is the best way to prepare for a Super Bowl run. For the Chargers, a great regular season has again led only to a difficult playoff loss and an offseason left wondering, “how” and “why.” The Bolts self examination begins today as players began cleaning out their lockers most likely in disbelief, after one of the more surprising Jet wins in franchise history.

The Chargers, the leagues top team twenty plus yard receptions, came into yesterday’s Divisional playoff game hoping to make good on the challenge of facing the NFL’s stingiest defense against the pass. (The Jets led the NFL in pass defense, giving up just 153 yards per game in 2009.)The first quarter saw the Bolts moving the ball reasonably well through the air as Chargers QB Phillip Rivers found Bolts top wideout Vincent Jackson (7-111 yards) for some nice twenty yard gains. TE Antonio Gates (8-93 yards), the future hall of famer who at 6′5, always presents a mismatch, was gaining position in the middle of the field, and slowly becoming Rivers’ security blanket. The Jets on the other hand, failed to manage a first down on their first four drives. The Chargers finally took the lead on a Rivers 13 yard TD pass to Kris Wilson. Rather than try to add tot he lead in the air, the Chargers strength, Chargers head coach Norv Turner instead tried to force the Charger run game, ranked 31st in the NFL, rushing at just 3.8 yards per carry, down the Jets throat. The plan failed as Jet defenders consistently kept Charger legend Ladanian Tomlinson (12-24 yards), who has been slowed by toe injuries the past two seasons, in check. By playing a game of field position the Chargers hoped to wait on a mistake by Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez (who threw 20 ints in 2009, but none in the past three games), as a way to go up two scores.

San Diego’s plan may have worked had it not been for the first of three missed FGs by AFC Pro Bowl kicker Nate Kaeding (69 straight FGs form 40 yards in going into the game) from 36 yards out. Kaeding has a history of playoff misses vs the Jets. A rookie back in 2005, he had a key missed 40 yard FG against the Jets in the AFC Wildcard OT win. A 57 yard attempt by the AFC pro bowler fell short . With it, the Bolts ability to create distance and force the Jets out of the Ground and Pound in the second half. The score was 7-0 Chargers, a position Ryan admitted later made him feel good about the clubs chances in pulling off the major upset.

After a quality drive that followed Brad Smith’s return to the Jet 40 to start the third. Ryan called a timeout on a key fourth and one, midway through the 3rd, at the SD 29. Ryan then elected to change his mind and try for a long field goal, rather than the original plan to go for it. The extra time to decide payed off as K Jay Feely drilled the Jets onto the scoreboard 7-3. This left the Jets in the position to need one big play in order to take control. Enter S Jim Leonhard.

The hard nosed Wisconin Badger walk on, who forced, then seemingly recovered a first half fumble of WR Malcom Floyd in the Charger territory while falling helmetless, became the man of the moment for the Jets just after a Steve Weatherford punt left the Chargers inside their own five yard line. Leonard picked off Rivers who miss timed a Charger crossing route inside the Charger 25. After the play, a personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct on the uncharacterisically volatile Chargers left the Jets inside the Charger 10 to start the fourth. Penalties plagued the Bolts all day. Some were a result of stupidity, others frustration, others like three false starts by the Chargers offensive line, were a result of a disguising aggressive Jet pressure that kept Rivers off balance all day.

The Leonard pick became a 3rd and 2 in side the five on the second play of the fourth, Sanchez then looked to make up for a mistake made minutes earlier when he threw his first interception in 48 possesions. Trying to find the heavily guarded Braylon Edwards, the rookie’s ill timed throw left the Chargers inside the Jet 50 with a chance to widen a 7-3 lead. CB Darelle Revis, snubbed this week in favor Charles Woodson for NFL defensive player of the year, then helped the Jets weather that storm. “REvis Island” left Jackson stranded, with an incredible pick on a pass intended that hit the Chargers main deep threat’s foot as both players fell to the ground. This helped in keeping the ball alive long enough for Revis to snatch it while lying down.

Sanchez then made the key throw of the day as he play actioned then rolled out right. FB Tony Richardson, according to Sanchez, was the primary target but was covered. Second year TE Dustin Keller who was sandwiched in the back of the end zone by two Charger defenders, t instinctively burrowed away from the defenders right corner pile on. Just at that moment Sanchez read Keller’s mind and delivered a hard low strike that Keller grabbed for the go ahead TD. The Jets, now up 10-7, were in the drivers seat as the Charger crowd sat stunned, contemplating yet another once promising year headed for disaster. The 2006 Charger team led by then QB Drew Brees were an NFL best 14-2 yet got bounced by the Pats 24-21 at home. That AFC divisional round loss to what on paper appeared to be an undermanned New England club, essentially ended head coach Marty Schottenheimer’s tenure. Now suddenly down 10-7, Charger fans faced history rearing its ugly head again.

Where was that high powered air attack that helped lead the Chargers to scoring no less than 20 points a game in 2009? It was working to a degree in the first half. Not in the second half though, after Jet defenders pleaded with Ryan at halftime to give up on zone coverage. The Jets then went man to man and the switch worked. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said during the week that the Jet secondary welcomed the chance to use press coverage on the Chargers tall wideouts at the line. By getting physical at the line, the Jets began to disrupt the timing of many Charger pass routes. All the while snuffing out screen play attempts by the leagues top screen pass offense. Attemtps to hit big gains on these plays by utilizing big play speedster RB Darren Sproles were rebuffed as the Jet front seven reacted well all day to the Bolts offensive line’s covert and latent movements into the flat . The Jets were playing with the lead and a bruising ground game in their hip pocket, knowing they were less than 15 minutes away from a rematch with the Colts.

After the Jets got a stop on the ensuing drive, the Ground and Pound took over. Rookie Shonne Greene ( 128 yards) began to impose himself on a Chargers defense that started well but began to wear down. Then the Jets broke it open. Greene , who broke a 49 yard run for a TD in Cincinnati last week in the Wildcard round, found a seem yet again on the left side. Greene then busted through and turned it on through the Charger secondary for a 53 yard TD run and a 17-7 Jet lead with just 7:17 left. The third round rookie out of Iowa has become a big factor in the Jet offense in these playoffs with two back to back 100 yard games.

The Chargers came right back after returning a poorly executed Jet squib kick to the Jet 45. The Bolts drive died however at the Jet 23, then Kaeding then missed his third FG of the day a 40 yarder with 4:38 to play. The Jets played it safe and went three and out as the Bolts got it back with under 4:00 left. The Chargers then cut the Jet lead to 17-14 with 2:14 left. A one yard sneak by Rivers helped overcome another dumb 15 yard penalty by the Chargers ( Vincent Jackson was hit unsportsmanlike on the drive for kicking Ryan’s red challenge flag thrown by the Jet head coach in order to review whether a tight catch by Jackson at the Jet 20 was done with both feet in bounds).

With only one timeout and the two minute warning Charger Coach Norv Turner then chose to make the risky decision of an onsides kick. Turner decided on the onsides instead of kicking the ball away, which may have forced the Jets , who were surely going to run on every down, to punt it back on 4th down if they were short. This scenario would have left the Chargers enough time for a last minute drive for a long game tying FG. Instead the high bouncing onsides kick fell into the hands of the recently resurgent Jets safety Kerry Rhodes. Rhodes, who prior to the season, was thought by some to become Ryan’s next version of Ed Reed, overcame a benching in week 12 for poor play leading up to it, and has been a man on the scene for Gang Green since.

The recovery left the Jets in safe four down territory, one first down away from a trip to Indy. Then it happened, THAT fourth and one with just over a minute to play. Again, had the Jets been in their own end, they would’ve certainly punted. Instead, a nation of lip readers watched Ryan say “let’s go for it.” Timeout was called. The Jets offense, on the Charger 29, briefly rested up for the big play as they saw no need to punt where an accidental touchback would gain them only nine yards of field position.

Ryan was going to put his faith into the hands of the NFL’s number one rushing offense. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer then inserted sure handed power runner Thomas Jones for Greene. The 31 year old vet, one of the leagues top rushers in 2009, followed FB Tony Richardson into the heart of a Jet offensive line sporting two pro bowlers in C Nick Mangold and G Alan Faneca. This against a tired Charger run defense, ranked just 20th against the run. Jones busted it through, delivering the game clinching four yard plunge that gave the Jets a first down. The Chargers with no timeouts, could only watch helplessly. The play sent the Jets packing for Indy while sending the

13-3 Chargers packing.

None of the CBS pre game experts which included among others, former Super Bowl winning coach Bill Cowher, gave the Jets a chance in San Diego. Some of the Chargers themselves apparently didn’t believe it could be done either . LB Bart Scott said afterwards that Charger players were chirping during pre game warm ups how the Jets didn’t deserve to be here. This Scott said, added to fuel to the fire of a Jet team that has played with heart all season. A team that has overcome it’s own inconsistency to survive long enough to allow the chance to mesh together all three phases of the game. A team with a like minded sense of purpose of going all the way that has grown and grown bigger for over a month now.

Many felt the Jets had no right obtaining a gift from the Colts then the Bengals in order to sneak into the playoffs, yet regardless the Jets are now gaining steam. Serious steam. Sanchez has figured out how to manage this run heavy offense without getting in the way by throwing the game away. The defense continues to play with a chip on it’s shoulder, taking pride in shutting every offense they face, down. The Jets players completely believe in their loud brash made for New York rookie head coach who drawn a line in the sand by saying essentially “don’t believe those 50-1 odds, the Super Bowl favorite is right here in Green and White.” In the bigger picture the franchise known for the term “Same Old Jets” is quickly beginning to reshape this image of failure into a vision of a “New Jets,” thanks to the their fearless leader, the cocky anti-Jet, Rex Ryan. The “New Jets” are club that plays with fight in its heart, and a no quit mentality. It’s a team that is showing it can come through in the clutch moments of a big game, on the road as well..

The 17-14 stunner in San Diego, the Jets biggest win in over 41 years, sets the stage for a much anticipated rematch with the 14-2 Colts. Indy were 20-3 winners over the also run heavy defensive minded Ravens on Saturday at home, in their divisional playoff battle. Only Peyton Manning and the 14-2 Colts stand in the way of the Jets first Super Bowl appearance since 1969. It’s important for any team, in this case the Jets, to relish these opportunities. Being in position to stand just 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl doesn’t come around so easily adn often, despite how the Jets top AFC East rival the Patriots have made things look over the past decade. Even when additional chances DO arise, big regular seasons that can help lead to a club earning itself a playoff bye week never guarantees anything. Just ask the Chargers.

A look back at the three keys to the Chargers:

Make SD’s offense one dimensional:

We said “we’ll steal a page out of Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s press conference on Thursday. To make the Chargers one dimensional would do wonders for a defense that is already locked in on the Air attack.” Bingo. SD had just 57 yards between LT and Sproles.

Braylon, Come on!

We said ” If Edwards can relax like his rookie QB has learned to do this month, we may have the X factor of the game right here in #17.”Well, Edwards was 2 for 41 yards in a game where Sanchez had just 100 yards passing. Perhaps Edwards stretched the field enough for Greene who sealed it with the long TD. A real deal breakout game is what we asked for. If it happens in Indy for Edwards it could make the Jets Super.

Withstand the early onslaught.

We asked Gang Green to keep it close after SD throws the big first punch. “What the Jets cant afford is a few big plays and mistakes hitting them hard early. ” The Jets did exactly that, managing to trail just 7-0 despite not being able to obtain a first down for the first 4 drives. That was HUGE. The Chargers inability to put the Jets away in the first half before the Jets were able to adjust, may be the reason why they’re going home and Jets are moving on.

follow TJ Rosenthal on twitter@ thejetreport

The “Sanchise” Mark Sanchez was mistake free.  RB Shonne Greene also played a major role for the NY Jets on Saturday, as they upset the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals in the “Jungle” 24-14. The two rookies helped lead the Jets into the second round  for a date with the 13-3 San Diego Chargers. Sanchez, (12-15 1TD), who had 20 interceptions on the year and looked shaky at times during 2009, was flawless in his decision making. Greene lived up to coach Rex Ryan’s pregame prediction of the 3rd pick having a big day by rushing for 135 yards and a big 39 yard score. The Jets came back from an early 7-0 deficit to slowly wear down the Bengals on both sides of the ball. Gang Green showed why it came into the contest both as the league’s number one rushing club and Defense. The win leaves the Jets now with the  Chargers, winners of eleven straight. They are high octane air power. The Jets philosophy is Ground and Pound, but growing. A contrast in styles .The winner will be 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl.

There are still those who think the NY Jets don’t belong with the elite that the NFL has to offer despite their Wildcard road win. Now the Jets will have their chance to prove those who felt the Jets were given a free pass into the playoffs.  Coach Rex Ryan, who has stated on more than one occassion that he doesn’t care how his team got in,  gave his players an itinerary whose culmination would take place at a ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes. The rookie head coach was simply presenting the complete vision for a team that showed by their focused play in Cincy, that just making the playoffs is not the goal.

The Jets got down early on Saturday thanks to a big kick return by the Bengals Bernard Scott to start the game. The play left the Bengals on the Jet 35 where after a change of possesion that again gave them the ball to start inside the Jet 50. Former Jet Laverneus Coles later caught an 11 yard pass from Palmer to give the Bengals the early 7-0 lead.

The Jets would answer back thanks to a nifty play call by offensive coordintor Brian Schottenheimer. Schotty called for a conuter toss, a fake handoff right to FB Tony Richardson. The play instead was a pitch left to the big play Greene who found daylight behind 6 foot 7 310 pound 3rd year D’BRickshaw Ferguson.Ferguson sealed the edge as Greeene busted through to the second level of defenders. There were no defenders there however. Many of them bit on the run action to Richardson. Greene raced, then waltzed in for the tying score 7-7.

As the half wore on, it became clear that the Jet secondary was in complete control. Laverneus Coles, the former Jet, was the primary target for veteran QB Carson Palmer. With Chad Ochocinco being smothered on Revis Island, the Bengal pass attack was from the onset, containable. The former pass happy Bengal offense was now a run first offense. The club that lost Chris Henry to injury then to tragedy, had gone into the year having lost TJ Houshmanzadeh to free agency. Then Cincy’s two top  tight ends were lost for the season due to injury way back in the fall. Palmer’s accuracy was off all day. Throws were high, wobbly.Benson  had 169 yards on the day,  thanks to kicking some busted inside traps to the outside. As the gam ewore on could not do it alone.

This allowed the Jets to settle in after a shaky start made shakier due to Ryan finding out minutes before the coin flip that Punter Steve Weatherford would not be avaliable because of an irregular heartbeat. K Jay Feely took over and did a trmendous job filling in.

Sanchez then gave the Jets the lead, a lead they’d never relinquish. The TD came on a roll right. TE Dustin Keller (3-99yds 1 TD) dragged to the right afterlining up on the left side before the sanp. As Sanchez rolled, the QB’s first target underneath the linebackers was covered. Then Keller raised his hand, on the run, behind the linebackers, and away from a secondary that hadn’t seen him sneak free. Sanchez found Keller who caught the throw and raced towards the pilon. The second year TE fought off some would be Bengal defenders desperate to push him out of bounds, for the score and 14-7 Jet lead. Sanchez was sharp  with his limited chances all day. “He had the eye of the tiger today and he was ready to get out there and throw it around,” coach Rex Ryan said. “I see him getting better and better each day on the practice field. What a job he’s done. I think he’s tired of hearing he’s the weak link on this football team.”

The Jets had a chance in third to “break it open” with a twn point lead but two Jay Feely field goals were called back in a row, due to false starts. This forced the Jets out of field goal range as the furious Feely motioned to the sidelines for a punt.  The Jets got it back though and then went on an eight play 75 yard drive. The drive was capped off  by a  homas Jones (15-35 1TD) TD run from the 7 yard line to give the Jets a commanding 21-7 lead, late in the third quarter.

The Bengals would not exit without a fight. When Benson broke free for a long TD, it made the score 21-14 with over 11:00 remaining. Cedric Benson rushed for  169 yards on the day. He sat out the 37-0 Jet win the week before. Early on, Benson’s success had to have many wondering whether the strong start  was proof that the Bengals would be a different team in round two. Now however, with the Jets up seven, it was time to show the ability to close out a playoff game out on the road. As Ryan said during the week, one of his many brash quotes, this team was built for the playoffs. Well the Jets proved him right as the team marched down the field to tack on a huge Feely FG to make it 24-14. With 7:00 left the Jets got it back but played it safe. Real safe. Three runs and a short  punt gave the Bengals the ball close to the 50 with time to get a quick score and hope for the best.

Cincy drove into FG range but Shayne Graham, the dependable kicker that the Bengals even slapped a franchise tag on heading into 2009, missed his second chip shot of the day. Marivn Lewis later said that the missed FGs, especially the second, were crushing. The second, a 28 yarder, would have made it a one score game with 3:49 left. The Bengals had the two minute warning and all three timeouts still remaining. Instead the Jets again got it back and again chose to play it safe. Run, kill more clock, and punt. The Bengals got it back once more but by then it was hopeless. When Palmer was  finally sacked on fourth down by 10  year Jet veteran Sean Ellis, who has lived through his share of “Same Old Jets” disappointments, the celebration was on. The Jets, a team that few, including their coach, thought would even be here were moving on.

It was only a month ago that a horrifying 10-7 loss to Atlanta had seemingly closed the door on 2009. A loss that dropped the streaking Jets to 7-7 and left the dumbfounded  Ryan to mistakenly proclaim at the time “we’re out of the playoffs.” Well now the storyline has changed. Winners of six out of seven, the Jets are a red hot club whose confidence is growing behind the leadership of the outspoken Ryan, who continues to put positive world championship thoughts into the minds of his players. “This was a great team effort,” said Ryan, “We’re a good football team. If people don’t believe that, they soon will.”

Yes Network’s Mike Francesa had spoken earlier on Sunday about how fitting a rematch between the Jets and Colts would be in the following round. After all, it was the Colts who many feel rolled out the red carpet for the Jets to enter through into January. In week 16, the then undefeated Colts took out future hall of famer Peyton Manning and other key starters up just 15-10 late in the third quarter. The move was ordered by Colts brass to insure the safety of its stars for the postseason rather than chase the first perfect season since Miami did it in 1972. The move left many Colts fans and fans of other clubs in the AFC playoff hunt, disgusted afterwards. When Calvin Pace stripped backup QB Curtis Painter of the ball shortly after Manning exited, the road to the playoffs became a wide open possibility for the Jets. Miles away from the start of that day which had Jets playoff hopes sitting at a mathematical improbablility.

After the Baltimore Ravens layed it on the Pats on Sunday, in the second AFC Wildcard battle of the weekend (perhaps putting an end to New England’s decade long AFC East reign,) the Jets knew a date with the Colts and Peyton Manning would have to be put on ice, for now. The number two seeded Chargers and Phillip Rivers await the Jets instead. The AFC West champs can seemingly score at will, and now stand between the Jets and a date with the AFC Championship.

What a wild ride it’s been for the NY Jets in 2009. From 3-0 to 4-6 to 7-6 to needing to have prayers answered. Now the ride may be heating up  even more. This thanks to the Jets add more pieces to the puzzle on offense during this latest surge. Two weeks ago it was Brad Smith and the Wildcat in the big blowout win that sent the Jets into the playoffs.. This week it was Sanchez’s calm demeanor, coupled with Greene and Keller both busting out. Ryan boasted that the Jets will be a tough out for anyone right now. If the rookie QB out of USC can continue to grow his confidence and play mistake free while players like Greene become a bigger part of the equation, the Jets may truly be the tough out Rex was talking about.

WFAN”s Joe Beningo, a diehard Jet fan, says the Jets are now playing with “house money.” Even a loss couldn’t erase the fact that this year has been a successful step forward for a team led by many rookies including the coach. Beningo may be right but the Jets know that these chances don’t come often. In January it’s about seizing the moment. As hot as San Diego has been, and they’ve ebeen on fire, the Jets now find themselves hot as well. With the stakes higher than they’ve been for the Jets since 2005 when the Herm Edwards Jets beat the Chargers in OT in the Wildcard round ( only to fall dramatically to the Steelers in OT the following week). Once again, few will give the Jets a chance.  Others want more proof than just beating a sliding Bengals club, that the Jets truly belong in a class with the top teams in the league. One of those who believes the Jets CAN get it done now is Palmer. “They might have a chance to make a move, Their defense is that good.”

follow TJ Rosenthal on twitter @ thejetreport

A LOOK BACK ON THE THREE KEYS TO THE BENGALS:

EMOTIONS: The Jets had them. The Bengals were flat in the passing game so that had to take some wind out of their sails. Gang Green was not just happy to be there. They are thinking big and playing mistake free with fire. Like they have places to go, things to see.

STEP NOW ROOKIE , IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE: We said last week : “the Jets may in fact move it on the ground yet also need Sanchez to deliver some key third down throws…Here’s to hoping that Sanchez plays with that confidence he exuded  most notably Monday night in Miami, leading the Jets back twice in the second half. ” Mission accomplished. Sanchez porved to the Jet rport that he is a big game guy who can lead the Jets into the future. Limited throws yes, but playing cool, being in control, being a leader, count more than numbers. Nice job rookie.

X FACTORS:  We guessed wrong about Brad Smith and Kerry Rhodes. instead the X factors were the young trio of Sanchez, Greene and Keller. How about Feely stepping in and punting in a playoff game? A game ball goes to the kicker.