In the AFC Championship Game, the upstart New York Jets were able to contain the 2009 NFL MVP, albeit for one quarter. The league’s number one defense actually sacked Manning on consecutive offensive plays over two series and at one point in the second quarter, the Jets led 17-6. Answering a Jay Feeley field goal, Manning sliced through Gang Green’s secondary to cut into the deficit at the half to four points.

While Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (17 for 30, 257 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) played extremely well, the offense could not get going and went scoreless in the second half. At the same time, the Colts controlled the pace and Manning had his way. He threw for 377 yards and three scores to three different receivers in Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon and Dallas Clark en route to the 30-17 victory.

The Superdome hosted the NFC Championship Game and what was expected to be a close shootout between two offensive juggernauts in the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings did not disappoint. Brett Favre came out slinging as expected, as did Drew Brees. At half time, the score was even at 14 and although they had four turnovers, the Vikes were very much in the game and actually were in position to win the game in the waning seconds. But a penalty for too many men in the huddle set them back five yards, setting up a third down. Instead of calling a conservative run to set up a long field goal attempt, Minnesota elected to throw.

Favre rolled to his right out of the pocket and threw into double coverage across his body. On cue, the ball was picked off and we were headed into the extra stanza. For all the great things that Favre (28 for 46, 310 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions) has done in 19 NFL seasons, he has a tendency to make a terrible decision at the worst time. It happened in the playoffs before, against the Giants and Eagles.

The Saints won the coin toss and went on a drive that seemed to go on forever due to three booth reviews. Garrett Hartley nailed a 40-yard field goal and there was happiness in the bayou with the scoreboard showing a 31-28 win for the home squad.

Super Bowl XLIV will be an interesting affair, one that will pit an old dog that has been there/done that in Manning and a bunch of wide-eyed Saints. Expect a lot of offense in this one, so take the over.

Photo by William J. Hauser

Although they still have a long way to go, the Jets (5-6) can at least think about the playoffs if not talk about them. But that word didn’t even come up after the game. “This was a great team win,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “It feels good to say that. It’s been a while.”

The team’s much-maligned secondary stepped up on this day with four interceptions and sent 76,381 fans home happy. It all began on the Panthers’ opening drive, one in which they converted three third down plays. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme then tried to hit Steve Smith on a slant that would have gone for a big gain, but there was apparent miscommunication and the wideout had yet to turn in. The ball caromed off his heel up in the air and right into the hands of Darrelle Revis, who returned it 67 yards for the Jets first defensive touchdown of the season.

“The great ones are lucky,” joked Ryan.

After trading field goals, the Jets capitalized on Delhomme’s third pick of the day when Kerry Rhodes – who was removed from the starting line-up this week in favor of Eric Smith – pulled down the floater and brought it back to the Carolina 38-yard line.

“The message was sent to me by Coach and now I’m moving on,” said Rhodes, who also had another interception and received a game ball. The Jets extended their lead to 14-3 when Thomas Jones (25 carries for 75 yards, 1 touchdown) plunged into the end zone from three yards out.

The big talk all week leading up to this game was that Ryan was going to take a more active role in the offense to try to cut down on the mistakes of his rookie quarterback. A more conservative game plan seem to benefit Mark Sanchez, who completed 13 out of 17 for 154 yards and one interception, but the USC product was not totally satisfied with his performance.

“I was playing smart on offense and we still gave up a couple of turnovers,” he said. “They (the coaches) were telling me in the meetings, ‘If you take a sack, that’s OK. Just don’t lose the ball.’”

Ryan added, “I thought he did a great job. He really managed the game well and had some nice runs. When in doubt, he checked the ball down.”

At one point in the third quarter, Sanchez was shaken up with an apparent knee injury and missed the majority of one series, but returned the next one. “He said he was good to go,” Ryan said. “I was just anxious to get him back in there.” Sanchez had the knee checked out by the team’s medical staff after the game and said that there was nothing abnormal found.

The Jets sealed the win with a 47-yard field goal by Feeley with 3:39 left to make the score 17-6. The big play on the drive was a 16-yard completion to converted running back Danny Woodhead on third down to move the chains.

“Coach put me in a great situation, Mark put the ball on me and the line did a great job so I just had to make the catch,” the wide receiver humbly said.

The Jets do not have much time to enjoy this win due to the Thursday night affair against the Bills in Toronto. “This is a short week for us, so we can enjoy it for about five hours,” said Ryan.

Better to enjoy the victory than wallow in another loss.

Photo by William J. Hauser

After splitting the four games in the wild card round of the NFL Playoffs, I’m looking to rebound and get all four of these right. You can’t kill me on Indy, but you can on the Fish. So to make it up yo you, here it is:

Baltimore at Tennessee
Arizona at Carolina
Philadelphia at NY Giants
San Diego at Pittsburgh

I wanted to go with all four home teams, but pulled the trigger for the upset with the streaking Bolts. Pittsburgh’s offense shouldn’t scare anyone and they are beatable at home, as the Giants proved during the regular season.

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In the other AFC match-up, I still am not impressed with the Titans and have trouble with this pick, but I still say the rookie quarterback vs. the savvy veteran will make a difference. The Ravens have played so well and the Titans may be coming in a bit flat, so I smell a possible upset here, just not strong enough to go with the underdog without a point spread as part of the equation.

Big Blue would rather have seen anyone else besides the Eagles here, but will prevail in the end. The team has stated that the week of rest has come in handy after a grueling regular season schedule. Even in defeat, Philly fans have to feel good about their team this year, and they will go down swinging.

The Panthers will blow out the Cards and send them home happy with their one playoff win, setting up a great NFC Championship Game in the Garden State.