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There is no question the Jets want to “ground-and-pound” against the Indianapolis Colts. Will they be able to do it? Dan takes a look . . .
There are obviously several reasons why they want to be a run-first team in Indianapolis.
First of all, this approach eats up more of the clock, and limits the amount of time Peyton Manning is on the field.
Secondly, this is best way to maximize the performance of Mark Sanchez. He works best when supported by a dominating rushing attack. This allows him to complete easier passes, like play-action, bootlegs, and one-read throws. When he’s forced to throw 30-40 times, as a pocket passer, this just isn’t his forte right now.
But if you what, if the Jets were playing the Colts in the early to middle parts of the season, there would great chance this would be successful. However, over the last four weeks of the season, the Colts’ run defense has stepped up significantly.
And it’s no coincidence, that the resurgence of the Colts’ run defense, occurred upon the return of middle linebacker Gary Brackett. With the Rutgers’ product back in the lineup over the last month, the Colts are allowing just 3.5 yards per carry. And keep in mind some of their opponents during this stretch, Tennessee’s Chris Johnson, Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew and Oakland’s Darren McFadden. When you contain these three guys in a short period of time, you have a pretty good run defense.
Last week, in a huge game against Tennessee, they held Johnson to just 39 yards on 20 carries. That is an exceptional performance against perhaps the league’s best back.
Another reason for the improved Colts’ run defense is the emergence of second-year defensive tackle Fili Moala. He was a non-factor as a rookie. In fact, he was inactive for the Jets-Colts playoff game. But this year, the USC-product has really stepped up. Case-in-point, in the Oakland game, he stopped McFadden twice in the backfield.
Now, this doesn’t mean the Jets can’t run on the Colts.
As we brought up yesterday, Shonn Greene is a great matchup against the Colts’ smallish front seven. He proved that last year, in the playoffs, before leaving the game with a rib injury. He’s basically the same size as the Colts’ three starting linebackers.
No slight intended on LaDainian Tomlinson, but this small, quick defensive front seven of the Colts is much better suited to deal with him, rather than Greene.
So this isn’t a game for a 50-50 split. This week Greene should clearly get more carries than L.T..
One significant reason the Jets should be able to run against the Colts, when Jacksonville, Oakland and Tennessee couldn’t, is that they Jets have a much better offensive line than another of those teams.
But if you want to talk about a key matchup in this game, it’s Brackett against Greene, two South Jersey guys going at it. Brackett is from Glassboro and Greene from Sicklerville.
These two butting heads will be fun to watch.
And the Jets can only hope that Greene dominates the Colts.
Because the last thing his quarterback can afford, is to get into a shootout with Peyton Manning.
The Jets need to keep Manning, on the sideline, in a baseball cap, for as much of this game as possible.
