Back to earth. After emotion carried the Colts into the stratosphere last week with an unlikely win against Green Bay, the team came back to reality. In the NFL, road games are unforgiving...and the Colts just didn't have it.
Off target. Luck couldn't match last week's performance and spent much of the game against the Jets with a completion percentage under 50 percent. Right out of the gate he was high on several throws. He missed Coby Fleener high in the end zone, Reggie Wayne high to the left, and Fleener high again in the flat. The team will go as Luck goes...and he was off.
Ground and pound. Again. Again. Again. I had flashbacks to the infamous Jacksonville game from the Super Bowl season. The Colts let the Jets manhandle them and run right over and through them. They couldn't tackle, get off their blocks, or hold their gaps. When they had point-blank shots at Jets running backs, they whiffed. I wonder if we'll hear the phrase "correctable mistakes" this week.
No Freeney, no Mathis. Listen, I know Dwight Freeney suited up for the Colts...but that wasn't Dwight Freeney on the field. He didn't have his burst and wasn't the Freeney we're used to seeing. Mathis didn't play, and it was noticeable. The Colts got some surge on the pass rush in the second half, but it didn't really matter.
Dwayne Allen. Allen continues to impress me in the passing game. Get him the ball more, please.
What running game? The Colts stuck with their running game last week and Donald Brown had a decent performance. I was excited to see Vick Ballard get the start, but Indy came out throwing instead. By the time the Jets started to assert their dominance, the running game went out the window.
Settling for field goals. Luck's high throw to Fleener in the end zone was the closest the Colts got to scoring a touchdown until Luck later threw an interception in the end zone late in the game. Field goals can win ballgames, but they more often lose ballgames when you have the chance to score touchdowns and fail.
Fourth and Ten, do it again...go...field goal! The decision to kick a field goal on fourth and ten with the game pretty much over left me baffled. Yeah, you're probably not going to win the game, but the field goal does you no good.
Luck in their sights. Protection was decent in the first half, but once the Colts got behind, the Jets hit Luck over and over and over again. The rookie took a pounding.
Tebow! Tim Tebow proved what a valuable commodity he is by passing for a first down out of the punt formation. Other than that, Tebow wasn't a huge factor. That play, however, was key. The Colts wouldn't have won this game, but that conversion prevented the Colts from getting a stop while the game was still within reach.
Looked like a rookie. Luck has amazed us most of the season with his poise and precision. This week, he looked like a rookie. He made bad throws, poor decisions, and looked overwhelmed at times.
Let Sanchez beat you. It's pretty simple with the Jets: let Mark Sanchez beat you. The guy still hasn't proved that he can make the plays with the game on the line. Instead, the Colts let Shonn Greene run all over them, taking the pressure off the beleaguered Jets quarterback. Sanchez threw for less than 100 yards (although he was on target in the red zone).
Defense beaten up. Mathis was out...so were Fili Moala and Martin Tevaseu on the defensive line. Cory Redding got hurt during the game. The Colts' front-line players stack up well against most opponents; but they have little depth. What does that mean? 254 rushing yards and 35 points.
