Colts on Offense
Peyton Manning has struggled historically against blitzing 3-4 defenses. The Patriots gave him fits for the first half of his career, then the Chargers took their place, beating the Colts three times in three years (twice in the playoffs). The Colts were the biggest Jets fans west of the Catskills last week, but the Jets are capable of executing a Chargers-style game plan to confound Manning. The Jets’ front seven will fidget and shift at the line of scrimmage like kids in a junior high cafeteria line: linebackers will saunter from gap to gap, linemen will slide left and right, safeties will threaten to blitz before racing back to deep zones.The Ravens used similar tactics last week with some success: they held the Colts to 20 points, and Colts scoring drives were grueling marches kept alive by reach-for-the-chains third- and fourth-down conversions. Twenty points were enough for a Colts win last week, and Manning led the Colts to 15 points in three quarters against the Jets before Jim Caldwell cleared the bench. To beat the Colts’ starters, the Jets’ defense must somehow keep Manning below two touchdowns.
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