Indianapolis, IN - The Indianapolis Colts have shown very few weaknesses over the course of the 2009 football season. ESPN analysts argue that low rushing numbers and Jim Caldwell's use of rookies put an otherwise talented team at a disadvantage as they pursue their second Super Bowl title in the last four years. The Colts overcame those supposed weaknesses week after week and won every game during the regular season. Until the New York Jets came to Indianapolis and exposed a major flaw in the Colts' strategy.
"We knew that if we could take advantage of that one hole in their armor we could get out of there with a win," said Jets coach Rex Ryan, "All we had to do was hope that they bench Manning, Wayne and the other guys. That's the way to beat the Colts this year."
Other teams have tried every stategy known to professional football to give the Colts a loss but nothing had proven fruitful until yesterday. Miami tried holding the ball for 75% of the game. The Patriots tried by giving Manning a short field with just over a minute to play. Denver tried by throwing to only one player all game. St. Louis even tried the 'play dead' trick, hoping the Colts would forget to score. But everything changed when the Jets decided to think outside the box.
"We all wrote letters to Santa," says Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez, "Coach Ryan had us all send a letter asking him to tell Caldwell to bench his starters with enough time left so we could come back."
When the Jets got their gift from Santa, they knew exactly how to exploit it. "We spent all week designing our defense around [backup quarterback] Curtis Painter," said Sanchez. "We all knew we could shut him down if given the chance."
ESPN football expert Keyshawn Johnson pointed out yesterday in his weekly column that the tape of the game is now likely to be studied and analyzed by all teams with a chance of facing the Colts in the postseason. "Everyone is going to see this. Now everyone knows how to beat Indianapolis. What an embarassment," he said.
The Jets were able to expose this hidden weakness but Jim Caldwell stated that he'll learn from the experience and play all starters for the entire game next Sunday against Buffalo. "We were aiming for a 'one-loss' regular season all along. It was one of our goals from the outset," he says.
Story by Dudley Dawson
