Jonathan Storti
NFL Football – AFC Championship
In the end, it was just too much Peyton Manning. The Indianapolis Colts defeated the New York Jets 30-17 to advance to their second Super Bowl in three years. The Jets #1 rated defense could only contain Manning for so long before he dissected the secondary every which way. New York’s standout cornerback Darrelle Revis shutdown Indy’s Reggie Wayne for most of the game, but Manning found other targets to exploit. The clock finally struck twelve on New York’s Cinderella post season run, but there is a definite silver lining. The Jets will bring back one of the best defense’s in the game next year, to go along with an emerging star in NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez. Revis and other members of the defense are quite young, so the Jets will not be soon forgotten. Sanchez proved that he was worth a top 5 pick, and could easily become one of the best quarterbacks in the game. Unfortunately Sanchez ran into the best NFL quarterback in the game Sunday, Mr. Peyton Manning. In previous seasons Manning’s status as top quarterback in the league had been debatable, but this year the visibility between Manning and everyone else was shockingly clear.
On Sunday Manning picked apart the New York Jets defense by looking for mismatches created by his wide receivers. Manning knew that Wayne was going to be tightly guarded by Revis all game, so he got the ball to Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie. Garcon exploded in the AFC championship game with 11 catches and 151 yards receiving, along with a touchdown. Not shabby for an undrafted receiver from Mount Union College. Collie, not to be overlooked, grabbed 7 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. Collie, like Garcon was not heavily hyped coming out of college and was drafted in the later rounds. These two players illustrate just how good Peyton Manning is. He can turn run of the mill wide receivers into explosive threats that opponents have to strategize against. His passes are more accurate and catchable than anybody’s in the league, and it’s not close. Some like to say that Manning’s Super Bowl adversary Drew Brees is just as good, but Manning doesn’t have nearly the offensive weapons that Drew has. Manning’s ability to make those around him so much better can only be compared with Magic Johnson of the NBA. Watching Manning dispatch the Jets on Sunday should be reason enough not to bet against the Colts, at least until Mr. 18 retires.
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