Archive for the ‘Superbowl’ Category
Manning and Favre will go to Super Bowl
There are no more than four and in a few hours we will know the identity of the last two courses that will feed during the next two weeks, hoping to raise the precious Vince Lombardi Trophy given to the Super Bowl champions.
The clash between the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, the first of the weekend was intriguing. We all know the history that unites these teams since the end of the season. Assured of participation in the playoffs, the Colts rested their regular players at the 16th week of activity and the Jets took the opportunity to beat them and improve their chances of qualifying, which they eventually did.
Now the Jets have the chance to return to Indianapolis to prove that their presence there is not a fluke. The Colts, they have the opportunity to close the matter once and for all and move on.
All the pressure is on the back of the Colts. The Jets, it’s good little team that nobody wants to face. They did nothing to lose, have a good attitude and are pumped. Their coach Rex Ryan has the gift of convincing his players they are a great team. This could confuse the issue. The Jets are a team correct, but they think and play like a team that can achieve great things.
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The Jets come to San Diego where they went to beat the Chargers, a team that has always been around to give a headache to the Colts. It’s obvious that Ryan will use it to motivate his troops. Also, in the last game between the Jets and Colts, all the starters were still on the ground in the third quarter and that Indy was leading 15-10. This will be another element of the speech coach, who can compare his team to the 2005 Steelers or the Giants in 2007. Two wild card who have won all their games on the road to win top honors.
It proved, the Jets are hard to beat when they do not take in the foot. Mark Sanchez seems to have finally understood: the last four games, he has suffered only one interception. This is one of the keys to victory for the Jets.
Cons Indianapolis, the Jets will absolutely find ways to steal possessions balloon Peyton Manning and that there are several ways to do this:
- Obviously, by imposing ground game to control time of possession. The dynamic is interesting at this level with the Jets. Rookie Shona Greene seems to have fresh legs: it has raised more rushing yards, 263, than any other running back since the start of the playoffs. He brings the majority of the burden on his shoulders, but when his team will come close to winning short at the door or goals, Thomas Jones returns with his attitude to power.
- By creating turnovers. Easy to say, I tell you, but Manning has still made some small mistakes last week against the Ravens. On one sequence in particular, he was rescued by Peter Boy and a penalty, because he threw two interceptions by Ed Reed for a few minutes.
We know that Manning excels against the blitz, a tactic much like the Jets practice. But basically, what the Colts quarterback will see this weekend, he saw last week. Between philosophy and Ravens defensive of the Jets, the difference is not huge. It’s almost as if the Colts had been entitled to an intensive training a week before finals.
- When you pass a big play on special teams. Sooner or later in the game, it will take one to give momentum to the Jets. It may be a short punt, a fake a punt … anything, but it will probably take calculated risks.
The biggest wish of the Jets probably still be on the ball in the second half. They want that scenario last week to repeat sometime in the third quarter with a gap of a possession. In this situation, all the pressure is on the Colts.
Defensively, the Jets should be able to disguise their intentions. Manning is always well prepared, it has an exceptional photographic memory. You watch him play once and he always recognize thereafter. Thus, its decision is often made even before the ball is put in. You have to organize yourself so that it connects only when the ball is in his hands, not before. You have created a little hesitation in making its decision.
It should also be out of Manning’s show, which is four or five yards behind his center Jeff Saturday. You have to force him to move with the blitz in central zone of protection. Want to make it run, because it proved he is not as good when it is moving.
Clearly, the more you hide your strategies, the less you reveal to the adversary, but the perverse effect is that you walk away from where you should be lifting the ball. The fine line between not wanting to reveal too much to get Manning and behind in his assignments.
What I love about this confrontation is that it’s really old school football against the new generation. The Jets play according to the philosophy of the founding fathers of football, Vince Lombardi of this world. Their success in passing defense and running game, like in the good old days. While with the Colts, 32nd this season for yards amassed by race, it happens in the air.
The Colts can stop the run
For the Colts, the best antidote to the problems facing the Jets is to score early and often. It is imperative that you manage to take a lead of at least two possessions, what the Chargers have never been able to do. We need you to put the Jets uncomfortable, that forces you to go out of their system, you in many applications to their rookie quarterback. The Colts had any interest in hitting hard and early to lower the confidence level of the Jets and send the message that their beautiful dream ends today.
To do this they must first stop the ground game. In the last game between two teams, the Jets had gained 202 yards that way. Well, they are given more or less valid when we know the history of this game then, but still …
By stopping the ground game, Mark Sanchez places you in situations of “third and long.” A rookie quarterback who is faced with this issue in conference final, a stage in super noisy moreover, who sees Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis to prepare to take away his head … Say it is not an ideal situation.
And the Colts are capable of curbing the best running backs in the NFL. Last week, they limited the Ravens to 1.7 yards per carry, not Ray Rice traveling only 67 yards. This is 16 fewer than he had collected only on the first play of the game against the Patriots last week! This season, the Colts have allowed only 11 races over 20 yards. That tells me they are good about their tackles and marauders, even without Bob Sanders, are reliable.
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