A Colts Fan Looks At The AFC Championship

My good friend and future lawyer Dan on Friday looked at this weeks AFC Championship game from a Jets perspective and I know give my version from a Colts perspective. I am extremely nervous about the game on Sunday for one they already beat us once this season. Furthermore, their is nothing more scarier than an above average team catching lightning in the bottle come the postseason. See the 05 Steelers and 07 Giants as recent examples.

Here are 5 things to look at on Sunday.

1) Turnovers and Special Teams/Defensive Scores- In week 16 the Colts turned the ball over twice one was a sack/fumble returned for a touchdown and a Curtis Painter interception that put the Jets in position for their first offensive touchdown. In addition Brad Smith returned a kickoff 106 yards. None of these things can happen if the Colts want to head to the Super Bowl.
2) Get ahead early- Here are Sanchez's completion totals in his past seven victories: nine, 13, seven, 12, eight, 12 and 12. I would love for the game to be on Sanchez's shoulders down 2 scores in the 4th quarter.
3) The underrated Colts D- Not only did the Colts not allow a touchdown to the Ravens in 8 quarters this season, halfway through the 3rd quarter against the Jets all the Colts D had allowed was a field goal. Almost impossible to beat Manning by kicking field goals.
4) Manning versus Jets D - When teams have sent 5 or more rushers at Manning this season he has completed 68.7% of his passes at an average of 9 yards. His td to int ratio was 7-4 and a QB rating of 101.4. When the Jets sent 5 or more rushers their opponents completed 47.9% of their passes at an average of 4.7 yards. The td-int ratio was 2-7 and opposing QB's had a rating of 56.1 which was the best in the NFL.
5) Bad postseason karma for the Colts when they play the Jets - Not only did the Joe Willie Namath guarantee victory in Super Bowl III he actually backed those words up as the Jets shocked the world beating the heavily favored Colts. The only other time the Jets and Colts have met in the postseason was 2003 and it was a pretty strong defensive effort by New York against Manning. Jets 41, Colts 0. Three Jets and 10 Colts remain on the rosters from then.

It will be fun to watch.