Well, all good things must come to an end.

The Jets mounted a great playoff run this year, but it ended today in Indy the way all the Jets playoff runs have ended since Superbowl III… with a painful loss, and elimination. They played a great first half, and for a while I thought they might pull it off, but that TD drive that Eli’s Big Brother led just before halftime was an ominous sign, and in the second half it all fell in… just as it did in Denver the last time Gang Green played in an AFC Championship. That time it was Elway and Jets mistakes. This time it was just Peyton. He really is that good. Best QB of this era, and one of the best of all time. The Jets did a good job of containing his main weapons, Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne, but Peyton just found other weapons in Garcon and Collie, and shredded us with them. Matters weren’t helped when a couple of players in the Jets secondary went down… and then when we lost Shonn Green at the start of the second half, I could hear the bell tolling. Thomas Jones is a good RB, but Green was the more explosive back, and the one with fresh legs. With him out, our offense lost its punch.

Also, we missed two field goals. And I know why. Last week in the Chargers game, you may recall, San Diego’s kicker Nate Kaeding missed three field goals. After the game, when the players were shaking hands on the field, Jets kicker Jay Feely went up to console Kaeding, and put his arm around his shoulder while commiserating with him. This was a kindly and humane gesture, but ill considered. By touching Kaeding, Feely obviously contracted kicker cooties. They are highly contagious.

Still… I’m sad, but I can’t be too devastated. The Jets flew a lot further than anyone ever expected (including me), and gave us some great playoff victories to cherish. And there’s hope for the future. We have a great coach in Rex Ryan, the best defense in the NFL, Shonn Green is only a rookie… and Mark Sanchez played very well today. I think this kid is a keeper. With more experience, there’s no limit on how good he can be.

So. One last time, for a great season:

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Despite being in mourning, I watched the Vikings/ Saints game as well, though with no particular rooting interest. I like both these teams and both these cities. It was an exciting game, lots of big plays and back-and-forth… but once again it made my teeth grind to hear some commentators calling it a “great game.” It was close and tense, good entertainment, but the play was sloppy at best. Fumbles, interceptions, untimely penalties. For a long while it seemed as though neither team wanted to go to the Superbowl. Sorry, I will never concede that Adrian Peterson is a great running back until he learns to hold on to the ball. And Brett… I like Favre, and I wish him well, but damn, that last interception was a dagger through his team’s heart. And sad to say, he keeps doing that. Witness the INTS that ended the overtime between the Packers and Giants two years ago, or the one that ended the playoff contest between Green Bay and Philadelphia a few years before that.

Anyway, congratulations to the Colts and the Saints. I will look forward to the Superbowl, where I will likely be rooting for New Orleans… though I think the Colts will win.

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Talk about flying high.

I mean, what a day. Aside from a Superbowl victory, the only thing that could possibly be sweeter than the Cowboys’ humiliating loss in the morning game is the impossible win by the Jets in the late game… and getting both… well, there are no words.

A great day for Brett Favre and all the hornheads up in Minnesota. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were not merely beaten, they were really most sincerely beaten. Spanked. The Purple Gang outplayed them on offense, defense, special teams, coaching, every way one team can outplay another. Given the fact the the Vikes crushed my beloved Giants in their last regular season team, it was loverly to see them do the same to the Cowboys when it really, really counted. Maybe Minnesota really is that good.

And the Jets game… Keyshawn Johnson was the only one of the talking heads on ESPN who picked them, and so far as I know it was the same on the other networks. No one gave them a chance. Everyone already had the Chargers penciled in to face to Colts for the AFC crown.

Well, here’s what I say to that

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The Jets/ Chargers game was supposed to be the weekend’s biggest blowout, and instead turned out to be the only close contest of the divisional game. Gang Green played some incredible defense, and had just as much offense as they needed. Yes, San Diego contributed mightily to their own demise. The battle-seasoned veteran QB threw twice as many picks as our rookie Mark Sanchez. The running back who stole LT’s nickname was a non-factor.

San Diego’s bone-headed penalties undermined them repeatedly on offense. The worst was that after-the-play head butt, though all those false starts didn’t help (it was their stadium, by rights the Jets should have been the ones false starting). The much-discussed kicking-the-challenge-flag penalty was boneheaded as well, but actually did not hurt much, since San Diego went on to get the touchdown anyway. The three missed field goals were huge.

And the coaching needs to get some of the blame. Norv Turner is already getting roundly criticized for the onsides kick, and justifiably. It was a bad call. But I also think his decision to try and kick a field goal at the end of the first half was a mistake. Kickers are known to be fragile, and Kaeding had already missed one field goal (much shorter)… which had to have awakened ghosts of the one he missed the last time the Jets played the Chargers in the playoffs, a miss that cost San Diego that game. So with time about to expire in the first half, Norv summons him back onto the field to attempt a 57–yarder… when 57 yards was his career long. Too much risk there, for too little reward. When Kaeding missed that one too, it had to have seriously messed with his head. Having missed the first two FGs, he was in no shape to kick the crucial third one near the end of the game… and, indeed, he missed it.

(Parris and I helped as well. Every time Kaeding lined up to attempt a FG, we made hex signs at the screen and yelled BOOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA as he made his approach. We also booga’d the Cowboys kicker in the morning game. Hey, we had a great day with our hexes).

Of course, none of this would have mattered if the Jets had not played so hard. The Chargers stuffed their run for the whole first half, but they never abandoned it. They just kept pounding, pounding, pounding, and finally San Diego cracked and Shonn Green burst through for the crucial touchdown run. Oh, that was sweet.

This is the kind of football I love. Hard-hitting defense, a running game, low score. I’ll take that any day over the glorified Madden Game contests like Green Bay/ Arizona.

And now the Jets return to Indianapolis to face the Colts again. Heehah. Talk about irony. Talk about poetic justice. Beware, Dr. Frankenstein. The monster you created is coming back. I hope all your guys are really well rested.

Everyone will pick against the Jets this week too. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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