But Jets fans should feel proud. No one expected the Jets to make the playoffs much less play in the AFC Championship game. This team battled when no one gave them a chance.

Against the Colts they just ran out of gas. Defensively they did not have the horses to keep up with all the weapons in the Colts’ arsenal. On offense, losing Shonn Greene to a rib injury totally changed the complexion of the Jets’ offense.

Greene had been their biggest weapon and without him the Jets’ running game was non-existent. Brian Schottenheimer had to put the ball up more than he would like and the Jets are simply not built to be a passing team.

Mark Sanchez played a solid game but he is not ready to carry this team with his arm although that day may not be very far off.

The Jets’ defense started out hot, getting two early sacks of Peyton Manning but their success was short-lived. The Colts changed their protection schemes and the Jets’ blitz was not getting there by the second quarter.

Rex Ryan went with more coverage schemes but did not have the players to keep up. As he has done all season, Darrelle Revis shut down the opponent’s #1 receiver, holding Reggie Wayne to 4 catches for 55 yards.

Wayne was not a factor nor was TE Dallas Clark. Between them they had 200 catches this season, which is why it was a top priority for the secondary to take these two out.

Clark had one big play, a 15-yard catch down the seam for a fourth quarter touchdown but otherwise was a non-factor. He finished with 4 catches for 35 yards.

The Jets’ secondary did not communicate well. On Austin Collie’s 16-yard touchdown right before halftime he got a clean release off the line and went uncovered on a post route into the end zone.

The Jets were in zone coverage and Eric Smith thought he had deep help from Kerry Rhodes. I don’t know what Rhodes was looking at on this play because he did not react well to the play in front of him.

He stayed flat-footed in his deep zone and never reacted to Collie running down the middle. Rhodes stood stationery, focused on a short zone, which had no receivers running through it.

This looked like a blown on assignment by Rhodes.

It was all Collie on that 4-play, 80-yard drive. He caught all three of Manning’s completions but it was a 46-yarder that set up the score.

Drew Coleman had good coverage but just missed knocking the ball down – not a great move by a guy who stands 5-9. He is not going to knock down a lot of balls thrown that high and in hindsight should have just played his man rather than the ball.

On Clark’s touchdown, safety James Ihedigbo was lined up as a linebacker and did not get enough depth in his drop. He was in zone coverage and bit hard on a play action fake and left the middle of the field open.

Dwight Lowery was picked on mercilessly by Manning in the second half and had no answer for Pierre Garcon. He was overmatched by the Colts’ #2 receiver and it would prove to hamstring the Jets’ defense.

Garcon was thrown to 15 times and caught 11 balls for 151 yards and a touchdown. Lowery could not defend the slant route and Manning kept going to this play throughout.

On this type of pattern the corner has to be aggressive and take away the inside. To do it, he must identify the play quickly but Lowery was unable to do so.

In fairness to Lowery, he is more accustomed to being a nickel back, his role all year. But he was pressed into starting duty after Lito Sheppard was benched.

Rex Ryan was not wrong for demoting Sheppard. He was awful in the last match up and Manning surely would have targeted him again.

Rex Ryan was right on in his post game comments, "With Peyton Manning, if you can't disrupt his rhythm he's going to kill you and we couldn't disrupt it enough."

The Jets applied early pressure but by the end of the second quarter Manning was in a groove. He set his sights on Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery and attacked them both in the second half.

Although the Jets’ pass rush got there early, it made no impact in the second half. The Colts were keeping a tight end and a back in to protect and were sending three men out into routes.

When the blitz could not get there, the Jets dropped more men into coverage but it did not matter. Most of these guys were exhausted. Manning threw 39 times and the Jets defense looked gassed by the third quarter.

Their priority defensively was to stop Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, which they did but it was Manning’s secondary targets, Collie and Garcon, that burned them. Between them, they caught 18 passes for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Jets could not match up with these two and in the end, it was their undoing. They lost Donald Strickland early to an injury (this guy has been banged up all year) and Ryan was forced to move up his DB’s in the rotation.

The Jets’ depth in the secondary was exposed. With Ryan not trusting Sheppard (for good reason) and being without Strickland, he was essentially down two corners and that is a bad situation to be in against Peyton Manning.

The Jets jumped out to a surprising 17-6 lead in the second quarter with some big plays from its offense. Mark Sanchez threw a beautiful 80-yard TD pass to Braylon Edwards but Edwards disappeared from the game, catching only one ball the rest of the way.

Sanchez added a 9-yard TD pass to Dustin Keller that capped a 7-play, 77-yard drive that was set up by a great call by Schottenheimer.

It was just a matter of time until Brad Smith would be used to throw the ball and Schotty dialed one up on an option. Out of the Wildcat formation, Smith rolled right on an apparent running play but he pulled up and completed a 45-yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery.

The Jets would score three plays later and had all the momentum early. On the Colts’ next possession, Calvin Pace made a great play on a first and 10 at the Colts’ 38. He knifed into the backfield and just blew up Joseph Addai, forcing a fumble. Jim Leonhard recovered and the Jets were in business at the Colts’ 29.

The Jets would add a Jay Feely 48-yard field goal on the ensuing drive and the Jets looked to be in control 17-6 with two minutes to go in the half. Unfortunately they surrendered 80 yards in only 58 seconds on the Colts’ next drive and let them back in it.

The Jets were doing everything right early despite following an unconventional game plan. Brian Schottenheimer opened up the playbook early and had the Colts on the ropes with some big plays in the passing game.

The strategy was no doubt intended to loosen up the Colts’ aggressive defense, which was playing the Jets’ run very tough. The Jets finished with only 86 yards on the ground, approximately half their season average.

But like the San Diego game, the Jets were in good position to pound the rock in the second half and wear down the Colts’ smallish front but they never got the chance.

Shonn Greene left the game early in the third quarter and did not return. The Jets’ running game turned ordinary and the Jets were forced out of their game plan.

Sanchez had to throw more and that is simply not a winning formula for the Jets. There will come a day when Sanchez will lead this team with his arm but he is not there yet.

The Jets’ offense never got in a rhythm despite Sanchez doing a solid job of making some tough throws, particularly on third down. He finished 6-16 on third down and made some nice stick throws to Jerricho Cotchery.

Sanchez was hot early, going 5-7 for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half.
He looked as sharp as he has been in these playoffs. His ball handling was great and worked the play action well. Schottenheimer rolled him out a lot and that is where Sanchez looks most comfortable.

He threw with good accuracy and, with the exception of two throws, was careful with the football. Sanchez was one of the few bright spots for the Jets offensively.

The real problem for the Jets’ offense was the loss of Greene. He runs with more power and speed than Thomas Jones and has essentially overtaken him as the feature back. Ryan has not made it official but that is coming.

Whether it is wear and tear over his career or just the rigors of a long season, Jones could not get it done. Running behind the same offensive line yesterday, Jones averaged 2.6-yards per carry compared to Greene’s 4.1.

When Greene went out, Schottenheimer had to throw the ball more and that is not the Jets’ game at this point. After a stellar first half, Sanchez was 12-23 for 133 yards and threw an interception.

The Jets were not going to win this game with Sanchez throwing the ball 30 times and that is exactly what happened. The Jets’ offense is not built to come back from big leads and will not win many games when their running game is not clicking.

This was a tough loss for Jets Nation but fans should keep it in perspective. This team overachieved in its first season under Rex Ryan. They played with a rookie quarterback all year and had to overcome his growing pains.

Their late season surge was something Jets fans have rarely seen and is a promising sign for this new regime. The Jets are loaded with talent and should be an even better team in 2010.

They will have another year in Ryan’s system. Sanchez will have a full off-season with his receivers and will be able to do more in the offense.

Hopefully the Jets will get back Kris Jenkins and Leon Washington who will both make their respective units that much better.

There is no way to predict whether the Jets will go as far next year but they certainly have the team to do it. Sanchez and the other young players got invaluable postseason experience, which will serve them well in the future.

Rex Ryan proved himself as one heck of a coach and the Jets have a great nucleus of young players. Sanchez will continue to grow and become a bigger part of the offense. Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson are among the best at their positions and will anchor a dominating offensive line.

Defensively, the Jets have the best corner in the league in Darrelle Revis who can single-handedly carry the defense. David Harris is one of the best middle linebackers in football and performs consistently game in and game out.

The Jets will regroup. Like all teams they will lose players and gain others in the off-season and I expect them to play with a chip on their shoulder next year.

They were playing tough, confident football during the most critical time of the year. They had the collective will to go all the way but came up short. I expect them to be hungry for a championship in 2010.

The Jets will be in the playoffs again next year and will be playing in another AFC Championship again soon.

Although it is tough to lose a big game, and Jets fans have no doubt experienced that anguish on many occasions, they should take solace in the fact that this is not the “Same ‘ol Jets” and they did not break our hearts in this one.

They fought hard and overachieved for the past month and that will be the lasting memory from this season. This team is close and projects to be one of the top teams over the next five years.

Jets fans have a lot to be proud of. Their team is certainly on an upswing and will be in the thick of it in 2010.