Red-hot Jets overwhelm Colts 41-0
By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY
URL:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/games/2003-01-04-jets-colts_x.htm
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Same old Jets? Don't think so.
The New York Jets showed how different and dominating the Chad Pennington era can be by opening the playoffs Saturday with a 41-0 demolition of the Indianapolis Colts. (Related item: Box score)
Jets quarterback Chad Pennington celebrates a second-quarter touchdown against the Colts.
By Bill Kostroun, AP
Pennington, who fashioned an NFL-best 104.2 passer rating after being named the starting quarterback and reinvigorating a 1-3 club, continued his brilliance in his first postseason test.
One week after he outgunned Green Bay gunslinger Brett Favre as New York gained just its second AFC East title, Pennington totally outplayed Peyton Manning. He nailed 19 of 25 pass attempts for 222 yards and three touchdowns. He was not intercepted for the fifth consecutive game. He registered an eye-popping 142-passer rating then immediately focused on the next round.
"It can definitely get better and we know that," he said. "We know the next step can be even sweeter if we take care of business.
"We're not done. We're not satisfied. We can take it even farther. We're very confident right now."
Manning, headed for his third Pro Bowl in five seasons, remains without the prize he would prefer much more — his first playoff win. Though Manning often resembled a one-man fire drill as he changed one play after another at the line of scrimmage, his gyrations ultimately amounted to nothing.
"I am surprised by the whole thing," said Tony Dungy, Indianapolis' first-year coach. "If you told me they would score 41 points and we wouldn't score any, I wouldn't have believed it."
Manning finished 14 of 31 for a mere 137 yards and was picked off twice.
"We confused him a lot," Jets safety Sam Garnes said of Manning. "We were doing things we'd never done before and we'll probably do something different next weekend."
New York outgained the visitors by a whopping 396-176 margin even though star running back Curtis Martin rested for much of the final two quarters.
Pennington set the tone for what he hopes will be a postseason to remember when his first pass represented the longest completion in their club's playoff history. His dazzling fake to running back Curtis Martin set up a 56-yard screen pass to fullback Richie Anderson down the left side on the team's initial possession. The record had been 52 yards, from Joe Namath to Don Maynard, on Dec. 29, 1968 versus Oakland.
"Richie found a soft spot and I don't know how many blockers there were down there," Pennington said. "I lost count."
New York blew open the game by erupting for 17 points in the second quarter to take a 24-0 halftime lead. The Jets went 46 yards in 9 plays on their second possession, leading to John Hall's 41-yard field goal after Mike Vanderjagt had missed from that distance for the Colts on the previous set of downs.
Then came another Indianapolis mistake, and this one loomed much larger than Vanderjagt's failure. Troy Walters fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Ray Mickens pounced on it for the Jets at the Colts' 40.
New York capitalized with a seven-play drive that ended when Lamont Jordan scooted around left end to score untouched from one-yard out. Hall's extra point pushed the margin to 17-0 with 9:41 left in the second quarter.
The Jets were not forced to punt until 4:08 remained in the second period. They outgained Indianapolis 241-64 by halftime. They scored on five of their first six possessions of the game extending into the third quarter.
The lopsided defeat brought a sour end to what was otherwise a season of dramatic improvement for Indianapolis in Dungy's first season as coach. After closing 6-10 last year, they ended 10-7. The defense improved from 29th to 8th.
Dungy called for perspective at a time when it was difficult for players or fans to have it.
"We obviously have some work to do," Dungy said. "We can't let this one performance put us so far in the tank that we don't come back from it."
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