The AFC Championship game features the NY Jets (11-7) once again taking their show on the road against the (undefeated when their starters play) Indianapolis Colts (15-2). The Jets have taken the Wild Card route here beating the Cincinnati Bengals (24-14) and the San Diego Chargers (17-14) in the AFC Divisional round. The Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens (20-3) in their AFC Divisional game.

When the Jets have the ball

When the Jets are on offense, not much is going to change from last week's approach against the Chargers. They're going to run the ball 65-70% of the time and try and keep Mark Sanchez in manageable (3rd down) passing situations.

The Colts possess a much fiercer pass rush than the Chargers and New York doesn't want to get into a situation where Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis can pin their ears back and come after Sanchez, so look for rookie RB Shonn Greene, the new star in town, to get plenty of carries along with veteran Thomas Jones.

The Jets expect to have success against the smaller Colts defense. Look for Sanchez to locate Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller on quick passes to break things up.

In the course of the game, they'll most certainly take a shot or two down the field and provided they're having success on the ground. They love to do this on first down out of a running formation against run coverage particularly when they cross the 50 yard line. The theory there is to not take any chances on your own side of the field should there be a turnover.

Indianapolis had tremendous issues stopping the wildcat vs. the Dolphins in Week 2 so look for QB /KR / WR Brad Smith to get a number of direct snaps. I don't know if the Colts expect it or not but it seems like the entire world is waiting to see when they will let Brad Smith throw the ball. There's no point in holding anything back and every play in the playbook will be available so this just might be the day.

Then

January 12, 1969 - Orange Bowl,  Miami, Florida
(To see Super Bowl III in its entirety with commentary from the participants, click HERE.)

Forty One years has passed since the 19-point underdog, New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in the third AFL/NFL Championship Game; the first such a contest to be called Super Bowl. It was the story of the brash, new, and rebellious versus the old, guarded establishment in a time when similar battles outside of sports were commonplace. In the span of an afternoon almost 50 years of pro football history was altered, and by evening everything that had come before would look different.

The Jets represented the upstart American Football League, an alternative pro league that in 1960 challenged the 40-year monopoly of the NFL. The AFL had battled for five years to establish franchises, procure talent, and gain an audience in the shadow of the NFL. It took a bright, shining star to finally burn away the shadows and put the junior league on the map.

In 1965 that star shined on New York Jets owner, Sonny Werblin when he offered the richest contract in the game ($427,000) to potential NFL number one pick, Joe Namath. Although he never saw him throw a pass for the University of Alabama, the showbiz mogul had a hunch that with his piercing good looks and distinct persona, Namath would be just what the AFL's big market city needed. "The star system," Werblin argued "is the only thing that sells tickets."

Jets doctors felt signing Namath would be a risk, with his many knee operations, but Werblin's marketing instincts and record offer paid off. A year after Namath signed with New York, league attendance rose, and television ratings increased, prompting the NFL to call for a meeting that would iron out a deal to quit their war over talent and franchise rights. Both leagues would merge in 1970 and it was decided that for the four remaining years an annual title game between league champions would be played at the end of each season. "On that day," said AFL founder Lamar Hunt, "We established what we wanted, and that was parity."

Unfortunately, for Hunt, Werblin, and the AFL, the deal did not include mutual respect. The prevailing sentiment among the media, fans, and most insultingly, the NFL players, was that the merger was a big favor for the lesser league. The outcome of the first two championship games seemed to put to rest any doubts of this as Vince Lombardi's legendary Green Back Packers made short work of the Kansas City Chiefs (35-10) in the first and the Oakland Raiders (33-14) in the second. Lombardi, the man for whom the Super Bowl trophy would be named, felt the NFL had more than adequately proved its case.

By the time Joe Namath led his Jets through a solid 11-3 season and an AFL title in December of 1968, everyone in the football world thought New York would be fodder for the 15-1 Baltimore Colts. The Colts finished their season by winning 10 straight with a devastating defense that had broken the NFL mark for the fewest points allowed in a season. Unlike the Jets thrilling 27-24 victory over the Raiders, the Colts destroyed the Cleveland Browns 34-0 in the NFL title game. "This is the hungriest team I ever saw," said Baltimore's all-pro tight end, John Mackey. The so-called experts agreed. The Jets, they all said, would have no chance.

Namath seized the moment. Upon arriving in Miami, the man the media dubbed, 'Broadway Joe' ripped the Colts' defense for being "predictable and easy to deceive." He told the eager press that although Colts quarterback, Earl Morrall did a bang up job winning the Most Valuable Player honors in the NFL, he would have had a hard time cracking the top five signal callers in his AFL. Then, on the Thursday before the big game at a dinner honoring him as the AFL's MVP, Namath stood at the podium and boldly announced, "We're going to win Sunday, I guarantee you."

The Colts, many of whom had already spent their winner's share, wanted nothing better than to embarrass New York and their loudmouthed quarterback. Jets head coach Weeb Eubank, having led the Colts to an NFL crown ten years earlier, reminded his team that many of them were once considered "not good enough" for the NFL. "Now you have the opportunity to show them otherwise," he told them.

At 3:00 PM on January 12, 1969, the long-haired wild bunch from the Big Apple and the God-fearing crew cuts from the working class town, stood 53 yards across the great divide of respect. The Jets received the ball first; and on their second play from scrimmage powerful fullback, Matt Snell slammed into Colts safety, Rick Volk. Volk was recognized as one of the toughest tacklers in the pros. "When Rick hits you," said young Colts head coach Don Shula, "you might not get up." This time it was Volk who did not get up.

The story of Super Bowl III had begun.

On August 29, 2005 the city of New Olreans and surrounding areas where nearly washed away.

Forgetting all the damage to the tangible assets that can eventually be repaid, the last published reports show that the confirmed death toll (total of direct and indirect deaths) stood at 1,836, mainly from Louisiana (1,577) and Mississippi (238). However, 705 people remain categorized as missing in Louisiana (which is pretty hard to fathom.)

If anyone remembers watching Mike Piazza's HR in the first MLB game in NYC after the 9/11 attacks, you know how important sports are to the people of a devastated city.

The citizens of New Orleans would benefit greatly from having a team that they could call Super Bowl Champions. It would be something that no one could take from them, something they could call their own.

The Saints aren't my team, but I can't say that I would be terribly disappointed to watch the citizens of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan areas celebrate, even if it were to come at my expense.

There are no words to describe what the people of the Bayou have gone through since that unfortunate day. As if the wrath of nature wasn't cruel enough, our own government compounded the problem by not handling their pre and post storm responsibilities correctly.

There are communities that are still not rebuilt, some that were lost permanently and nothing can ever be done to make right the lives that were lost and affected.

Whether you are a Saints fan or not, I'm sure you would agree that a smile brought to the citizens of those areas affected my Katrina from a Saints Super Bowl win would be a nice thing to see.

The Vikings and Saints both dominated in the divisional round, reminding everyone why the NFC's top two teams ruled all season before late skids. Big games by Favre and Brees over the weekend set up a tantalizing matchup in this NFC Championship Game.

Good luck to both the Vikings and Saints and good luck to the citizens of the Bayou. I'll be rooting for you. - David Ross

David, a paraplegic since a 1986 car accident, has been providing volunteer sports coverage for his local community paper in Mission, KS for over 20 years.

If you haven't voted in our poll on the site yet please do so. We are trying to get a feel for how our readers are looking at the game of NCAA Football so we can write about things they want to hear. The poll question is, "Do you think the NCAA should have a Playoff to determine the National Champion rather than the BCS / Bowl System?" - Please vote.

Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.

I don't know how many of you actually saw the game, or remember it if you did. I was just a little kid at the time and while my dad told me I saw it, anything I remember is from highlights I saw through the years. I'm going to be 43 this year and I realize from listening to sports talk radio and going to the games that I'm actually older than many of the fans, so there are many of you who have likely never seen the game.

I know almost everyone has heard about the game, but for all of you (even if you are not a Jets fan) who have never seen the game that changed football here it is in all its glory......

You'll notice a few things from watching the game that are drastically different than today's NFL games.

• No headsets in the QB's helmet. (For the younger generation) Peyton Manning isn't the first one to call his own plays, all the QB's used to have that responsibility. The coach put in the game plan during the week of practice before the game with the play choices that should be used and the QB called the plays on the field as he felt appropriate.
• Kickers all used the straight on style and not all teams even had players that specialized in kicking. Very often "The best player who could kick" handled the kickoff, filed goal and punting duties. It was not uncommon to see a lineman kicking the ball.
• The goal posts were on the goal line. An extra point that would normally be spotted on the three yard line and put down by the place holder on the ten yard line was a ten yard kick, not a twenty yard kick. So that 61 yard field goal that Sebastian Janikowski kicked from his own 49 yard line a few weeks ago would have only been a 51 yard field goal. A 61 yard field goal would be from your own 39 yard line!
• The hash marks are spread outside the goal posts (college and high school are still like that today). You'll notice when Jim Turner of the Jets has to kick a short field goal from the left hash mark it creates some unique problems.
• No net catching the field goals as they come through the uprights and apparently no such thing as NFL security either (sign of the times) as the ball just goes through the uprights and fans and children kids come running on the field to fetch the ball.
• While there may have been some trash talking in the trenches (it was football), there was no end zone dancing, no first down celebrations, no sack dances or anything of the like that could be misconstrued as unsportsman-like.
• And watch the referees. There would never be a blown call in the NFL if they hustled like you'll see here. They are literally part of the play....

Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl". (Although the two previous AFL-NFL Championship Games came to be known, retroactively, as "Super Bowls".)

The game was played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida - the same location as Super Bowl II. Entering Super Bowl III, the NFL champion Colts were heavily favored to defeat the AFL champion Jets (the Jets were a 19 point underdog). Although the upstart AFL had successfully forced the long-established NFL into a merger agreement three years earlier, the AFL was not generally respected as having the same caliber of talent as the NFL. Plus, the AFL representatives were easily defeated in the first two Super Bowls.

This game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history as the (AFL) champion New York Jets (11-3) defeated the (NFL) champion Baltimore Colts (13-1) by a score 16-7. It was the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL.

The game itself wasn't a particularly well played game and it didn't have a dramatic finish. How exciting could the game have been when the MVP, Joe Namath, didn't throw any touchdown passes and didn't even throw a pass in the 4th quarter? In certainly didn't finish with the drama of either of the last two Super Bowl's we had.

Statistically the game was just about a dead heat in every category (except for the turnovers.) There were six turnovers in the game, 5 by the Colts. In fact, in large part the 5 turnovers by the Colts more than anything is the reason that they lost. Two of the INT's were in the end zone.

Some other Super Bowl Facts before your show starts...........

• Anita Bryant sang the National Anthem
• The Florida A&M University Marching Band played "America Thanks" (you know, like "The Who" is this year's Super Bowl half time entertainment.
• The Attendance was 75,389
• It was televised on NBC (in Technicolor) with Kurt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote announcing the game.
• A 30 second commercial cost $55,000
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After one season with the Falcons, Favre was traded to the Green Bay Packers on February 10, 1992, for the 19th pick in the 1992 NFL Draft. He became the Packers' starting quarterback in the fourth game of the 1992 season, starting every game from then until his retirement in 2008.

In 2008 without ever missing a day of work, Favre came out of retirement, was traded to the New York Jets, and continued his consecutive start streak (kind of like retiring from working at Coke on Monday and then going to work at Pepsi on Tuesday.)

On February 11, 2009, Favre told the New York Jets that he was again retiring. August 18, 2009 he came out of retirement for the second time (again without missing a day of work, this time going to work for Dr. Pepper) and signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

I'm retired, I'm back, I'm retired, I'm back

A few things about this; No matter what your position on this as the Favre / Packers saga unfolded, with the benefit of hindsight it is clear that once the Packers told Favre that they wanted to make a change and have Aaron Rogers be the starter it was Favre's intention to (get back at them) and play for the Vikings, the Packers biggest rival.

For all you Favre lovers out there, don't have a hissy fit. I'm not saying that Favre was either wrong or right. I'm simply stating the fact that the guy was a jolted lover and felt that he needed to sleep with his partners most hated to exact revenge. If you want to call that just being a competitor, that's ok by me; just don't attempt to spin this 'I'm retired, I'm back with the Jets, I'm retired, I'm back Vikings' thing as anything other than Favre intending to play for the Vikings all along. The Green Bay Packers new of his intention all along and attempted to thwart the orchestration stipulated in the trade with the Jets that he could not be traded to the Vikings. Retiring from the Jets and signing with the Vikings without coming out of retirement (without ever missing a day of work FOR THE SECOND TIME) was a loophole that Favre took advantage of. The Jets were simply a one night stand in Favre's relationship squabble with his ex partner.

In all honesty it has worked out for all. The Packers have Aaron Rogers and we can clearly see why they didn't want him to sit on the bench any longer or worse, risk losing him to free agency, the Jets have their QB of the future and are in the AFC Championship game (unbelievable), and Favre's wet dream is coming true as he beat the Packers twice during the year and is now just one win away from his third Super Bowl.

Hall of Fame Career

Brett Favre is the only player to win the AP Most Valuable Player three consecutive times (1995-97). He led the Packers to seven division championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007), four NFC Championship Games (1995, 1996, 1997, and 2007), winning two (1996 and 1997), and two Super Bowl appearances, winning one (Super Bowl XXXI).

The sure first ballot Hall of Fame QB holds many NFL distinguished records. Here are just a few of the more recognizable ones that are often quoted:

• Most career touchdown passes
• Most career passing yards
• Most career pass completions
• Most consecutive starts
• Most career victories as a starting quarterback
• He also has the most career interceptions thrown but that's not really that big of a deal when you think about the fact that he has the most career passes thrown.
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Indianapolis Colts Fans

If you are an Indianapolis Colts fan that wanted to go undefeated and win it all, you probably will never forgive Colts GM Bill Polian for ordering that Peyton Manning and many other big name starters be pulled in week 15 of the NFL season. The Polian had to walk off his own radio show leaving dead air the day after the game against the Jets and literally couldn't go out in public for fear if his safety!

However, if you are Indianapolis Colts fan that has a more rational perspective on it you are probably saying, "Ok the strategy of sitting the players worked, they are all healthy and now we play the Jets for real."

Unless Peyton Manning gets quadruple compound fracture's, the only time Curtis Painter will get to cross into the playing filed boundaries is during pre-game warm-ups, during warms before the second half, and walking on the field at the conclusion of the game.

New York Jets Fans

If you are an exuberant NY Jets fan, and you were one of those who called WFAN or wrote in to us here that "We would have beat Peyton and the Colts even if all the players stayed in the game" you have to either be licking your chops, eager to show the world that you were right, or scared stiff because you never thought you would be back here one month later and are now afraid that both you and your team will look like fools claiming that you "got not respect" the first time.

There are two ways to look at this:

Peyton and the Colts put up 15 points in 2 quarters + one drive and would have put up 30+ if they stayed in the game; and the Jets Offense did nothing against the Colts first defense with their only TD while the starters were still in coming on a kickoff return.

or

The Jets were only down 5 point with Peyton in the game. Their mantra is to keep it close into the 4th quarter where their running game will wear on you and eventually break one (a recipe that worked exactly as planned in the AFC Divisional game against San Diego). There is no reason the Jets couldn't have won that game.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Football

The Jets have gotten no respect from fans around the country since this run began. The universal view across the land is that they got some lucky scheduling breaks and that's the only reason that they are in the playoffs to begin with.

Here's the thing though; the Jets were 50-1 to win the Super Bowl just two weeks ago. If you placed $100 on them you have to be licking your chops. They have now beat both the Bengals and the Chargers on the road and no matter what you thought of them previously can no longer be taken lightly.

The Chargers were predicted by most experts to be the AFC Super Bowl representative as they were forecasted to be road favorites (-1 on the road against the Colts) in the game that everyone thought would happen; a Chargers vs. Colts AFC Championship game. In some online houses, there were even lines on it before the kickoff of the Jets vs. Charges game!

Rex Ryan has repeatedly stated that his team was dangerous and that no one in the NFL wanted to play them. The majority of us laughed at him calling his daily "we have the best team in the league" comments a joke and that he was a clown; Neither the Bengals or the Chargers are laughing.

It doesn't matter now what any of the players, coaches or fans say. The clock is ticking to kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium at 3pm on Sunday and all the pregame talk will be history.

The college football season is over; withdrawals, depression, misery. Before you slip into an apathetic stupor for eight months, remember that the NFL Draft is just around the corner! From now until April's NFL Draft, I will be profiling some of the more interesting prospects. I can't promise that I'll get to your favorite player, but if you'd like to see a certain player profiled, shoot us an email and let us know.

Aaron Hernandez is this year's John Mackey Award winner and a first team All-American. He has been one of St. Timothy's favorite targets since his breakout season a year ago. After catching only 9 passes his freshman year (2 for touchdowns), Hernandez hauled in 34 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns in 2008. Not too bad for a tight end, but 2009 proved to be an even better showing. He doubled his receptions and more than doubled his yards while matching his 5 touchdown passes from a year before.

Hernandez is widely considered the nation's 2nd best tight end prospect behind Oklahoma's Jermaine Gresham, but will face a little more competition now that Arizona's Rob Gronkowski has decided to turn pro despite missing the entire 2009 season with a back injury. I've seen Hernandez rated as the nation's best, second and third tight end prospect, so the combine will be important for NFL scouts to sort things out.

Hernandez holds a bit of an advantage with both Gresham and Gronkowski are coming off injuries that kept them out of action this season. If you ask me, though, Gresham will still be the highest drafted tight end in this year's draft because of his upside. He was a second team All-American his sophomore year and has four inches on Hernandez.

On that note, Hernandez's height of 6'2 may have some teams a bit worried. Franchise tight ends are typically a few inches taller. Hernandez has the bulk to hang with NFL linebackers and defensive ends, but is considered undersized in the height department among NFL standards.

Dallas Clark and Chris Cooley are 6'3 and have both established a niche on their respective teams so I'm not saying that all hope is lost for the junior; but fans of whichever team drafts Hernandez should realize that he will not be used like the Chargers use Antonio Gates or the Chiefs used/Falcons use Tony Gonzalez.

Keep in mind that if a coaching staff offers a player a full scholarship and at the last minute (or 1 day before school starts) the coach takes a job at another school, the new coach might not like that player and the free education the player thought he was getting is now gone. So, it's ok for an adult (Kiffin is 34) not to honor his contract. It is ok for an adult to change his mind without getting penalized but not a 17 or 18 year old kid. After his first day in class the player is stuck for the next year. If he decides to change schools he has to sit out of football for a complete year. So what are we really teaching these recruits? That they have to honor their signatures on a document? That when they say they are committing to something they have to stick with it no matter what?

I guess it is the old saying "Do as I say.... Not as I do". I believe we have some major challenges in college sports that need to be dealt with NOW. If a coach or a School signs a contract they should be held to that contract. All of the OUT clauses should be taken with the exception of health issues arising. When a School signs a 6 year contract with a coach they should not be able to fire the coach without cause for the term of the contract. Not winning enough games is not a just cause either and vice versa with the coaching staff. Then and only then it is fair to tell our kids that they have to be held accountable for their decisions.

A recap of what went down and what you should take away from the week in college football.

We made it. We have successfully made it through the first full week without a college football game this offseason. But it wasn't dull by any means. With the NFL Playoffs dominating headlines and airtime, coaching changes and underclassmen declarations were still given their fair share of exposure. In fact, it was the college football world that delivered one of the biggest and most surprising headlines of the week.

Recapping the week in 500 words or less, this is what we learned:

• Bam! Lane Kiffin says goodbye to Tennessee! Out of nowhere, reports began surfacing that Kiffin had taken the USC job. We were even denied a lead up or any rumors (I didn't hear any) that would have softened the initial shock. I was in the middle of writing about Pete Carroll's new job in Seattle when I got the news. It about floored me.

• Should we blame the guy for taking a 'better job'? And remember, Kiffin was the Trojans' offensive coordinator up until 2006. This is like an executive going from CEO of Kohl's to CEO of Wal-Mart, especially if the executive had been a vice president at Wal-Mart not too long ago. But then again, doesn't loyalty mean anything anymore?

• Surprise! Kiffin's first Pac-10 feud may already be brewing. UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel declared Los Angeles up for grabs after the Trojans dominated the city for the past decade. "Until the new regime proves itself, we believe we have every right to claim this city," said Neuheisel. No telling where this could lead.

• After we accepted that Kiffin was headed back to La-La Land, the focus shifted to his replacement in Rocky Top. The answer, after a rollercoaster of reports, sources and rumors, turned out to be Derek Dooley, the now former head coach at Louisiana Tech. Dooley comes from good coaching blood (his dad was Georgia head coach Vince Dooley), but will receive his first shot at coaching a major program.

• More coaching moves came with the firing of (former) South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt. Leavitt had been accused of slapping a player in the locker room at halftime of a game against Louisville on November 21. After their investigation, USF officials decided Leavitt had to go. I won't get into the whole player abuse debate because I've already done that, but will report what most of you already know: East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz is now USF head coach Skip Holtz. This is big news for the Bulls, who get an experienced head coach who is coming off two consecutive Conference USA championships with ECU.

• Von Miller, the nation's sack leader, announced via Facebook on Wednesday that he is staying at Texas A&M for his senior season. Miller recorded 17 sacks in 2009 and was one of the only, if not the only, bright spots on an Aggies defense that failed to keep par with their explosive offense.

• Aggies fans are thrilled to have Miller returning, but fans of other programs have not been so lucky. Toby Gerhart had the option of returning for a second senior season because of an injury suffered his sophomore season, but elected to enter the draft. Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski sat out all of 2009 with a back injury, but has decided to leave early. The champs are losing both Rolando McClain and Kareem Jackson, while only one Pouncey twin is leaving Gainesville a season early (Maurkice).
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This is the classic David vs. Goliath game. The underdog Jets are really not given any chance to win this one, but they will play the game anyway. While this could very well be a blowout, sometimes, these games make for very interesting drama filled games.

When the Jets have the ball

Clearly the Jets want to run the ball. They will be certain to mix in some Wildcat plays with WR Brad Smith taking the snaps. The interesting thing is when Smith is in the game at QB and the Chargers creep up in the box, will Brad Smith throw the ball? If there was ever a time for the Jets to pull a play out of their tricks, now is it.

In last weekend's first-round playoff win at Cincinnati the Jets got major contributions from rookie QB Mark Sanchez. He connected on 12 of 15 throws for 182 yards and a touchdown. The primary big-play target was TE Dustin Keller, who had three catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. That complemented the running of rookie Shonn Greene, who had 135 rushing yards, and fellow RB Thomas Jones. The question is whether Sanchez can continue to be efficient, productive and mistake-free in the playoffs after a regular season in which he threw 12 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions, and was only the league's 28th-rated passer. Sanchez topped 200 passing yards only once in his last six games of the regular season.

If the Jets are going to be successful, they may have to throw early..... so that they can run late.

When the Chargers have the ball

Philip Rivers was the league's third-rated passer this season behind Drew Brees and Brett Favre. He was one of only four players in the league to receive MVP votes, finishing behind Peyton Manning and Brees in the balloting and ahead of Favre. What's left for him to accomplish is to join his fellow 2004 NFL draft-mates, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger, as Super Bowl winners. The first step toward that comes against the Jets' defense. The Jets led the NFL in passing defense, total defense and scoring defense during the regular season. They performed well on defense again last weekend in Cincinnati, aided by some missed field goals by the Bengals. Coach Rex Ryan lamented during the week that Jets CB Darrelle Revis finished second in the NFL defensive player of the year balloting to the Packers' Charles Woodson, feeling that Revis should have prevailed. The Jets' defensive weakness, relatively speaking, is that they ranked only eighth during the regular season against the run.

Philips leads the league in yards per attempt at 8.8, so when he throws the ball, he does it with a purpose. Watch for him to dump the ball off to Darren Sproles if the Jets linebackers take deep drops.

Jets Mindset

They got new life after Ryan thought they were eliminated from playoff contention when their record dropped to 7-7, and they were fortunate down the stretch when the Colts rested starters in the second-to-last game of the regular season and the Bengals played listlessly in the regular season finale with only playoff seeding at stake for them. But the Jets have demonstrated they belong in the playoffs, and their defense and running game make them a threat against anyone.

Chargers Mindset

They take an 11-game winning streak into the postseason and many regard them, not the top-seeded Colts, as the team to beat in the AFC. They should have plenty of confidence if they play at Indianapolis in the AFC title game, having eliminated the Colts from the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.