Abraham

But the New York defense set its own tone, actually an anvil chorus of sorts that beat a steady tattoo on the Colts all night, by limiting Peyton Manning and his mates to a three-and-out on the first series. That possession became, in hindsight, a microcosm of the Colts' ineptitude and a rallying point for the New York defense. The shutout was the first against the Colts in the playoffs since a 21-0 loss at Miami in the 1972 AFC championship contest. It marked the first-ever playoff shutout for New York and the league's first whitewashing in the wild card round since 1996. And it all began, well, at the beginning. "When we stuffed them in that opening series," said Jets defensive end John Abraham, "it got all of us going. They've got an explosive offense, and can put up a lot of points quickly, but we wanted to come out and smack them in the mouth to see how they would respond. I think we knocked them back on their heels from the (outset). I mean, we all became hit men, you know? I guess we had it all together." For much of the year, neither Abraham nor any of his colleagues would have dared make such a statement, because the Jets defense was a desperate and disparate unit early in the season. The team's final statistical ranking, No. 24 overall, certainly is a reflection of the loose play over the first month and a half of the campaign. Over the final 10 games of the regular season, however, the defense ranked second-best in the NFL for fewest points surrendered and was third against the rush, its traditional bugaboo category. It is easy to identify the 2002 galvanizing moment for the Jets offense. When former first-round choice Pennington replaced injured Vinny Testaverde after the fourth game of the season, the offense certainly took a quantum leap forward. The gelling point for the Jets' defense, on the other hand, was far less obvious. This was, after all, a unit that in the season opener started six players who had not suited up for the Jets in 2001. There were three new starters in the secondary, including both cornerbacks, and changes all over a front seven that was far too porous a year ago. In training camp most of the coaches, and especially coordinator Ted Cottrell, knew it might take some time for so many unfamiliar players to come together. During the preseason, two Jets assistant coaches emphasized to ESPN.com that the offense would likely have to carry New York through September, while the defensive players introduced themselves to one another. New York had allowed both starting corners, Marcus Coleman and Aaron Glenn, to move to the Houston Texans in the expansion draft. Safety Victor Green was released when he wouldn't accept a salary reduction. The Jets let starting defensive tackle Steve Martin exit in free agency. But they added defensive tackle Josh Evans, got tackle Jason Ferguson back from a shoulder injury that sidelined him all of 2001, imported cornerbacks Donnie Abraham and Aaron Beasley, moved Shaun Ellis to his more natural position at end and made a big free agency foray by signing former Buffalo Bills weakside linebacker Sam Cowart.

	“	When we stuffed them in that opening series, it got all of us going. They've got an explosive offense, and can put up a lot of points quickly, but we wanted to come out and smack them in the mouth to see how they would respond. I think we knocked them back on their heels from the (outset). I mean, we all became hit men, you know? I guess we had it all together. ”
		— John Abraham, Jets defensive end

The overhaul hardly mattered, though, when New York lost five of its first six games and the defense hovered around the league basement. Ironically, the turnaround came in the first half of a 24-21 loss to Cleveland, a game the Jets led 21-6 at intermission. "I think, in that first half against the Browns, we all looked around and kind of thought, 'Hey, we are finally on the same page,' " said strong safety Sam Garnes, a former New York Giants starter signed as a free agent, of the Oct. 27 collapse. "It was like we had sanded down all the rough edges. We played like a real defense in that game and not a bunch of strangers." That bunch of strangers became a mob of stranglers Saturday, as the Jets consistently beat the Colts to the punch. Cottrell had faced Manning numerous times when he was the Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator, and he designed a masterful game plan. Manning, in typical fashion, often used much of the play clock to check in or out of plays. And as he audibled, the Jets front four jumped around, to as many as three pre-snap looks. In the secondary, Garnes and free safety Damien Robinson often switched positions. Said Robinson: "You could see (Manning) looking out over our secondary and thinking, 'What the hell is that?' He had a look in his eyes that I hadn't seen from him before. Some of their other guys, you could just tell they wanted to get it over with and go home." Indeed, some Colts officials spent considerable time in the back of the press box, phoning the team's charter airline company. By halftime, they would have done well to instruct the pilots to start the engines. Fact is, the team charter had to circle the Newark airport for 90 minutes on Friday afternoon before a thick fog lifted and permitted it to land. The Colts would play the entire game in a fog, and the result was a fifth consecutive playoff defeat. "We got nothing going," said Manning, who completed just 14 of 31 passes for 137 yards, and a passer rating of 31.2. "Nothing at all." With six minutes remaining in the game, Cottrell rallied his troops on the sideline, asking individual players who might want a breather. And not a single player raised his hand. "They wanted the shutout," Cottrell said, beaming. "You don't see many shutouts in the playoffs. You don't see an offense like the one the Colts have get shut out. But, hey, we've come a long way. And our guys really wanted to snuff them out." Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.