New York offense vs. Indianapolis defense

	JETS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	1
	Pass	28
	Tot. Yds.	21
	Scoring	23
	Int's allowed	13
	Sacks allowed	32
	COLTS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	16
	vs. Pass	19
	Total yds. allowed	19
	# of Ints.	23
	# of Sacks	9
	Turnover differential	0

The emergence of QB Ray Lucas as a legitimate leader of this offense has breathed hope into what was once a dead unit. Lucas has shown poise as a passer and is making good decisions with the football. He is mobile enough to create second chances, and he has been taking advantage of a lot of room underneath. It was in the first contest between these two teams where Lucas got his first start, only to sprain his ankle on the final play from scrimmage.

In the last meeting, Indianapolis got away from its normal defensive scheme some to tailor the attack more to Lucas' style and inefficiencies. The Colts played mostly a base "34" set, but played aggressive man-to-man coverage on the outside receivers and pinched the safeties inside to take away the middle half of the field. The thinking is to smother the middle of the field to force Lucas to make the throws to the outside, something that we here at the War Room believe he is incapable of doing on a consistent enough basis.

To combat the scheme, the Jets made some second half adjustments and decided to spread out the offense with more three-receiver sets. What this does is force the Colts into more nickel personnel packages, because they are set on keeping a two-deep look in the middle of the field with FS Jason Belser and SS Chad Cota.

RB Curtis Martin was most successful running the ball to the strong side, where SLB Andre Royal will be replaced with nickel corner Tony Blevins. Look for the Jets to run the ball strong side on a lot of downhill and sweep plays that will feature pulling guards to get out in front to kick out the defensive backs down field.

It is important to note that the Jets offensive line is going through a major overhaul due to injury. Ian Rafferty has been inserted into the right tackle position because of the injuries to Jason Fabini and Ryan Young. Rafferty will be lined head up on DE Chad Bratzke, a potentially disastrous situation for the Jets. Bratzke, a dominating defensive end with a great speed/power combo, should be able to dominate this matchup and cause a lot of problems for the Jets in both the passing game and the running game. New York will probably have to keep its tight end in on a lot of passing situations to double team Bratzke.

Indianapolis offense vs. New York defense

	COLTS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	17
	Pass	1
	Tot. Yds.	3
	Scoring	3
	Int's allowed	11
	Sacks allowed	8
	JETS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	17
	vs. Pass	25
	Total yds. allowed	22
	# of Ints.	10
	# of Sacks	31
	Turnover differential	+6

Defensive coordinators are trying just about everything possible to take RB Edgerrin James out of the offense without completely exposing their secondary, and nothing has worked. James is such a double threat that the Colts have been able to throw the ball just as effectively with their two receiver sets as they were in the beginning of the season in three-receiver sets.

When studying film of the first meeting between these two teams, the defensive game plan for the Jets was to play more of a cover-two zone look to not expose one single player in the secondary against the speed of the Colts wide receiver corps. This defensive scheme is also used to keep James from taking advantage of one-on-one situations with a linebacker. The Jets did a respectable job of shutting down the offense, holding James to 111 yards rushing and just 20 yards receiving. Things have changed for the Colts' offense since then.

The team has moved to more two-receiver sets with either a fullback shifting around in the backfield or double tight end looks. James, over the course of the past five games because of injuries at the wide receiver position, has become more involved in the passing game.

The Jets are still liable to run a zone look in the secondary, but expect defensive coordinator Bill Belichick to assign safety Victor Green as the "spy" man on James out of the backfield. Green will play closer to the line of scrimmage than usual, following James' every move out of the backfield. This will leave the Jets with a cover-three look in the secondary, with Steve Atwater playing more centerfield than he usually is accustomed.

Up front, the Jets are going to mix in a lot of "43" sets to their usual "34" look. This change of pace has been allowing the front seven to stack up better against the run and has also created more pressure off the play action fake.

The Jets will need to fill more gaps up front to take the Colts out of their running game. It is interesting to watch what the Colts are doing offensively in order to run the football. In most cases, James is the I-back in the single-back formation. They are giving James the ball five-and-six yards deep on a lot of counter and misdirection plays. He has shown great vision, patience for his blocks and burst to the hole, but the biggest surprise this season has been the play of the tight ends, Marcus Pollard and Ken Dilger.

The tight ends are the difference in this scheme, because the Colts are setting Pollard and Dilger up with the deciding blocks. They are often in motion at the time of the snap and will be set up for what is called a "crack back" block.

Indianapolis is blocking all but one player up front, which is allowing some of the lineman to get down field to block in the secondary, and as the unblocked defender storms through the line of scrimmage, the tight ends are getting excellent angles and kicking them out of the hole. James' ability to cut off of this block and burst through the hole has made the blocking scheme that much more effective.

Special teams

	NFL RANK
	Category	NYJ	IND
	Punt return avg.	22	15
	Kickoff return avg.	4	13
	Opp. punt return avg.	8	31
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	4	13
	Time of possession	8	14

John Hall is 14 of 18 on the season, missing three field goal attempts between 40 and 49 yards. Tom Tupa continues in his impressive ways, averaging 45.4 yards per punt and only allowing 21.1 percent of his punts to be returned. The Jets need more production out of their return game. Dedric Ward is averaging just 8.2 yards per punt return with a long of only 20 yards.

Mike Vanderjagt is one of the most improved players in the league, connecting on 21 of 25 and has been excellent of late. Hunter Smith is simply too erratic. Smith is averaging just 41.8 yards per punt and has allowed 34.1 percent of his punts to be returned. Terrence Wilkins has handled most of the punt and kickoff return duties this season. He is averaging 24.2 yards per kickoff return and 9.0 yards per punt return.