29-year old DE Dwight Freeney might not be ready to play in the Super Bowl due to a torn ligament in his right ankle.  His game is speed so if he has a bad wheel I don’t see him helping the Colts much by playing.  This also hurts Robert Mathis on the other side of the Colts’ D-Line as the Saints will no doubt double team him all game long.  If the Colts can’t get a good pass rush on Drew Brees then this game has become a lot more interesting.  Freeney has 7 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss in his two playoff games so far.  He played in 14 games for the Colts during the regular season and he made 24 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, forced 1 fumble, he defensed 1 pass and he had 13.5 sacks.  The Colts can’t afford to be without Freeney in the Super Bowl, period.

The Colts were down 17-13 at the half but then Peyton Manning took over the game showing why is the the reigning MVP of the NFL.  He completed 26 of 39 passes for 377 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Joseph Addai even gave the Colts a little running game with 80 yards rushing on 16 carries (5.0 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 13 yards yesterday.  Pierre Garcon (11 rec, 151 yards, TD) and rookie Austin Collie (7 rec, 123 yards, TD) were both awesome yesterday as the Colts made the Jets pay for using Darrelle Revis on Reggie Wayne.  Wayne only caught 3 passes for 55 yards (18.3 avg) in the game yesterday.  TE Dallas Clark pitched in with 4 grabs for 35 yards (8.8 avg) with a TD grab.  The Colts finished up with 461 total yards on offense in this game (101 rushing, 360 passing).

LB Gary Brackett (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and CB Kelvin Hayden (6 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 INT) led the way for the Colts’ D yesterday.  The Jets finished up with 388 total yards on offense (86 rushing, 302 passing) in this game.  Still, the Colts will take on the Saints in the Super Bowl in Miami.

The Colts can’t afford to let down at any point in this game if they are going to win tomorrow.  They need to jump the Jets quick on the scoreboard and then keep attacking the whole game.  The Chargers made a big mistake in letting off the gas pedal last week and it let the Jets off the mat.  The Colts should get Joseph Addai more involved in this game to keep the Jets’ linebackers honest.  But, that doesn’t mean that Peyton Manning won’t be throwing the ball all over the place because he will.   In fact I look for the Colts to keep the offense the way it has been all year long with Manning challenging Jets’ CB Darrelle Revis by throwing the ball just as much as usual to Reggie Wayne.  I think a mis-match that the Colts will go to a lot is TE Dallas Clark against Kerry Rhodes or Jim Leonhard.  This will result in a lot of big plays, mark my words.  Manning also has a lot of confidence in young receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie so look for him to get the ball to them a lot too.

The Colts know what the Jets are going to do and that is run the football.  The Colts need to bring the safeties up to help with dealing with Shonn Greene and Thomas Jones.  But, Mark Sanchez has been good in throwing play action passes specifically to TE Dustin Keller so the Colts’ safeties will have to read him before coming up to help against the run.  That means that CBs Jacob Lacey and Kelvin Hayden will likely be playing man to man against Jerricho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards. 

PREDICTION:  COLTS 21, JETS 17

The Colts pushed the Ravens around a little bit on Saturday Night and it showed on the scoreboard.  Peyton Manning was solid completing 30 of 44 passes for 246 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Joseph Addai had a hard time getting much going for the Colts in this game with 11 carries for 23 yards (2.1 ypc) and he also added 3 catches for 14 yards (4.7 avg).  Reggie Wayne (8 rec, 63 yards, TD), Dallas Clark (7 rec, 59 yards, FR) and Austin Collie (4 rec, 52 yards, TD) all had solid games for the Colts on Saturday Night in the passing game.  The Colts finished up with 275 total yards in this game on offense (42 rushing, 233 passing).

It was the defense that won this game for the Colts.  DT Daniel Muir had one of the best games of his career leading the way for the Colts with 7 tackles (1 tackle for a loss).  Linebacker Clint Session also had a solid game with 4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  CB Jerraud Powers and S Antoine Bethea each pitched in with 1 interception apiece.  The Ravens finished up with only 270 total yards on offense (87 rushing, 183 passing).  Only the Jets stand between the Colts and the Super Bowl now.

The Colts will face a Ravens’ team that is on a roll.  Hopefully the rest the Colts had pretty much the last three weeks will have them ready to go tomorrow night.  The Colts must jump on the Ravens quick in a attempt to take them out of their gameplan.  The Ravens want to run the ball and keep it away from the Colts’ offense.  The Ravens’ CBs are the weakness of the defense so look for Peyton Manning to be targeting Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie a lot.  It would also be smart for the Colts to run the ball some with Joseph Addai to keep the Ravens from bringing a big pass rush.

This is not a good matchup for the Colts’ D which is more equipped to stop the pass than the run.  The Colts need DTs Daniel Muir, Antonio Johnson and middle linebacker Gary Brackett to stop the inside running game of the Ravens and that will not be easy.  If the Ravens are running the ball well and there is no reason to think they won’t the Colts could be in some trouble in this game.  DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will likely be negated in this game as the Ravens won’t be throwing the ball much.

PREDICTION:  COLTS 23, RAVENS 20