The Jets Run is Over

I am trying to keep this one simple as I think that the Jets have had a great run, but I am putting my money on the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend.  There are just too many things going against the Jets as this will be their third road game in the playoffs, which is usually a bad omen for teams in the playoffs.  It will be the same for the Packers except for the fact that they are the superior team going against two perennial mistake makers in Jay Cutler and Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz.  The Jets on the other hand are playing against a better team on the road and they just won their super bowl last week.  I am all for celebrations but I don't think you will see more celebrating by the team that wins the super bowl than you did by the Jets this past weekend at Gillette Stadium.  They won, so you must give them their due but teams that win a game like that usually fall flat the next weekend.

Let us break down some other reasons why this will happen.  In both playoff games for the Jets, Mark Sanchez seems to be a bit off and they have been able to get away with it due to their running game picking up the slack for them.  This week they are playing against one of the best run defenses around so chances are they will be relying on the arm of Sanchez.  I don't think he is a terrible quarterback and I know they beat them earlier this year, but they played Pittsburgh who were without Troy Polamalu or Aaron Smith, the latter will still be out this week but may be back for the Super Bowl if they win.  It is very difficult to beat a team twice and with Polamalu back in the lineup, I feel pretty safe taking the Steelers giving 3.5 points this weekend.

The Steelers are picking it up on offense and I don't think Shaun Ellis can repeat his performance from last week, which was very good in my opinion.  Rex Ryan isn't saying what Revis will do, but I will let you in on the secret, Revis will cover Hines Ward and Antonio Cromartie will cover the speedy receiver Mike Wallace.  People might question this, but it makes perfect sense as Cromartie does a better job against the tall speedy receivers than he does the smaller, quick ones.  I think he will do a good job against him as well, but I can't say as much for the safeties Eric Smith and Brodney Pool.  They will have the job of covering Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown at times unless the Jets bring in Dwight Lowery and Kyle Wilson more often than they want.  Throw in Heath Miller at tight end along with the Steeler running backs and Ben Roethlisberger has a ton of good matchups as the Jets linebackers will not be able to cover any of those guys as well.  If the Jets show more nickel and dime packages, expect the Steelers to run the ball more often as their offensive line is probably the healthiest it has been all year.  A lot of people are feeling the Jets because of the herd mentality, but this one will be all Steelers.