By Jim Scott
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Peyton Manning dashed the New York Jets Super Bowl hopes in the second half of the AFC Championship game last year. Jets head coach Rex Ryan isn't about to let it happen again.
Ryan and the Jets hope to have an answer for Manning as they travel to Indianapolis to play the Colts in an AFC Wild Card match up Saturday Night.
"We are not going to Indianapolis to lose," Ryan told reporters earlier this week. "We are going there to win. This is about this year, and I’ve waited a full year for this."
New York and Indianapolis will face each other for the first time since Manning rallied the Colts to a 30-17 win over the Jets in the 2010 AFC Championship game last year.
"It kills you. You fight so hard to get into the playoffs and when you lose, it’s devastating," Ryan added. "I want to put the shoe on the other foot, and I know our team does, too. I want (the Colts) to experience it this time."
The Colts won their last four games to capture the AFC North division and qualify for the playoffs for the ninth straight season.
Indianapolis is 5-1 against Ryan coached defenses since 1995. Manning has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions over that span.
"He's one of the smartest guys," Ryan told the Daily News on Thursday. "He dials his own plays up. ... The guy is tremendous. There's nobody like this guy in the league. Nobody studies like him."
The key for the Jets on Sunday is putting pressure on Manning in the pocket. New York had 40 sacks, but struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks without blitzing.
"He needs to know you’re there, that the pressure is there," defensive end Mike DeVito told the Associated Press. "If you let him sit back there and make it a seven-on-seven, then it’s a problem."
Manning has made a living carving up opponents blitzes. The future Hall of Fame quarterback threw for 33 touchdowns and 4,700 passing yards this year, but he threw 17 interceptions, his highest total since 2001.
The Jets (11-5) won two of their last three regular season games to finish with their best regular season record since they went 12-4 in 1998.
For New York, the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez threw for 3,291 yards and completed only 54.8 percent of his passes in his second season. However, he's led the team to 20 wins in two seasons as a starter and has a 2-1 record in the playoffs.
The Jets will likely try to establish the run early to take the pressure off of Sanchez. Running backs LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene combined for 1,680 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns this season. Tomlinson started his first season in New York strong, but failed to run for more than 60 yards since Week 5 of the season.
Regardless of what the Jets do on offense, they won't be in the playoffs long if they don't force Manning to make mistakes.
“We act like he’s not human, but he is,” Ryan said Wednesday. “He can make mistakes.”
