It was so confusing it looked simple.
Simple, that is, if you were a Jets fan and you were watching in awe as the offense -- the line, the runners and the quarterback -- confused the Indianapolis Colts in a first half that will become a part of Jets playoff lore.
As usual, things worked especially well because Curtis Martin was running exceptionally well. He averaged 4.8 yards a carry in the first half: 63 yards on 13 attempts. He saw only spot duty in the second half, but the damage had been considerable and the Jets cruised to a 41-0 victory over the Colts in their first-round American Football Conference playoff game Saturday.
The theme was set on the second play from scrimmage. Martin, with his blockers pummeling the Colts' smallish defensive line, ran for 10 yards. The offense that was to take a 24-0 lead by halftime was instantly empowered.
The threat of Martin allowed quarterback Chad Pennington to exercise his creative confusion. His play-faking ability may be unmatched, even though he has played in all of 13 NFL games and this was his first playoff appearance.
Pennington repeatedly froze the defense with make-believe handoffs to Martin, or to Richie Anderson, then would whip a pass to a receiver.
"It all starts with the run," said the former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason, now a television and radio analyst. "They pay attention to the run, and that allows the quarterback to do some things."
By the second half, the Jets were sending receivers on those slanting patterns that are the hallmarks of the West Coast offense, an offense that must have a dangerous running threat to be effective. The run sets up those 8- and 10-yard slants that have a high probability of being completed and a low possibility of being intercepted.
Martin's cavorting bodes well for the Jets in the playoffs. Saturday's game was his fourth straight significant performance, after games of 127, 106 and 83 yards rushing.
Not coincidentally, it was also the fifth game back for Dave Szott, the veteran left guard who had not played a down until December because of knee surgery in training camp. Szott was the only off-season free-agent pickup to start on offense, and he had figured prominently in the club's plans.
Martin and Pennington have been playing off each other since the fifth game of the season, when Pennington got his chance. Teams stopped bunching up to halt Martin, who was hobbled by a painful ankle injury. Instead, defenses thought the untested quarterback was handing off to Martin, they ran to the runner and Pennington fooled them with a pass.
That play set the tone for Saturday's rout.
On the Jets' opening drive, Martin ran right twice, up the middle once, then appeared headed for another run to the right.
The Colts' defense followed Martin. But Pennington faked the handoff, hid the ball and then tossed a 10-yard pass to his left, to Anderson, who was all alone. What followed was the longest pass completion in Jets playoff history: a 56-yard touchdown that surely must have embarrassed the Colts. Anderson bounded down the left sideline and eluded a couple of defenders on his way to eclipsing Don Maynard's 52-yard pass play with Joe Namath in the 1968 AFL playoffs.
Namath created that play with his arm strength. Pennington made his with brain as well as brawn.
Pennington's play fakes are so good that Bob Wischusen, the Jets' radio voice, says he hesitates when Pennington looks as if he has just handed off.
RSS