The New York Jets take on the San Diego Chargers in the 2010 AFC Divisional Playoffs on Sunday in San Diego. The Jets advanced to the AFC Divisional Playoff game after beating the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wildcard game last week 24 -14. The Chargers are the AFC West Champions, are the 2nd seed in the AFC and enjoyed a bye on AFC Wild Card weekend.

The Jets come into this Divisional playoff game as a heavy underdog (Jets +7 under/over 42 points). That’s a huge spread for a playoff game – but spreads are made to be broken. And Thenflthisweek.com predicts that not only will the Jets beat the spread, they will win the game outright. Here’s why:

As everyone now knows, the Jets are #1 in team defense and 1st against the pass; they also have the #1 rushing offense. The Jets QB Mark Sanchez threw 20 interceptions in the regular season but hasn’t thrown one in the last 3 games. The Jets starting running back, Thomas Jones has a banged-up knee and was limited to 15 carries and 34 yards against the Bengals last week. However, rookie RB Shonn Green picked up the slack and rushed for 135 yards. Sanchez has two good receivers in Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards.

The Chargers are the hottest team in the NFL and the winners of 11 straight. They have captured their 4th straight AFC West championship and will be rested from the bye last week.

Chargers QB Phillips Rivers is ranked 3rd in the NFL in QB passing rating with a 104.4. He completed over 65% of his passes for over 4200 yards and 28 TDs. Rivers has a exceptional retrieving corps in Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates. And don’t forget they have running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Many NFL analysts and armchair quarterbacks believe that the Chargers will win the game. Others believe that for the Jets to pull an upset, its up to the Jets defense to stop the powerful Chargers offense. We disagree!

The key to a Jets win is their #1 rated rushing attack. The Jets offense must be able to keep drives alive by running the ball and taking time off the clock. They must keep Rivers and the Chargers offense off the field. If the Jets rushing attack is successful it opens up the chances of Sanchez taking advantage of the play action pass for some big plays.

To a lesser extent, the Jets Defense must stop the Chargers running threat, LaDainian Tomlinson. If they can do that, the Jets could take advantage of their #1 ranked defense against the pass. This will allow them to play man-to-man and put heavy pressure on Rivers and force turnovers.

The Jets have something else going for them, it’s the Chargers bad karma in the playoffs. In 2006 they won 10 straight going into the playoffs then were cut down by New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. In 2007 they won 8 in a row before losing to the Patriots again in the AFC Conference Title game. And last year, they upset the Colts in the Wild Card matchup and lost to the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

And finally, the Jets have the momentum, confidence and belief they can go all the way to the Super Bowl.

Thenflthisweek.com Prediction:

Jets 35 Chargers 31

Why does Jets’ Darrelle Revis deserve to be the NFL Defensive Player of the Year? He is the major reason the Jets are ranked #1 in passing defense against and #1 in total defense. His ability to take on opposing teams’ best wide receivers, man-to-man, week after week, allows the Jets defense to play 8-up-front to stop the run. His ability to cover wide receivers while the Jets blitz makes them dominant, confident and successful.

And if that isn’t enough … Jets coach Rex Ryan insists CB Darrelle Revis has made a bigger impact this season than Ray Lewis ever did in Ryan’s time with the Ravens. Ryan pointed to Revis’ ability to change the way the whole defense plays by erasing No. 1 receivers. “I was going to be subtle about this, but if he’s not the NFL defensive player of the year, something is wrong with the system,” Ryan said.

His 2009 regular season stats include 47 tackles, 7 assists, 6 interceptions with 1 returned for a TD. In post-season play he had 1 interception wihile shutting down the Bengals star WR Chad Ochocinco (or is it Johnson).

Darrelle’s durability is also one of his best assets. He has played in every Jets game over the last three NFL seasons – that’s 48 regular season games and 1 NFL playoff game.

In the NFL 2009 season, Revis has completely outplayed opposing wide receivers like Andre Johnson, Marques Colston, Randy Moss (twice), Terrell Owens (twice), Steve Smith, Roddy White and Chad Ochocinco (twice). In each of these matchups he has not given up more than 5 receptions or more than 35 yards. The opposition has only scored once against him.

Here is Darrelle Revis’s one-on-one matchup statistics:

Week	Wide Receiver	Team	Catches	Yards	TDs
1	Andre Johnson	Texans	4	35	0
2	Randy Moss	Patriots	4	29	0
4	Marques Colston	Saints	2	33	0
6	Terrell Owens	Bills	3	13	0
11	Randy Moss	Patriots	5	34	1
12	Steve Smith	Panthers	1	4	0
13	Terrell Owens	Bills	3	31	0
15	Roddy White	Falcons	4	33	0
16	Reggie Wayne	Colts	3	33	0
17	Chad Ochocinco	Bengals	0	0	0
WC	Chad Ochocinco	Bengals	2	28	0

And if his statistics don’t impress, his character will …

When asked his reaction to coach Rex’s praise, Darrelle responded, “That’s crazy for him to say that,” “I just look at it as simple: I’m just trying to do my job. He believes in my talent, I believe in my talent and I just go and play, man.”

Defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman, a former Pro Bowl cornerback, remembers joining Ryan’s coaching staff and meeting Revis for the first time.

“One of the first things he said to me was, ‘Coach me,”‘ Thurman said. “He wants to be recognized as the best corner, not one of the best. He’s still learning how to study the game and he’s willing to work at it, and that’s refreshing.”

Combine Revis’ athletic ability, impressive statistics, modesty, respect and outstanding work ethic and you have a player the NFL, and the New York Jets family, can be proud, and deserving of the NFL Defensive Player of the Year!

sources: nfl.com, yahoo sports, espn.com

The AFC playoff picture will become much clearer this weekend.  The New York Jets take on the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals to AFC wildcard Saturday, Jan 9, 2010. On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens head to Foxboro to take on the AFC East champion New England Patriots. Here are some pre-game insights and predictions for the AFC matchup between the Jets and the Bengals.

Jets coach Rex Ryan says the Jets should be the favorite to win the Superbowl, but not even all-time Jet Joe Namath agrees. For a first-year NFL coach those are pretty big words, especially with a rookie QB leading the team. But there could be some credence in what he says – just take a look at the NFL regular season statistics.

The Jets are ranked 1st in the total defense (1ST against the pass/8th against the rush). Offensively they are ranked 20th in total offense but 1st in Rushing and 31st in passing. Pretty impressive statistics! And remember, the Jets beat the undefeated Colts in week 16 and routed the Bengals in week 17 to get an AFC wildcard spot.

However we know the Bengals are no slouches defensively. They are ranked 4th in total defense (8th against the pass/7th against the rush). Offensively they are ranked 24th overall (9th in rushing/26th in passing).

Many of the NFL analysts say you can throw away the stats from last week’s matchup, but some are too startling too avoid:

• The Bengals had only 5 first downs in the entire game to the Jets 21
• The Bengals averaged 1.8 yards per play to the Jets 4.4
• The Bengals rushed and netted only 72 yards – the Jets 257 on the ground with a net of 320
• Starting QB Carson Palmer had 0 yards passing (1/11 with 1 interception)
• The Bengals time of possession was 18:46 minutes to the Jets 41:14

While we don’t expect another shutout by the Jets, we do expect a repeat performance by the Jets running attack. We also see Mr. Revis shutting down Ochocinco (or is it Johnson?) and the Bengals passing game.

Yes, the Bengals are playing at home but we feel the pressure is on them to win since they’ve been in the playoffs only twice since 1990 (1990, 2005 – both division championships).

The Bengals are favorite by 2 points In this AFC playoff match-up. The under/over is 34 points.

Thenflthisweek.com prediction for AFC Wildcard Saturday

Jets 28 Bengals 7