NFL

Jets devour Colts, gain share of first place

For all the questions and criticism the Jets have endured through the first six weeks of the season, here is where they find themselves this morning – tied for first place in the AFC East with a chance to take sole possession next week.

The Jets dispatched the Colts rather easily yesterday, winning a 35-9 laugher, in which seemingly everything went the Jets way at MetLife Stadium.

So even though the Jets have suffered crushing injuries to Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes and have had to hear about all the reasons they stink and whether Tim Tebow should replace Mark Sanchez, the Jets head into a game with the rival Patriots at 3-3 and feeling good about themselves.

“We’re a good football team,” wide receiver Chaz Schilens said. “We believe we’re a good football team. Hell, we have ups and downs just like every other team. Last time I checked I think the Green Bay Packers are 2-3 and no one calls them a terrible team. We’re doing all right.”

They certainly looked all right yesterday.

It was a textbook Rex Ryan Jets victory with plenty of Ground and a whole lot of Pound. Shonn Greene led a rejuvenated running game with a career-high 161 yards on 32 carries and three touchdowns. As a team, the Jets ran for a season-high 252 yards. On defense, the Jets flustered Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, sacking him four times and causing him to throw two interceptions and fumble once. They even got a big special teams play from Tebow.

“It was big for us for us to get a game where we really played a New York Jet brand of football,” said linebacker Aaron Maybin, who had half a sack. “We were able to control the clock with the running game, were able to eliminate the run on defense and able to get the quarterback off his spot and making decisions he didn’t want to make.”

The Jets desperately needed a win after losing two straight home games.

“It was huge,” Ryan said of the win. “We needed it. There’s no doubt. You can’t afford to lose three games at home in a row. That would have been tough…. We’re a tough team. We can overcome a lot, but we really needed this win.”

The Colts led 3-0 early and then never again the rest of the day.

Sanchez took a back seat as the Jets ran over, through and around the Colts defense, but he still managed two touchdown passes and no turnovers. He hit rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill with a pretty 5-yard pass at the beginning of the second quarter to grab a 7-3 lead.

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie intercepted a Luck pass on the Colts’ next drive and returned it for a touchdown, but it was called back because of a personal foul on Maybin for hitting Luck. Cromartie had two interception returns for touchdown called back yesterday.

The Jets converted the Cromartie touchdown into points when Greene scored from the 10 for the first of his three scores.

Indianapolis showed some life, running an effective no-huddle offense before settling for a field goal that cut the Jets lead to 14-6. The next Jets drive stalled at the 40, but Tebow executed a beautiful fake punt on fourth-and-11, finding Nick Bellore for a 23-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Sanchez found Jason Hill for a 5-yard score with 31 seconds left in the half four plays later to make it 21-6 and the Jets never looked back.

After a few tough weeks, the Jets looked like the team they thought they would be yesterday.

“I think we are a team that we’re better than the sum of our parts,” Ryan said. “That’s what we want to be. We want to be a team that nobody wants to play. I think we’re on our way.”

The Jets running game and run defense had been two areas they struggled in, but not yesterday. The Colts had just 41 yards rushing as the Jets defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.

“We felt we were more talented than them up front,” defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson said.

Now, it’s on to New England, where the Patriots are 3-3, the same as the Jets.

“Right now, we’re looking up at them,” Ryan said before the Patriots lost to Seattle. “But, here we come. I don’t feel like tugging on Superman’s cape today but maybe tomorrow.”