Braylon Edwards does a flip in celebration of the Jets 17-16 win against the Indianapolis Colts. (Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS — Jason Taylor waited a long time for this, but he wasn’t ready to bask in it for long.
Taylor, the Jets linebacker who was signed in the offseason after a long career with the Dolphins, hadn’t played in a playoff game since 2001 before last night and he hadn’t won one since 2000.
“It feels great, but we’re not finished,” said Taylor, who had the Jets only sack in last night’s 17-16 AFC wild-card victory. “They don’t give away a hat or a T-shirt for this. This is just one step toward where we want to go.”
The 36-year-old Taylor hinted in a pregame interview with ESPN that if the Jets win the Super Bowl this year he will retire, saying he has joked with teammates that if they see him hoisting the Lombardi Trophy “take a picture, because it’ll be the last time you see me.”
“This is it,” Taylor said in the interview with ESPN that aired yesterday before the game. “I was telling my wife [the other day] on the way to work, 280 days or 290 days you work at football throughout the course of the year for this, to get to January and have a chance to play in the playoffs.
“There’s four games between now and holding the trophy,” he said. “That’s about 12 hours of real time. So you work 280-some days — or whatever that number is — 300 days for the next 12 hours of football life. That’s how hard it is to get to this point and how important these next 12 hours of football time are.”
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The Jets were dealt a serious blow in the first quarter when Brad Smith pulled a quadriceps muscle while rushing a Colts punt.
Smith was knocked of the game for awhile before returning late in the third quarter, but he wasn’t the same. Smith, who was ranked second in the NFL in kickoff returns with a 28.6-yard average with two returned for touchdowns, made a lunging attempt to block a Pat McAfee punt and came up lame, limping off the field.
Smith, who returned a kickoff a franchise-record 106 yards against the Colts in last year’s AFC Championship game at Lucas Oil Field, was replaced on kickoff returns by rookie Kyle Wilson and then cornerback Antonio Cromartie. Wilson took the first kickoff and returned it 26 yards. Cromartie volunteered and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 41 yards and, more importantly he returned the last Colts kickoff 47 yards to set the Jets up for their game-winning drive.
Smith did return late in the third quarter and was stopped at the 13-yard line on a kickoff return. He also played some “Wildcat” snaps and was fairly effective.
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Speaking of Cromartie, the Jets win last night means the Jets send their 2011 second-round draft pick to the Chargers to complete the trade for the cornerback to complete the terms of the offseason transaction.
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The Colts, already ravaged with injuries this season, were without three more starters with LB Clint Session, CB Kelvin Hayden and RT Ryan Diem all out.
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WR Santonio Holmes got away with a stupid-human-trick when he didn’t clear himself away from a Colts punt. The bouncing ball nearly hit his foot. Holmes was immediately taken off punt returns and replaced by Jerricho Cotchery. . . . Punter Steve Weatherford had four touchbacks all season and he had four last night.
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The Colts now lead the all-time series 40-27. They had won seven of the last 10 games. . . . Against common opponents, the Jets were 4-1 with wins over the Bengals, Broncos, Texans and Patriots and a loss to New England. The Colts were 3-2 with wins over the Bengals, Broncos, a split with the Texans and a loss to New England.