Jets try everything, but everything is not enough against Colts

Some believe in destiny. Some believe you make your own luck. Regardless of your belief, today it happened for the Indianapolis Colts and not the New York Jets. Despite a productive first half after which they led 17-13, ultimately the New York Jets were no match for Peyton Manning and company.

Things started to turn during the Colts' final possession of the second quarter when Manning was able to complete a 46-yard pass and followed with a 16-yard touchdown pass -- both to wide receiver Austin Collie.

The Jets, coming into the postseason with the league's No. 1 defense came out flat in the second half.

"Right before the half, when they got the touchdown, it really took the wind out of our sails," coach Rex Ryan said.

And when facing Manning and the Colts, there can be no let down. Right out of the gate in the third quarter, Manning moved his offense down the field and hit wide receiver Pierre Garcon for a touchdown to take the lead.

The defense that allowed linebacker David Harris to sack Manning twice in the first quarter was nowhere after halftime. The Colts came out and shut down the Jets pass rush, allowing no sacks through the rest of the game.

"They just executed better than we did," said Harris in a quiet Jets locker room after the game. "We tried to start fast and disguise a little bit at the start of the game, however in the second half, their offensive line picked up a lot of our blitzes."

Manning showed why he's the MVP, making his own adjustments to what he saw from the Jets defense in the first half.

Ryan talked about the adjustments he saw from the Colts after halftime, and what the team tried to do to adjust back.

"They went to three wides," Ryan said. "You have Dallas Clark as your tight end, so that's basically four receivers out there. Those guys are tough. I mean individually they're tough. You have Peyton Manning back there pulling the trigger. We tried everything. We tried Man. We tried Two Man. We tried Zone. We tried it you name it. You have to give him credit. He's one heck of a quarterback. We definitely had some issues there."

With linebacker Bart Scott hobbled by an ankle sprain sustained in last week's game against San Diego and the defensive backs having a tough time of it in the backfield, the Colts had the Jets back on their heels.

"They made adjustments," said defensive end Shaun Ellis, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't really know what happened."

Linebacker Bryan Thomas echoed his teammate. "I felt like we were doing pretty much the same things. But we should have put pressure on them."

Now the Jets' season is done, leaving them with a lot to think about as they prepare to start over and try to go even further next season.