(This fictitious account of the 2009-2010 NFL playoffs was driven by a “2009-2010 Playoffs Pre-play” using Momentum Football by Downey Games. For more information about Momentum Football, please visit the Downey Games website. – Ed.)
Jay Feely kicking one of his eleven playoff field goals
One can never predict the story lines that will emerge from the NFL Playoffs, but it is usually a certainty each year that they will involve the big name players like Brady, Manning, Favre, Warner, or defensive standouts like Ware, or Lewis. This was not one of those years. Instead, this year, the NFL’s “second season” provided us with a story about second (and third and fourth) chances, and how a team can ride the leg of a kicker to NFL glory.
Jay Feely’s performance in the AFC Championship game versus the Colts was one for the ages. Not only did he tie the record for the most field goals in a playoff game (5), he kicked three of them from 50+ yards. He would go on boot three more in the SuperBowl, cementing his place in NFL History as one of the more unlikely heros, right up there with the Giants’ David Tyree.
Feely has been in the NFL since 2001, but his longest stint for any team was the 4 years he spent with the Falcons at the start of his NFL career. Since then he has bounced around the league playing for the Giants, Dolphins and Jets. He was also a Chief for a day in the 2007 off-season. Before the NFL he played a season in the Arena Football League for the Tampa Bay Storm. He is a career 81.6% field goal kicker, which is respectable, but not good enough for a lucrative long-term contract. Additionally, Feely has missed some crucial kicks in key games in his career, so he certainly didn’t have the reputation as a clutch kicker coming into the playoffs this year.
In their 28-7 first round win over the Bengals, Sanchez, Smith, Greene and Jones did all the scoring so Feely wasn’t needed. In the divisional round miracle upset of the Chargers in San Diego however, Feely kicked 3 field goals, including a 55 yarder, to help lift the Jets to the improbable win. The 20-14 “Miracle in San Diego” was as much about the NY defense as it was Feely’s kicks. But Feely was saving his best performance for the AFC Championship game in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis reached the championship game by beating the Ravens 44-32 in a classic AFC slugfest. Cundiff nailed 4 field goals for the Ravens in the loss, but the Colts bend-but-don’t-break philosophy would pay off with a victory. It was this same strategy that would fail them against the Jets.
In the AFC title game, the Jets stole the momentum from the Colts and took the crowd out of the game early. Feely scored the first 9 points for the Jets, as the Colts kept the Jets out of the end zone, but not off the score board. In the first half, Feely hit 2 consecutive 55 yard field goals, followed up by a 52 yarder. Jones would score 6 points of his own on a 6 yard run, and the Jets went into halftime with a 16-0 lead. The second half saw the game turn into an instant classic. Feely added his fourth field goal of the game, but Addai would finally lead the Colts on a 4 minute TD drive and score from 3 yards out. How did the Jets respond? With another field goal of course! Feely was finally done with his 15th point of the game, and the Jets had a 22-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Addai started the Colts comeback bid by scoring his second short TD run of the game. Following a Jets punt, Manning found Collie over the middle for a 45 yard TD pass. With a little over 8 minutes left in the game, the Jets were hanging on to a 22-21 lead. Another Jets punt would lead to another Manning TD pass, this time to Clark for 9 yards. For the first time in the game, the Colts were on top, 28-22. The pressure was on Sanchez, and he responded. In a little under 3 minutes, Sanchez drove the Jets down the field, and with 40 seconds left in the game, found Cloney in the end zone for the game tying score. The extra point by Feely put the Jets back on top. Manning was unable to pull off the miracle comeback, and the Jets had stolen yet another game from a highly favored opponent, 29-28. Destiny was clearly knocking on the Jets’ door, and it didn’t matter who their opponent in the SuperBowl would be, they were not going to be stopped.
In the NFC, first round winners Philadelphia (over Dallas 34-24) and Arizona (over Green Bay 27-10) moved on to meet the Saints and Vikings. Philadelphia stunned New Orleans, winning 19-14. The Vikings crushed the Cardinals 40-16, with Favre, Shiancoe and Peterson leading the Vikings high-powered offense. The Metrodome fans had a good game going in the NFC Championship up until half time. In the second half, the Eagles defense took charge en route to a 30-16 dismantling of the Vikings.
SuperBowl XLIV would be a matchup of two wildcard teams, each with their own strengths, but only one with destiny on their side. The first half was dominated by the Jets defense, with Pace sacking McNabb in the endzone for a safety on the Eagles first possession of the game. Picking up the offensive slack in the first 30 minutes were Sanchez who threw a 10-yard TD pass to Cotchery, Jones who ran it in from 4 yards, and Feely who chipped one in from 22. Akers would add a late field goal of his own, but the Jets held a 19-3 lead at the half. The second half was not much different than the first. The Jets defense dominated, Feely added two more field goals for a total of 11 in the post season, and the Jets would win the game 25-6.
Feely ended the playoffs a perfect 11 for 11 in field goal attempts, a perfect 10 for 10 in extra point attempts, and accounted for 43 of the Jets 102 playoff points. While Thomas Jones was voted the SuperBowl MVP for his defensive work (including an interception), Feely was clearly the playoff MVP for the Jets. If it weren’t for his consistency in the playoffs, and his clutch performance in the AFC Championship game, destiny would never have come knocking.
