All season long, the refrain from analysts and fans (myself included) was, “The NFL is a passing league now, baby!” In recent weeks, though, on account of the success of the New York Jets , we had a shift back in the direction of the old maxim, “In the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to run the ball.” What just happened, though , is that the Jets came out with the same league-best rushing attack and league-best defense that had been beating everyone else. The Colts countered with their “league-worst” rushing attack, and the end result was that Peyton Manning (notes) , the best quarterback on the planet, shredded the Jets like he was making a green and white cole slaw and put the Colts in the Super Bowl.