Baffling Colts, and maybe fans, Jets go to 2-0

INDIANAPOLIS — Maybe, just maybe, this is how the New York Jets’ resurgence begins.

With an array of blitz packages so creative, so destructive, they might as well have been conceived in a laboratory. Or with one of the NFL’s best and brainiest quarterbacks shouting at everyone and no Jet flummoxed beyond comprehension. Or with their superiority against an alleged contender, a victory that asserted the Jets — and not the reeling Indianapolis Colts — as a potential force in the AFC.

By the end of the Jets’ 20-7 victory Monday night, fans at Lucas Oil Stadium had long departed. The Jets forced a turnover on the Colts’ first series and then forced quarterback Andrew Luck into commit- ting three more, as they improved to 2-0 heading into a meeting with the winless Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

This victory was made possible by a smidgen of luck — for the second consecutive week, their opponent ended a drive of nearly 10 minutes with a goal-line fumble — and a lot of Luck (22 of 37, 250 yards, 1 touchdown), who threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, with Darrelle Revis accounting for three takeaways (two fumble recoveries and one interception).

“They’re flying around; they’re starting to buy into the system,” said coach Todd Bowles. “We’re not where we want to be. We’re on the way.”

The one time the Colts did

breach the end zone — in the fourth quarter — the Jets responded immediately, with the second touchdown in as many games for Brandon Marshall, to secure their first 2-0 start since 2011.

The Jets also dealt Indianapolis only its second loss in 16 games immediately following a defeat. They kept pace in the AFC East with New England, which battered Buffalo. It was the Bills who last week throttled Indianapolis, and the Jets noticed. Through two games, the Jets have allowed 17 points and forced 10 takeaways.

In a matchup of bearded brainiacs, Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard) outshined Luck (Stanford), completing 22 of 34 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.

The Jets had flustered Luck across the Colts’ first eight possessions — four turnovers, three punts and a missed field goal — until he engineered an eight-play, 91-yard drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown toss to Donte Moncrief that sliced the deficit to 10-7 with 10 minutes 7 seconds left.

Taking possession at their own 20, the Jets marched 80 yards in 3:47, with Fitzpatrick showing delicate touch on two critical passes — a 27-yarder to Quincy Enunwa and a 15-yard touchdown to Marshall, who predicted that he or Eric Decker would shine on Monday night.

Both did, just in different halves. Facing a secondary missing three of its top four cornerbacks, Fitzpatrick exploited his most favorable matchup — Decker against anyone — from the first play of the game. Despite Decker’s prowess on the outside, the Jets love what offensive coordinator Chan Gailey characterized as his “unique feel” for the slot.

As Vontae Davis focused on Marshall (before leaving with a concussion), Decker devastated the Colts for eight receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown — all before halftime — before leaving with a knee injury.

The Jets’ season-opening romp over Cleveland augured curiosity within their locker room. Whether their offense could operate with compara- ble efficiency. Whether their defense could exasperate an elite quarterback like Luck as it did a backup like Johnny Manziel. And on a macro level, whether they could compete with a team like Indianapolis, which reached the conference championship game last season.

At halftime, the Jets had pummeled Indianapolis so thoroughly that Luck had completed just 5 of 14 throws for 52 yards, an interception and a passer rating of 17.6, and the Colts were 0 for 6 on third down.

Preparing for the Colts, the Jets abided by one principle, reinforced by their coach. To make Indianapolis’ struggles a trend, Bowles told his players, the Jets had to consider them an aberration. One defeat, in rowdy Buffalo, hardly dented Luck’s place among the elite, or his team’s standing as AFC contender. “They understand that,” Bowles said. “They understand what they’re going into.”

They also understood that a component of Buffalo’s successful game plan against Luck — blitzing, blitzing and more blitzing — meshed with Bowles’ defensive philosophy.

On the Colts’ first possession, Buster Skrine broke free from the back side and forced a poor throw from Luck, which caromed off Andre Johnson’s fingertips and into the hands of Calvin Pryor, whose 29-yard return gave the Jets the ball at the Indianapolis 9. Four plays later, after a Davis holding penalty on third down extended the drive, Fitzpatrick flipped a 6-yard touchdown to Decker.

Across

their first five quarters of the season, the Jets scored 28 points off turnovers. They scored 20 all of last year.

The 7-0 advantage held deep into the second quarter: after Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri clanked a 29-yard attempt — his first miss from fewer than 30 yards since 2007, according to Pro Football Reference; after an acrobatic interception from the Colts’ Mike Davis, on a dubious throw by Fitzpatrick into double coverage, ruined a potential scoring drive; after a diving deflection from Antonio Cromartie, who started at cornerback eight days after appearing to suffer a serious knee injury, thwarted the Colts on a 3rd-and-1.

Nick Folk extended the Jets’ lead to 10-0 on a 35yarder with 1:51 remaining in the first half, giving his team enough points to win.