Colts vs. Jets 2012: Shonn Greene, Jets win 'beatdown bowl'

The New York Jets looked comfortable on both sides of the ball, crushing the Indianapolis Colts 35-9 in their best outing since the first week of the season.

Two weeks ago, nothing could go right for the New York Jets: they'd lost star players in back-to-back weeks, their offense was the butt of jokes nationally after being shut out by the San Francisco 49ers and their defense wasn't much better. After Sunday's win, that seems like a distant memory: Mark Sanchez didn't throw much but contributed positively to a unit that scored five touchdowns while the defense hounded Andrew Luck and kept the Colts from scoring. Scott Salmon of Gang Green Nation used the word "beatdown" on several occasions while describing the victory in his postgame recap, and he wasn't wrong to do so:

Simply put, it was a very efficient game, and exactly the type of offense and defense that Rex Ryan wants from this team every week. On offense, we saw a very crisp passing game, and dominant run game. On defense, we saw tight press coverage down the field and a very physical front seven in the run game. Overall, great victory.

The star of the show for the New York Jets was Shonn Greene, who had 161 yards and three touchdowns for a running attack that had been one of the worst in the league through five games.

The first is Shonn Greene, who had a career day. This was the War Machine that we saw in the 2009 and 2010 playoffs. He was patient, had great burst, and simply mauled anyone in his way. He grinded out the tough yards and rarely left any extra yards on the field.

Believe it or not, New York is on top of their division, tied with the New England Patriots for a slice of the AFC East lead. The two face off next week in Foxboro in a game with early playoff implications.