INDIANAPOLIS — If the Jets make the playoffs, they should give full shares to paranoid Indianapolis president Bill Polian and first-year head coach Jim Caldwell.

With a five-point lead and an undefeated season still plainly in sight Sunday, the Colts chose to remove three-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and several other offensive starters with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter. The Jets quickly took advantage, as Calvin Pace’s sack of NFL-debuting rookie Curtis Painter was recovered by Marques Douglas, who crawled 1 yard for the go-ahead touchdown in the Jets’ 29-15 victory over the Indianapolis Colts/Hobby Horses at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Thanks partly to the Colts’ largesse, the Jets (8-7) control their own destiny in the AFC wild-card race with a home game against Cincinnati (10-5) left to play. A victory over the Bengals, who have clinched the AFC North and thus have little to play for other than the right to be seeded third or fourth in the AFC, would mean the Jets will make the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The game will be televised nationally by NBC at 8:20 p.m.
Losses by Miami, Jacksonville, Baltimore and Denver, combined with the Jets’ win, gives them a clear road to the postseason if they win their last game.
The Colts (14-1) missed out on a chance to join Miami (1972) and New England (2007) as teams that went undefeated during the regular season.
After Douglas’ touchdown, the Jets got a two-point conversion pass from Mark Sanchez to Dustin Keller for an 18-15 lead with 1:29 left in the third quarter. They added 11 fourth-quarter points as the Hobby Horses’ offense sputtered, accompanied by a chorus of boos from the disappointed home fans. Besides Manning, the Colts also were without wideout Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark.
The Jets didn’t care.
“Indianapolis earned the right to do whatever they want,” coach Rex Ryan said. “That’s a heck of a football team.”
Well, not the one the Jets played for the last 20:36 of the game. But they aren’t giving back the victory.
“I’m not apologizing for jack,” vocal linebacker Bart Scott, noting how many heartbreaking defeats the Jets had suffered this season.
“We were just going to line up and play, one way or the other,” said Ryan, who refused to admit the Jets’ task was made easier by the Colts’ decision to pull their starters. “Whoever was in a Colts’ uniform was who we were going to play against.”
But Painter and his makeshift offense were easy pickings. Pace’s outside move resulted in the game-changing strip sack.
“We noticed it,” Pace said of the change in quarterbacks, which occurred with Indianapolis leading 15-10. But he added, “All those guys are capable.”
When asked if Manning would’ve recognized Pace’s backside pressure better than the untested Painter, Pace suppressed a grin and said, “maybe.”
After that, the Jets kept the ball on the ground and drove to a 43-yard field goal by Jay Feely and a 1-yard touchdown run by Thomas Jones with 5:38 left, sealing the victory.
Scott also said, “We had done a decent job to that point of defending (Manning). It’s not like we were out there laying an egg and they just said, ’Here, you guys can have the game.”’
Actually, that is pretty much what the Colts said when they inserted the Hobby Horses.
Both defensive end Shaun Ellis and cornerback Darrelle Revis said they would have liked to have beaten the Colts at full strength.
“(Manning’s) the best I’ve ever faced,” said Revis, a third-year pro having an outstanding season. “I wish he would have played the whole game. ... I want to test myself against the best.”
As if he were filming one of his many commercials, a seemingly frustrated Manning stuck with the script and said, “Until any player in here is the head coach, you follow orders and you follow them with all of your heart. That’s what we’ve done as players. We follow orders. Our orders were not to give up a turnover, not to give up a kick return for a touchdown.”
But Manning did stand on the sideline with his helmet on for several series, although he said he didn’t lobby to go back in.
Polian told reporters, “Football logic has to come into play, and that logic is it makes no sense to have guys out there with the potential for injuries.”
Of course, players can get injured in practice. And Manning had not been sacked, and had been knocked down only once during the game by the Jets, and quickly bounced back up. And Polian chooses to ignore the fact that Indianapolis twice has been eliminated in its first playoff game (2005 and 2007) after tanking games by playing backups, while the Colts played hard to the wire in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2006.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the AFC, and they can make whatever decision they want to make,” wideout Jerricho Cotchery said. “But we’re not going to apologize for a win.”
They’ll take it and run. Perhaps to the playoffs.