Jets defensive lineman Shaun Ellis said the Jets did not realize Painter had replaced Manning on his first series — does that seem possible? — but Ellis claimed that, unlike Jets fans, they did not celebrate his departure.

"We want to beat them at their best," Ellis said. "Hopefully, we can see them again this year. Good things happen to good teams. We're on the progress of being great. Good teams get chances. We have to make sure we take advantage."

The Jets' history has been pockmarked by crushing disappointments, but if they fail to make the playoffs, after the Colts gift-wrapped their opportunity, Coach Rex Ryan may need to carry tissues with him for the entire off-season. Left for later will be questions about what, exactly, the Jets will have proved by beating backups to get into the playoffs. For now, Ryan, just a few days after saying his Christmas list included a wish that Manning not face the Jets, played down the lucky break the Jets received.

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"I feel fortunate that we were able to win the game," Ryan said. "Our guys played great. We found a way to win. This football team beat 14 teams, so they earned the right to play it the way they wanted to. We were just going to line up and play, whoever was out there."

Before the game, Caldwell was circumspect about how long his starters would play, but Bill Polian, the Colts' president, has said that an undefeated season was never the team's goal.

Caldwell said afterward that he had studied how teams had performed in recent years, trying to perfect the delicate balance between resting players and keeping a team sharp. He decided that going into the third quarter with a lead, he would begin to pull his starters. He said that he told the players of the plan during the week and then at halftime, and that he did not consider reinserting Manning after the Colts lost the lead.

"The most important thing is to make certain that we are operating on all cylinders come the playoffs," Caldwell said. "The most important season is the one coming up."

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Manning had not been sharp before he was pulled — he went 14 of 21 for 192 yards — but the Jets had not sacked him and had hit him only once. Still, the Jets had taken a lead on a 106-yard kickoff return by Brad Smith to open the second half, the longest play in Jets history. That play meant that even though Manning led the Colts to a touchdown on his only drive of the second half, the Colts led by only 5 points when he departed. And Manning's absence meant there was little reason for Mark Sanchez to put the ball in the air.

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After Manning's departure, the Jets ran the ball 24 times and passed it only 5, an obvious indication that the Jets had no fear the Colts would score again. And there was little worry that the Jets would lose the fourth-quarter lead, particularly because their running game was able to chew up the clock against the Colts' defensive backups.

For the Jets, the Colts' decision was an extraordinary gift. If the Jets had lost, they would have been eliminated from the playoffs. Instead, Caldwell's decision to ease up will probably be second-guessed unless the Colts win the Super Bowl. The Colts have rested players in years past and have sometimes looked flat in their first playoff game. And in choosing to rest his starters with the game in doubt, Caldwell also endangered the playoff chances of a handful of A.F.C. teams that needed a Jets loss to help them.

Not surprisingly, Colts fans booed loudly each time Painter took the field.

But the more immediate issue is how players like Manning will respond to the rest, and to their first loss of the season. With a tight expression on his face, Manning was clearly frustrated with the decision.

"We tried to score as many points as we could, we put Curtis Painter in a tough position," Manning said. "This was our organizational philosophy that we stuck with. We still had a chance to win the game. Until any player in here is the head coach, as a player you follow orders and you follow them with all your heart."

Even if their hearts broke a little bit Sunday.