BAYOU BASH: Quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Jets will face the 3-0 New Orleans Saints at the Superdome this Sunday. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)
After the first-ever 3–0 start for a rookie quarterback since the merger, the Jets’ Mark Sanchez has yet to be exposed.
Unfortunately for the rookie, all signs point to that streak ending this week against the New Orleans Saints.
The Jets’ defense is one of the top in the league and will continue to be all season, but they’ve yet to see an offense like that of the Saints.
Quarterback Drew Brees picked up right where he left off last year. He’s led the NFL’s number-one offense, completing nearly 69 percent of his passes for 841 yards and nine touchdowns.
“Up until last week he had thrown at least two touchdown passes in a thousand games in a row, I think was the number I was told, so he’s pretty good,” head coach Rex Ryan said in Wednesday’s press conference.
While Ryan exaggerated a bit, Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and he's going against a dinged-up Jets’ secondary.
And now he has a running game to balance out the prolific passing attack.
“This team is second in the national football league in rushing, and it doesn’t matter who they put in there,” Ryan said. “All the guys that have played in that spot are all doing a great job.”
With the game in the Superdome, the Saints are in an atmosphere that suits their offense best. That could lead to an offensive showcase, something the defensive-minded Ryan isn’t very content with.
“I’m not comfortable ever in a shootout,” Ryan said. “That’s just something that doesn’t enter my mind.”
The head coach did go on to say he’s comfortable with his quarterback in a shootout, but that’s not the type of game he wants to play.
Ryan may be confident in Sanchez, but the quarterback will be facing a defense that has vastly improved from last season.
New Orleans leads the league with seven interceptions. That number will likely grow this weekend with safety Darren Sharper, who’s recorded three so far, roaming the secondary against a rookie quarterback.
Prediction
In the end it’s time for New York’s joy ride to hit a speed bump.
New Orleans lights it up in the dome and beats the Jets.
At least the Jets couldn’t ask for a better time for it to happen.
The next four games are the softest part of the schedule. First up is a Dolphins team now building for the future, then a Bills team with an awful offensive line, followed by a Raiders team that is well … the Raiders, and another match up against Miami before the bye week.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
