ON THE RUN: Mark Sanchez had a game to forget in New Orleans on Sunday.
Following good game management for three weeks, making a handful of big plays, Sanchez had a few too many miscues against the Saints’ defense.
“At times I guess he looked like a rookie today,” head coach Rex Ryan said in the post-game press conference. “Made some mistakes I’m sure he wished he had back, but he wasn’t the only one. We got to do a better job protecting him.”
One of those plays Sanchez wishes he could have back occurred at the outset of the second quarter when safety Darren Sharper picked off Sanchez and took it 99 yards for the touchdown. Instead of being up 7–3, the Jets were down 10–0.
“That’s a classic rookie quarterback looking right at his receiver and Sharper read me all the way,” Sanchez said. “And I threw the ball right to him. That’s a poor decision and poor use of my eyes.”
The next miscue came as Sanchez dropped back in his own end zone almost mid-way through the second quarter. When cocking his arm back to make the throw, defensive end Will Smith caused a fumble. It was recovered by defensive tackle Remi Ayodele to make it 17–0.
The demoralizing mistake followed the Jets making a huge defensive stand as New Orleans was unable to convert from within two yards of the end zone on four tries.
Sanchez went on to throw two more interceptions—one more to Sharper and one to cornerback Rudy Gay with the game already out of reach.
"My mistakes killed us. They absolutely killed us," Sanchez said. "The defense played well enough to win. That whole game is 10–10 without three interceptions and a fumble. You turn the ball over like that in this league, and you can't win."
While the defense did its job, holding quarterback Drew Brees and the NFL’s top-ranked offense to just 190 passing yards and no touchdowns, the rookie’s errors are what cost New York the game.
It’s near impossible to win a game in the NFL when you have a -3 turnover differential—with two of those turnovers resulting in touchdowns.
As for the fumble, ball security has been an issue for Sanchez all season. He’s just been fortunate that they haven’t resulted in too many turnovers as the Jets have recovered most of them.
Not All on Sanchez
But when it comes to the fumble in the end zone, that can be blamed on offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the coaching staff just as much as Sanchez.The defense just made a huge stand—a stand that could have completely shifted momentum for the time being.
What is Sanchez doing dropping back in his own end zone after already throwing an interception? He’s known for not taking care of the ball well, and he’s a rookie. At times he’s going to hold on to the ball too long, and this was one of those times.
So Schottenheimer can take the blame along with Sanchez on that one.
Then there’s the run game. Yes, the Jets ran for 132 yards on 27 carries, but New York was going against an offense that’s ranked number one in the league going into the game.
That means ground and pound and grind out the game. Keep Brees and the offense on the sideline by eating up the clock with the run game.
Sanchez looked like a rookie for the first time all season and it probably won’t be the last time. But that's only natural.
When that happens New York has to do what it does best. Let the defense dominate, which it did against the league’s best offense, and feed the running backs the ball, something the Jets needed to do a bit more of.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
