If Ryan is referring to an aggressive ground attack, timely passing, and a defense good enough to give prolific-passer Philip Rivers one of his worst days at the office in quite some time then he must be envisioning a Super Bowl contender (as usual).
The once-starved ground game—ranked at or near the bottom in nearly every major statistical category entering Sunday—finally ate up a defense. Shonn Greene looked every bit the punishing 226-lb back they imagined when they traded up to take him in the 2009 draft. The Iowa alum gained a season-high 112 yards on 20 carries as he blasted through hole after hole that their once-maligned offensive line created—even finishing runs with hits of his own.
Meanwhile Sanchez, after an uneven first half, complemented their awakened ground game with a strong performance in the final 30 minutes to give the Jets their second double-digit-deficit comeback win of the season.
The third-year pro ended up a mediocre 18 for 33 passing but found the end zone three times while turning it over just once in totaling 173 yards through the air.
His troubles came early on and San Diego made the Jets pay for them.
On just the fourth play of the game an off-target throw from the Jet’s quarterback caused tight end Dustin Keller to bobble the ball long enough for Chargers’ linebacker Donald Butler to grab it from him and take off down the sidelines for a 37-yard score to put the Jets in an early 7-0 hole.
Later in the quarter with the Jets at the San Diego 28-yard line another off-target pass ended up in the arms of the Chargers as Eric Weddle picked one off in the end zone with the Jets driving but trailing 7-3.
Sanchez would pick up the pace though. Soon the defense would too.
Following a Chargers touchdown early in the second quarter the third-year USC alum drove the Jets down the field and found nearly-forgotten wide receiver Plaxico Burress in the end zone to pull within four at 14-10.
The deficit would swell to 21-10 following a second consecutive time-consuming drive by the Chargers. But the touchdowns and offensive giveaways would be the last the Jets would surrender.
Coming out of halftime with a new resolve Ryan’s defense gave up just one first down in the third quarter while Sanchez led their new-found aggressive offense for another score—the same way he did before—with a touchdown pass to the 6'5” Burress to pull within 21-17
If the first quarter was unkind to Sanchez, the fourth quarter was as equally unkind to his counterpart Rivers.
The 29-year old was off-target in throwing a pair of picks that the Jets turned into 10 more points—including the third touchdown pass of the game to Burress—to complete the comeback.
Rivers finished the game against the Jets’ defense 16 for 32 for 179 yards with a touchdown and those two interceptions—good for 51.4 rating—his worst since 2008 in Pittsburgh.
It all added up to the Jets best overall performance of the season—a look the fans envisioned as well.
