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The Jets pass offense came out rolling with a scripted first drive, with three very effective passes on the first four plays, but then the drive came to a screeching halt . . .
Three of the Jets first four offense plays were nice chunk passing plays. The Jets clearly came out with the idea of exploiting New England’s 32-ranked pass defense.
They opened up with a pass to the short right side to Santonio Holmes for a gain of 16. On the next play, Mark Sanchez hit Plaxico Burress on a quick slant starting the right side for a gain of 11.
Then after a four-yard run by LaDainian Tomlinson, Sanchez hit Holmes on a crossing route that turned into a gain of 27. It was about a 15-yard pass, but then CB Devin McCourty and S James Ihedigbo ran into each other, and this allowed some room for running after the catch.
All three of these receptions were completed against McCourty.
But then the drive stalled in the red zone. After a short run by Shonn Greene from the 9 to the 6, Sanchez threw a pair of incompletions, and then the Jets missed a field goal.
On the second down, Sanchez threw it away because he felt that nobody was open. On third down, he was a little behind Burress in middle of the end zone.
There has been a lot of talk about the Sanchez’s improvement in the red zone. But keep on thing in mind. CB Antoine Cason did a poor job of bump-and-run on all three Burress red zone TD’s in the San Diego game. It’s not always that easy. Sanchez is a little better in the red zone, but he has a long way to go. Because he’s not great at reading defenses, the cluttered red zone can be tough sledding for him.
The Jets second possession was non-descript. On first down, Sanchez hit Jeremy Kerley who sat down in the middle of the zone in the short middle, and the play gained nine years. Shonn Greene ran for seven yards on second down to get a first down. But that was all she wrote. After a short LT run, Keller overthrew Keller down the right seam, and then Sanchez was sacked on third down by Andre Carter.
The third drive started with three good runs by Shonn Greene, but then Sanchez was sacked by Carter again, and on the play after that, he rolled right and hit Burress, but the receiver was called for offensive pass interference.
The fourth drive started out well when Sanchez hit Burress over the middle for a gain of 21, and 15 yards was added to that because S/CB Moore led with his helmet (and actually knocked McCourty out of the game with a separated shoulder). Two plays later, Sanchez was sacked by Carter and Anderson.
On the last drive of the first half, the Jets finally got on the board. After a safety, Sanchez drove the Jets 65 yards on seven plays. The two biggest chunk plays on this drive, where an LT run for 15 up the middle, and a pass for 22 yards over the middle to Patrick Turner. The drive wrapped up with a Sanchez two-yard designed scramble for a touchdown.
We will have Part II of Sanchez by 9 PM this evening.