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Mark Sanchez did a lot good things in the Jets win over San Diego, and it’s time to break down his game.
No three-and-out on the first series, but it did end in disaster.
After three LT runs, with the first two getting a first down, Mark Sanchez threw a pass to Dustin Keller, an out to the short right side. The pass was bobbled a little by Keller, and grabbed away from him by LB Donald Butler, who ran it in for a touchdown.
The play wasn’t Sanchez’s fault; John Connor’s poor blocking of Takeo Spikes might have contributed to the pass being thrown too quickly. Spikes blitzed from his inside linebacker position, rammed into Connor, bounced off of the fullback, and hit Sanchez as he threw. Obviously Connor did a poor job of sustaining his block.
On the Jets second possession, Sanchez drove them 64 yards on eight plays on a drive that resulted in a field goal.
This possession started off with an eight-yard out to Santonio Holmes on the right side. Two plays later, Sanchez hit Burress on a quick pass to the left flat, and Plaxico made a great move on CB Antoine Cason, and turned this short pass into a game of 15. Shonn Greene helped this drive a great deal with a 24-yard run.
But after the Greene run in the middle of the drive, this possession kind of fizzled, including a forced pass to Burress down the deep middle into double coverage. He wasn’t open. The drive ended with a shovel pass to LT, on third-and-seven, that gained six, and the Jets kicked a field goal.
The Jets did a lot of good things on the next drive, but it ended with an interception. The two key passes on this drive were from Sanchez to Keller, both on Spikes. This is a mismatch. Spikes is 34, and blew out his Achilles a few years ago. He doesn’t run like he used to. Speaking of 34, that was the gain on the first connection between Sanchez and Keller; a crossing route from left to right. On the next third down, a third-and-nine, Sanchez hit Keller on the short left side.
This possession ended when Sanchez forced a pass to Burress deep down the right side, right around the goalline, and safety Eric Weddle picked it off. This was a force. Just like a pass, earlier in this drive, to Burress on the short right side with Cason in tight coverage.
In the first quarter, the Jets were clearly forcing passes to Burress to get him more involved, even though they said they wouldn’t do that.
On the Jets next possession, Sanchez drove them 77 yards, on eight plays, on a touchdown drive. Shonn Greene contributed a great deal to this possession with runs of nine, three, five and five. This drive also aided by FOUR San Diego penalties.
Early in this drive, Sanchez couldn’t find anyone open, and was under pressure, so he started to take off running, but stopped before he was over the line, and attempted a pass over the middle to Holmes that was incomplete, but drew a pass interference penalty on CB Quintin Jammer. A few plays later, Holmes beat Jammer on a mid-range out on the right side for a gain of 16. Holmes is a bad matchup for Jammer, who is a very good player, but has average speed. Holmes can fly.
Speaking of mismatches, on the next play, for some reason, Butler was on Holmes, and the wide receiver drew another interference call on the short crossing route.
Then came the biggest play fo the drive, when Sanchez dumped a pass to LT on the short right side. This was another major mismatch – LT on Butler, and LT was off to the races. LT got upended by Weddle at the end of this play, did a Kirk Springs-like summersault. He took a major hit on this play, and considering he was playing pretty sick, that couldn’t have helped his condition.
Three plays later, Sanchez hit Burress on a quick slant towards the middle of the end zone, for a three-yard touchdown pass.
The Jets got the ball back late in the second quarter, but that drive didn’t go anywhere.
We will have Part II of Sanchez tomorrow.