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Niagara Falls – Mark Sanchez played well against the Buffalo Bills, but upon further review, there is plenty of room for improvement. Here is Dan’s premium breakdown of “The Sanchise.” . . .
Sanchez did a good job complimenting a dominant running game. He finished with a 106.4 quarterback rating and two touchdowns.
The Jets first possession was driven by the run, but Sanchez did contribute a couple of completions. He showed great composure on an eight-yard pass to Dustin Keller on third-and-five. With linebacker Paul Poslusny in his face on a blitz, Sanchez unloaded the ball to his tight end on the short right side for a gain of eight.
On first-and-10 from the 11, he hit LaDainian Tomlinson on a swing pass to the right side that gained 10 yards, setting up LT’s one-yard scoring run on the next play.
The Jets got the ball right back, on a short field, after a botched kickoff return, and on the second play of this possession, Sanchez did a great job of selling a running play to the left side, and got Poslusny to take a step inside, and this allowed Dustin Keller to beat the linebacker for 15 yards on a bootleg pass to the right side. Sanchez threw behind Tomlinson on pass in the right flat, but the running back made a one-handed catch and managed to gain two yards. This possession ended with a missed field goal.
The Jets third and fourth possessions were three-and-outs, and the third one included three bad plays by Sanchez. On first down, a pass attempt to Keller was blocked at the line by defensive end Spencer Johnson. On second down, he botched a pitch to Tomlinson the resulted in a fumble that safety Jairus Byrd recovered, but he was ruled out-of-bounds. He also owes Braylon Edwards a dinner after nearly getting him hurt on a high pass over the middle that got him leveled by cornerback Leodis McKelvin.
The fourth possession included a Sanchez pass to Edwards down the right sideline that fell incomplete, mainly because the receiver wasn’t open, He got no separation on McKelvin.
The Jets fifth possession, which started at the end of the first quarter (two plays), and carried into the second quarter, was a solid one. On this possession, Sanchez did some excellent work with Jerricho Cotchery. The first pass to J-Co actually was unsuccessful, a deep throw down the right sideline where there was no separation. There was a play-action fake on this play, but nobody bit. On second-and-ten, another bootleg right, he hit Cotchery for a gain of eight, and then on third-and-two, he hit Cotch, on a perfectly thrown pass, for a gain of four, on the short left side. This wasn’t an easy pass. There was a lot of traffic in the area. Sanchez threw it perfectly.
On a third-and-two, he hit Tomlinson for a gain of 10 yards on a swing pass on the right side. These dumps to LT are working so well, not just because the runner is a great receiver, but because he’s getting a lot of space with the attention paid to Keller, Edwards and Cotchery.
But this drive didn’t end that well, and the Jets settled for a 19-yard Nick Folk field goal. There were a pair of bootleg passes to the right that didn’t work. First, Sanchez rolled right and threw to a covered Ben Hartsock, and that pass was knocked away by linebacker Reggie Torbor. Then, on the next play, he threw to Keller in the end zone, who was also covered well, so he probably overthrew this one on purpose to avoid a potential pick.
The next Jets possession was the kind of three-and-out you want. Two Greene runs amassed 25 yards, and then Sanchez hit Edwards for a 41-yard TD pass down the right sideline. Kudos to Sanchez and Edwards on this play, but to be blunt, McKelvin did an awful job. He fell for a junior high pump-and-go down the right sideline. This is a perfect example of why Leodis isn’t starting for Buffalo after being picked in the first round a couple of years ago. He has bad instincts. Keep in mind, he was starting this game because Terrence McGee was out with a knee injury.
The Jets first possession of the second half was a run-dominated drive that wrapped up with a Brad Smith touchdown pass to Keller. Smith did a great job on this pass. He could have easily run as he scrambled to the right side, but showed great patience, and waited for Keller to break open, and threw a perfect strike in the back of the end zone. Sanchez’s best pass of this possession was an impressive throw to Braylon Edwards, right between McKelvin and Byrd, for a gain of 18. He also combined with Edwards for a fade attempt that drew a pass interference call on Florence in the end zone. This brought the ball from the 16 to the two. Three plays later, Smith hit Keller for the TD.
The Jets got the ball back a few plays later after Bryan Thomas caused a fumble on Marshawn Lynch. After a couple successful Shonn Greene rushing attempts that combined for 21 yards, Sanchez hit Keller for a TD. On this play, Sanchez rolled right, drew the defense to that side, and then threw across his body to the left to hit Keller in the back of the end zone.
Early in the fourth quarter, on a drive that didn’t go anywhere, Sanchez and Edwards connected on a 19-yard fade down the left sideline, and the wideout made a brilliant catch over Florence. He really wasn’t open.
Mark Brunell got some garbage time action and had one completion to Hartsock for seven yards.