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Perhaps Mark Sanchez’s first pass attempt was a harbinger of things to come. It was blocked by DT Domata Peko. Tipped or blocked passes were an issue throughout this game.
Sanchez had one of his better throws on the first series. Dustin Keller starting off blocking, and then slipped off the line, and was wide open on a crossing route that gained 18 yards. A few plays later, Sanchez had a 15-yard completion, on the right side to Braylon Edwards. This was a very good catch by Edwards because CB Jon Wade was in pretty tight coverage. The next pass was bizarre. Sanchez threw to LaDainian Tomlinson out of bounds on the right side. This possession ended with a one-yard pass to Santonio Holmes, on the right side, that lost one yard, on third-and-nine.
The second possession ended with a third-and-22 pass to Keller that gained just seven yards.
“Are you kidding me with that third down pass,” tweeted Joe Namath.
The problem with this pass was simple. Granted sometimes you throw a pass short of the first down, when the player has a chance to run after the catch. On this play, two defenders, Dhani Jones and Wade, were right on top of Keller, so there was no RAC opportunity, so what was the point of this throw?
Early in the second quarter, Sanchez had a nice throw to Keller into the zone over the middle. He did a nice job lofting it over Jones, and in front of a safety, for a gain of 21. This was the only pass of note on this run-dominated drive that ended in a Nick Folk field goal.
On the next possession, Sanchez was 0-2 on his passes, including a near pick by CB Leon Hall on a quick slant on the left side to Holmes.
On the last series of the first half, Sanchez had a couple of nice throws, and the drive resulted in a 44-yard field goal attempt by Nick Folk that was no good. He hit a wide open Holmes on the short left side for a gain of 11. On the next play, he threw to L.T. who wasn’t looking on a crossing route over the middle for an incompletion. Then on the next play, Brad Smith beat Wade for a gain of 23 on the right side.
The first half of the second half was clearly designed at halftime. It was a one-read pass to Holmes, who had a mismatch on Jones, for a gain of 16. Smith took an end around for a long touchdown on the next play.
The first pass of the Jets second series of the second half was blocked by DE Mike Johnson on the line. Then a few plays later, Sanchez threw a pick to LB Rey Maulaluga on the right side, on a broken play. He was attempting to throw to Shonn Green on the right side. Terrible play. With a field already cut in half but a roll out right, you need to see half the field a lot better than this.
The next possession was a three-and-out with Sanchez throwing a near pick on third down to Wade, on a short pass to the right side to Edwards.
The Jets got the ball right back on a muff, and two plays later Sanchez hit Holmes for a 13-yard touchdown. Granted this was a huge play, but let’s not get too crazy about Sanchez on this play. It was a one-read pass, over the middle to Holmes, who was one-on-one on a player signed three days ago, who slipped on the play.
Sanchez overthrew Holmes on an square out in the right flat to end an early fourth quarter drive.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Sanchez threw to Edwards down the right sideline, but he caught it out of bounds. It wasn’t a great throw. This possession ended with another blocked by Johnson.
It might be time to bring back a variation of Rex’s color-coding system. Maybe it’s time to go with mainly bootlegs, play-action, one-read passes, two minute drills. Sanchez just isn’t seeing the field very well right now in the conventional offense. People make a big deal about the Houston game. Granted he did some nice stuff at the end, but the Jets had seven points on the board, entering the fourth quarter, against the NFL’s worst secondary.
Think about what Tom Brady did in Detroit, and what Sanchez did against that same defense
B-Schotty and Rex need to tweek their approach. There is no doubt about it. Sanchez needs to be managed more.
