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Now it’s time to review the second half play of Mark Sanchez in the Jets 27-11 win over Buffalo.
Let’s jump into the third quarter action.
The Jets first drive of the second half was a three-and-out; all running plays.
On the second drive of the third quarter, on first down, Mark Sanchez had a passes batted down at the line by DE Alex Carrington (this kid out of Arkansas State has a lot of ability – he is huge and athletic).
On second down, LT ran for eight yards up the middle, setting up an ideal scenario – 3rd-and-2, but Sanchez threw an incompletion over the middle to Dustin Keller. Safety Bryan Scott broke up the pass.
The Jets got the ball back very quickly. On the first play of the Bills next possession, Sione Pouha forced a fumble on Fred Jackson, and the Jets took over on the Bills 19. They almost gave the ball back on first down when Green fumbled, but the Jets recovered.
On second down, I think they got a little bit of a break. Sanchez hit Burress on a pass on the right sideline, and it looked like it could have been offensive interference. Burress seemed to make significant contact with CB Leodis McKelvin after five yards. There was no call, and this catch-and-run went for 19 yards, and LT ran it in from the one on the next play.
On the Jets next possession, Sanchez did a nice job on the first two plays of the series. On first down, Keller had a major mismatch on linebacker Danny Batten (not a speedster by any stretch), and Keller beat the Buffalo defender on an out to the right sideline for a gain of 16. And then on the next play, Sanchez took advantage of Burress, one-on-one on a crossing route with CB Terrence McGee and the play went for 13 yards. Then on the next play, Sanchez threw deep down the right sideline, and McKelvin was called for a 42-yard pass interference call. On the next play, from the eight, Sanchez hit Holmes on a quick slant for a touchdown. This was Mark’s most impressive stretch of plays in the game.
On the Jets next drive, they did a nice job of mixing up the running game with ball control passes, and ate up a lot of clock (7:58), and this ended with a John Connor touchdown run. This drive very well could have ended up in a field goal, on third-and-10, Sanchez threw an incompletion to Holmes down the deep right side, but McGee was called for interference, and the Jets got the ball on the one. Connor went in on the next play.
The Jets got the ball back one more time and ran out the clock.
Sanchez’s performance was good, not great.
If they want to be a Super Bowl contender, he needs to do more.
That pick he threw on the first drive, and almost another one on the second one, could have really cost them.
And he was helped a great deal by penalties and field position.
But in all fairness, he did enough for the Jets to win, and that is the bottom line.