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Mark Sanchez had his moments, but he still has a lot of work to do.
Jets 99-yard drive against the Bengals #2 defense . . .
It’s hard to sustain drives with this level of inconsistency.
The first possession is a perfect example.
The Jets opened the game with a 20-yard pass down the deep right side to Plaxico Burress. Obviously, this was the plan going into the game, get Burress involved from the get-go, help him get back in a groove. Kudos to Sanchez for a nice throw.
But then, Sanchez followed this pass with two awful throws, after a four-yard run by LT, and the drive ended.
On Mark’s second throw of the game, he telegraphed a pass on the short left side to Burress, and it was nearly picked up by CB Leon Hall, who jumped the route. Then Sanchez and Dustin Keller had a terrible miscommunication. Keller was running down the left hash, and Sanchez threw it to him at about the 10-yard mark, like the tight end was going to cut off the route, but Dustin kept running down the hash. How long have these two been playing together? This kind of mistake between Sanchez and a new Jet like Burress, Jeremy Kerley or Derrick Mason would be understandable, but Keller? They are entering their third season together.
The Jets got the ball back very quickly after an Eric Smith pick. And on first down, Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a quick slant for a 16-yard touchdown. It was a one-read play, and Holmes was wide open. This is a perfect example of how Plaxico Burress is going to open up space for Holmes.
The next drive was a three-and-out, featuring two running plays. The only pass on this possession was a one-read quick out to Kerley for five yards.
The next drive was a three-and-out also. The Jets took over on a short field after a pick by Jim Leonhard. On first down, Sanchez forced a one-read pass into triple-coverage to Buress in the end zone, and is lucky it wasn’t picked. Two plays later he was off-target on a three-yard pass over the short middle to LaDainian Tomlinson, and the Jets settled for a Nick Novak field goal.
When the Jets took over again early in the second quarter, Sanchez had a nice pump fake selling a shorter route to Burress, and the wide receiver got behind Leon Hall for a gain of 20 down the deep left side. But this drive stalled a few plays later thanks to a pair of incompletions to Burress.
The Jets got the ball back with a little under five minutes left in the first half. On second down, Sanchez hit a wide open Dustin Keller, thanks to a blown coverage, for a gain of 43 down deep right side. A few plays later, he hit a wide open Keller again, for a gain of 15, also on the right side. After a pair of incompletions to Kerley, Sanchez connected with Burress for a 26-yard touchdown pass down the deep left side.
A few things on this play –
First off, it’s a perfect example of how Burress is going to help Sanchez, a quarterback who struggles with his accuracy. You throw it to a general area, and whether he’s open or not, there is a good chance he will catch it.
Secondly, we also need to keep him mind that the Bengals had a back-up journeyman cornerback, Fred Bennett (in for Hall), who is on the roster bubble, covering Burress. Bennett is on his third team in five years. And Burress definitely pushed off on the play to gain separation.
Thirdly, this was a one-read play, and Sanchez threw it up, and Burress, who pushed off, came down the touchdown.
This might sound like I’m being negative, but I’m making an important point – Sanchez needs to get a lot better.
Most of his success tonight came on one-read passes where the receivers in many cases were wide open.
That isn’t going to happen in many games.
He still needs work on reading defenses.
He’s putting too much pressure on Schotty to call plays where the one-read is open.
Sanchez still needs to improve on going through his progressions.
