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The Texans have the worst secondary in the NFL, and at times, Mark Sanchez took advantage of it. Dan Leberfeld takes a close look . . .
On the first pass of the game, Glover Quin was playing so far off of Santonio Holmes, Sanchez threw an comeback route to him for seven yards. This kind of coverage happened quite a bit with Holmes.
On this second pass of the game, Sanchez had a long time to throw, couldn’t find anybody open, and threw it away in the direction of LaDainian Tomlinson. On the final play of this short possession, Mark hit Dustin Keller in the facemask on a short pass over the middle. The tight end didn’t turn around fast enough, and perhaps, it was thrown with too much mustard, considering how close Keller was too him.
Typical Sanchez on the first play of the second drive – the play breaks down because of bad protection, and he makes something out of it. DE Antonio Smith gets by Matt Slauson on a stunt up the middle, and is about to sack Sanchez, but he slips away, rolls to his right, and hits a wide open Holmes for a gain of 22 yards.
But the drive went nowhere after that. A few plays later, perhaps the Jets got a bad non-call. It seemed like CB Kareem Jackson hit Braylon Edwards on a post before the ball got there, but there was no flag. The drive ended with a short throw to Brad Smith on the right side, and he was stopped in his tracks, and the Jets punted.
In the middle of the second quarter, on third-and-five, Sanchez hit Holmes, who was wide open, on a quick slant that went for 26 yards. Three plays later, Sanchez threw one of his best passes of the game, to his old college teammate, Patrick Turner. It was an deep out on the left side, and Sanchez lofted the pass over Quin, and in front of CB Kareem Jackson for a gain of 21 yards. Two plays later, Edwards beat CB Jason Allen on a square in, and had him beat so soundly, he took it for 27-yards. Allen was claimed on waivers a few weeks ago from Miami, and remember, the Jets took advantage of him quite a bit in Week Three.
This drive ended with Sanchez throwing a quick slant to Edwards on the right side for a four-yard touchdown. It was surprising how far CB Bryce McClain was on Edwards on this play.
In a nutshell, this drive epitomizes why the Texans have the 32nd ranked secondary. Why they let CBÂ Dunta Robinson walk is beyond me.
The last drive of the first half, Sanchez didn’t have a great possession. He threw a pass to LaDainian Tomlinson that lost three, and was off-target on a crossing route to Holmes, and the Jets had to settle for a field goal. The only reason they were in field goal range was a roughing the passer call on S Bernard Pollard, another one of those ridiculous calls that Park Avenue is making the officials call.
The first drive of the second half, Sanchez threw a pair of 12-yard receptions to Holmes, taking advantage of the cornerbacks being so scared of the deep ball, they were playing in Secaucus.
At the end of this possession, Sanchez made a mistake that cost the Jets on the field goal attempt. He rolled right, and couldn’t avoid DE Mario Williams, and took an eight-yard sack. He should have thrown the ball away, because this play lost eight, and forced Nick Folk to try an 53-yard field goal, instead of a 45-yarder.
On the Jets next possession, Sanchez had two key throws that spearheaded this touchdown drive. LaDainian Tomlinson had a superb play on this drive. He caught a crossing route from Sanchez, and made McClain miss in the open field to take this short pass 21 yards. And the overmatched McClain, fell on a square in to Holmes, and the receiver was off to the races, for a 41-yard touchdown.
Late in the third quarter, the Jets got the ball on a short field, but Sanchez did nothing to take advantage of it. The possession ended quickly with an incompletion to Keller over the middle, and the Jets kicked a field goal.
For most of the fourth quarter, the Jets offense was awful, but it’s hard to blame Sanchez. The pass protection was poor, with Mario Williams dominated backup right tackle Wayne Hunter. With Houston ahead 24-23, Sanchez was hit as he threw, and it ended up as pick by Kevin Bentley. And many fans exited.
But the Jets did get the ball back, and Sanchez hit LT for a gains of five and 19 yards, and then shockingly was able to hit a wide open Edwards for 42 yards, down the right sideline on Allen. And then Sanchez hit Holmes on a fade, with Quin on him, for the game-winning touchdown.
The Texans secondary is the worst in the league, and this game probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was.
But the bottom line is winning.