I agree with you that Sanchez should not be labeled a bust. However, any quarterback in this league (with the exception of Peyton, Tom, and the great ones) , if they kept throwing interceptions like Sanchez did yesterday, they would have been benched for that game. I am not sure Clemmens could have done better, but I think he would have managed the game a little better without trying to win it by himself. Sanchez looked overmatched. He should not have finished the game.

It is really worth repeating… Sanchez HAS to play the whole game. When you start pulling out QBs, you disrupt whatever kind of flow you have. It adds anxiety for the starter. And most importantly, he loses out on VALUABLE game tape to analyze his performance.

Analyze the losses. Vs. the Saints, Sanchez tape (and I watched as much of this and all the recaps I could find on the internet) revealed he telegraphed his punches by not surveying the field. He has pretty good arm strength and very good accuracy, but when he locks on a target, he has to realize these NFL CBs will move in to intercept.

Vs. The dolphins, he corrected much of that issue. However the Offensive line didn’t buy him enough time in the pocket in many cases for him to go down his progression. He basically reacted to the first couple of reads, and with the help of a few great catches and some admittedly questionable calls, he brings the Jets back into a position to win. The MNF loss is squarely on the shoulders of the defense (though I must say, the full power of the wildcat is pretty amazing).

Vs. the Bills, he reverted back to the saints loss because he apparently has little faith in Clowney or Wright. The tape doesn’t lie – all of the 5 INTs were passes intended for Braylon or Dustin.. By putting the pressure on #17 and #81, the bills took away his big targets. Bad play calling sealed the deal, as Shotty should have been calling for short dumps and screens to leon or clowney to keep the ball moving forward instead of throwing long passes he obviously had troubles with. With the ground game as good as it was, we were quite literally a first down away from winning the game.

My thinking is, no matter what the defense let Fitzpatrick do, only giving up 13 points will win you the football game 80% of the time. This is great tape for Sanchez. Look for him to put the hurt on Oakland next week, particularly in the warmer weather

He had a crazy start to the season, way better than anyone could anticipate, but we can’t expect a pro-bowl season from a rookie. The goal the whole season was to ‘ground and pound’. Yesterday was the first game the running game did its part. The plan was to bring Sanchez along slowly, but he has had to grow up much faster than I’m sure the Jets wanted in the first few weeks. That raised expectations and now we’re shocked that he’s playing like this. Had this been week 1, I think it would have fit everyone’s expectations.

Rookies throw 20+ interceptions (as does Favre) and they throw them in bunches. If he’s throwing 5 pics a game next year we’ll worry. Until then, he’s been decent and we know his potential is great.

I’m sorry but I don’t see the arm strength in this guy, 2 of the picks he threw just didn’t have the zip to make it there before the DB. Most rookie interceptions are thrown because of poor decision making and as a rookie it is expected but some of his picks aren’t bad decisions but what I would call a lack of arm strength, remember these guys are pros and they are all fast, not just some of them like in the college ranks and it’s the lack of arm strength that concerns me. The guy is very accurate and he’ll be ok once he learns to read NFL defenses but he nothing more than a mobile Chad Pennington which isn’t bad if we have a good ground game and a hard nosed defense but in no way shape or form is he a Brady, Manning. Brees, or Roethlisburger so don’t expect that kind of passing game from him.

I like many things about Sanchez. I think he has good leadership skills and, at least before this Sunday, has demonstrated somewhat of an ability to bounce back from mistakes and come back and make good plays.

That said, I blame Woody, front office people and Ryan for letting the hype surrounding Sanchez override sound football decisions. Personally, I think Sanchez was drafted too high. Given his relatively short experience as a starter at USC, his almost complete lack of experience in demonstrating an ability to play in adverse weather and the fact that his arm strength and size are average, I think Sanchez should have been drafted either at the end of the first round or even in the second round. There are enough questions about his ability to be a true impact QB in the NFL that I think it was foolish to trade up and choose him with the 5th pick in the first round.

Compounding the problem is that, once they made this decision, it seems as if Woody set everything in motion to totally hype Sanchez. Whether or not there was a true competition for the starting slot in pre-season, I don’t know. Clearly Clemens didn’t step up and make a clear cut case that he should start. Notwithstanding, yesterday illustrates the fact that Sanchez is not only fully a rookie capable of making lots of rookie mistakes, but also that some of his potential weaknesses (arm strength, size) are still there and can’t just be glossed over. Sanchez’s college career was spent playing in good weather against mostly weak defenses in the Pac-10. He’s now playing against division rivals who are mostly in the northeast, at least half of the season is usually played in bad weather and his home field usually has strong and tricky winds with which to contend.

My main concern is not that Sanchez is making rookie mistakes. We expected this once he was named to be the starting QB. In my opinion, the larger concern is whether Sanchez has the physical tools to execute in the way an NFL QB needs to under adverse weather conditions.

Ryan had said last week that Sunday’s game against the Bills was a “must win.” If so, when Sanchez was so clearly having problems with the wind and other issues yesterday, my feeling is that Ryan didn’t sit him and bring in Clemens (who has had experience throwing into Meadowlands winds in game situations) because Woody has so imposed a “promote Sanchez” mentality that the people responsible for football decisions (Ryan, Schottenheimer, Tannenbaum) will not dare ask the question: Can we rely on Sanchez no matter what when a game situation might dictate otherwise.

As I stated earlier, Clemens didn’t step up and win the starting job. I actually didn’t have a major problem with Sanchez getting the starting nod at the beginning of the season. But ……. 1) he is a rookie, and 2) it is very problematic if they are going to completely overlook Sanchez’s weaknesses. He is in no way a QB with a complete set of overwhelmingly strengths. I think he has potential and has a legitimate possibility of becoming a very good starting QB in the NFL. It is, though, not a certainty and the Jets risk having some sub-par seasons if they are not realistic about Sanchez -- his strengths and his weaknesses.

He seems to be resilient and it seems like the team’s got his back, so he’ll be fine eventually. The thing is, this team isn’t last year’s Ravens, as much as Rex Ryan wishes them to be.

im not even close to giving up on sanchez. in the beginning of the year we all knew he wasnt going to have a steve young performance every week. these awful performances are inevitable for a rookie. maybe he isnt used to these weather conditions but theyre only going to get worse from here. its going to get colder and windier as the year goes on. i know hes going to make his adjustments and gain back the support he had after week 3.

Jeff I is spot on!! It’s not about making compaisons to other rookie QBs because every team is in a different situation but the jets traded up for a franchise type QB and I’m not saying that Sanchez isn’t going to be that guy but when you go after a player to fill that kind of role you have to be very careful look at all aspects of the player you are considering. Bill Parcells said in order for him to draft a QB as a number 1 pick he has to meet certain criteria like having at least 3 seasons as a starter in college, with at least 23 wins and he also would have liked to see at least one game were the QB lead a game winning drive, that being said I think the jets’ scouting dept. didn’t give alot of consideration in any other area other than Sanchez was a winning QB at USC. Like I said, I want him to succeed but I just hope nobody expects 300+yd 4 TD games with this guy because I don’t think his arm strength and overall ability is going to provide that, if he succeeds he’ll be a great game manager that doesn’t turn the ball over and doesn’t take sacks and uses his backs and tightends in a short passing game that’ll be second to the run game and a strong defense.

I generally agree with your comments. The problem is ….. there has been so much hype surrounding Sanchez ( and, no doubt, fueled by Woody) that ….. their confidence in Sanchez is not grounded in the reality of what he can offer at this point in his career. I blame this more on Woody than anyone else.

The Jets had a lot of positives coming into this season and a lot to build on. Now …. Jenkins is out for the season and we’ve put a good QB prospect in a position that we are asking way to much of him because cheapskate Woody is all about short-term marketing rather than building a sustainable, winning franchise. I apologize for being cynical but ……. the Jets desperately need some sound football decisions rather than superficial marketing fluff. The blame lies with Woody.

SHOTTY better get some crap for calling those passes into the wind. I am not sure he was in the same stadium????

This team may finish at .500. Be happy with that for a rebuilding year.

The Jets said the right things in pre-season and early on. THEY SAID they were going to run, take the pressure off their rookie qb. THEY SAID they wouldn’t ask to win the games.THEY SAID they would keep it simple. What Shotty did is the opposite. He keeps trying to get cute and passing on 3- short. How many more times do we have to see a 15 yrd pass attempt on 3-1. Who comes out gunning in the second half when you are in the lead, in the Meadowlands and possess 200+ yards rushing?!
Also, try to remember that Eli had a similar outing in the Meadowlands his rookie year and he turned out pretty good.