Rating the Quarterback Play Against Baltimore

by John B on Aug 25, 2009 8:01 AM EDT

Mark Sanchez looked like a rookie last night. His first pass was an interception Baltimore ran back. Ray Lewis dropped a second pick six on the next drive. Early in the game, there wasn't a whole lot to like. He was staring down all of his receivers. He was freezing in the face of blitzes. It was ugly.

I thought Sanchez locked down the starting job after that with a touchdown drive. The question with a rookie quarterback isn't whether there will be moments where you want to put your head into your hands. It's how the rookie will respond to them. Sanchez showed a lot of poise on his final drive. A great example was a third and long in which nothing was open down the field. Sanchez didn't force a bad throw. He dumped it short to Leon Washington. Washington made a big run for a first down. Mark had to be frustrated, but stayed within himself, checked down, and gave his playmaker a chance to make a play. His night ended on a touchdown pass that displayed a great deal of patience. Sanchez waited for something to develop, bought time with his feet, and made a beautiful throw to Washington.

It's not necessarily going to be pretty with a rookie. This was a really stiff test. The Ravens are a top two defense. Eli Manning posted a zero quarterback rating in Baltimore as a rookie. Sanchez was shaky on the national stage in the hostile environment. He showed a lot, though, bouncing back from a rough start.

Clemens needed a monster performance to win the starting job. Instead the veteran of the competition made a rookie mistake. He tossed an interception deep in his own territory as time was running down in the first half. He wilted in the face of pressure and forced a ball instead of throwing it away. Mistakes like that are easier to tolerate from a rookie. A fourth (or seventeenth) year veteran cannot make such killer errors. Clemens did bounce back later with a touchdown pass of his own.

The night ended in a draw, but the rookie was in a tougher spot. Sanchez faced Baltimore's first string defense in the toughest test of his young career. Clemens had already played a great game on this field two years ago. Sanchez showed his youth and inexperience and responded to the adversity. Clemens looked young and inexperienced when he tossed that killer pick. He's had four years to develop.

I say Sanchez deserves to be named starter this week. What do you think?

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I'm all for Clemens starting

Sanchez looked pretty terrible last night, he really didnt do much at all. On that last drive granted he did make a nice throw..but leon washington single handedly made that drive with a nice run and a screen both on 3rd and long and then the touchdown catch.

by kram44 on Aug 25, 2009 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

Thoughts on both sides of the ball

Agreed it was ugly. I would have expected more from Clemens since he did not face the starting defense. I was ashamed at the number of dropped balls and the number of penalties that negated big plays. The whole team looked out of synch. Britt Davis, Marcus Henry and Brad Smith just didnt make the big plays when the ball was thrown to them. Woodhead looked okay, but his small frame is questionable. Allison (WR from Min) looked okay, except for fumbling twice on one kickoff return. I thought that he did a good job, though, recovering those balls and made some catches on offense.

Sanchez’s first drive was a nightmare. This starting 2 drives were a polar opposite to the opening drive in the Rams game. But, in his defense, I dont think I ever remember seeing a DE pick off a ball quite like that, on the line, while rushing the QB.. It’s actually what you’d expect from a rookie QB, so from that standpoint I think he played appropriately for his level of experience in the NFL (although, this may be why so few rookies are the starting QBs in the NFL). I think you need to set up the screen more with a D like the Ravens and get the ball to Washington and even Keller. For the first few series, Sanchez looked lost – they should have been in a double TE formation until he became used to the speed of the Ravens D.

Would have liked to see Clowney out with the 1s for a few series, not just on 4 wide sets.

Also, the Raven’s defense is very, very athletic. Which goes to show that even though our D has a lot of talent, there is still an X factor that we just dont seem to show on the field… They attack the ball on every play and cause a lot of confusion at the line, and not only cause confusion but make plays because while they show multiple fronts before the snap, they can actually change position to make plays due to their athleticism. i think we can also confuse offenses with our fronts, but I’m not sold that our defense has the same athleticism to shift into position as quickly as the Ravens and therefore miss opportunities to make big plays.

I did like our tackling for the most part. Would have liked to see more pressure on Flacco though.

http://www.charlottejetsfans.com

by NC_Scott on Aug 25, 2009 9:35 AM EDT reply actions

Jets QB

No mention of Ainge who out performed Clemens.

by jcrobinson on Aug 25, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions

agreed!

Ainge was Solid, u might say he played the last minutes, but well thats about as much as he´s gonna get, i thought he played well better than clemens, but im gonna say that Sanchez should start, hands down

Audentes fortuna iuvat

by Bianconero on Aug 26, 2009 1:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Touchdown drive

He had 2 completions on that drive, 1 of which was a little dinky dump off pass. I think it is insane to say he is the starter when he only made 3 completions last night, well 4 if you count the Haloti Ngata interception.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Aug 25, 2009 1:19 PM EDT reply actions

Sanchez was horrendous early but did bounce back to a degree later on. It would be completely unrealisitic to not have some ugly moments during his development. Dont forget that throw that Ray Lewis jumped and dropped, that should have been 6 also. Clemens definitely had a shot to put himself back in the race but failed to do so for the most part. I also gotta believe Schott is gonna be more creative with the plays come regular season. I think that will hinge a lot on their passing success, especially involving Leon and Dustin with mismatches. Not to mention the OL not bein in sync and completely healthy. They could have used better blocking at times.

by Ozone on Aug 25, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions

Ainge looked the best

Then again it was against third stringers, but by the looks of it last night, he had the most success

"When we won the league championship, all the married guys on the club had to thank their wives for putting up with all the stress and strain all season. I had to thank all the single broads in New York"
Joe Namath

by Civardi on Aug 25, 2009 9:38 PM EDT reply actions

On another note

What was up with that “unsportsmanlike” conduct call after clowney scored the touchdown. I was three rows behind where he caught the touchdown and all he did was drop his helmet to celebrate

If thats all it takes, the Ravens should get fined 10 yards before every home game for the crap Ray Lewis pulls out of the looker room

Whats up with that?

by Civardi on Aug 25, 2009 9:42 PM EDT reply actions