I have been very critical of Brian Schottenheimer when I thought his thought process was flawed. That has happened often during his five year tenure as offensive coordinator. I must give him credit for his approach yesterday. I thought it was one of the finest jobs he did.

Unlike other times this year, he did not make things overly complicated. He gave Mark Sanchez simple throws to build the confidence of a struggling quarterback. The plays were well designed and created space underneath.

Changing his approach, he gave a backup tackle pressed into action plenty of help against an aggressive attacking defense.

He figured out how to attack his opponent's tendencies by calling bootlegs on sell outs in short yardage situations and well timed delayed runs on third downs to get blitzers caught up field.

Was the game he called perfect? No, there were things I didn't like. However, there was a coherent theme that played to his guy's strengths. Even on the last offensive play the Jets had, which was a questionable pass call, Schottenheimer rolled Sanchez out and moved the pocket, which kept his young quarterback out of a situation where he might get pressured and panic.

It's easy to credit the offensive coordinator when things go well and blame him when things go poorly. Think of the criticism that he calls too many runs on first down. That seems to me like people are just critical because something doesn't work. Nobody had a problem with run heavy calls last year. I think with the Jets this season, however, the coordinator and success are connected. He has largely not put his guys in a position to succeed through the season. He did yesterday.

This doesn't really change my mind about his overall job performance on my opinion on what his 2011 status should be. However, for the terrific game he called, Brian Schottenheimer gets my Sprint Game Ball.

Who gets your game ball?

You sat for 11 days. You got yourself fired up. You cancelled all plans for Monday. You expressed confidence in your team. You had to endure three hours of abject torture. You had to deal with all of the smack talk from your friends and coworkers. You had to listen to the media talk about how overrated your favorite team is.

That is why I am giving my Sprint Game Ball to you. You have earned it through all you have had to endure.

I can't give it to a player this week. I can only give it to a player who shows up. I didn't see anybody show up in green and white Monday.

The game ball for this week is a pretty easy one to hand out. Brad Smith was clearly the difference in last night's 26-10 win over the Bengals. With the Jets trailing 7-3, Smith took an end around 53 yards to the house on the second play of the second half. Then he took a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter after a Cincinnati field goal cut New York's lead to 17-10. He finished off the last half of the kick return even after losing his shoe. The game was never again in doubt.

Smith is a very versatile guy. It seems like he helps the Jets in a different way every week. Sometimes it is doing the dirty work on special teams coverage. Sometimes it is quarterbacking the team's version of the Wildcat. This week he provided big plays when the offense had issues moving the ball. We probably would have been subject to another agonizing nail biter had it not been for Brad.

He gets my Sprint Game Ball. Who gets your game ball?

Darrelle Revis had not looked like the most dominant corner in the game at all this season. He played extremely well in the opener against the Ravens, but the Jets did not stick him exclusively on Anquan Boldin, who had a big night. He sustained an injury in the second game as he was being torched by Randy Moss. Uneven performances against Minnesota and Denver followed missed games. He was good against the Packers but not dominant.

Then came the Lions and Calvin Johnson. Johnson is a physical freak at 6'5" 236 pounds and the owner of blazing speed. When matched up with Revis it looked like a physical mismatch in the receiver's favor. During the game, it was a mismatch in Revis' favor as the wideout caught one ball. Revis followed him all over the field and shut him down.

Even a slightly below average game from Johnson might have been enough for the Lions to put up the necessary points to avoid overtime. Revis took away this elite target by himself. That's enough for him to get my Sprint Game Ball.

Who gets your game ball? 

This post is sponsored by Sprint.

After such an ugly loss, it might seem difficult to single anybody out for excellent play, but it really is not. It's time to recognize Mr. Underappreciated on this defense, David Harris. While Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, and D'Brickashaw Ferguson are correctly identified as elite homegrown talent, Harris flies under the radar. It's not really a persona thing because only Revis of the first three is a big self-promoter.

The inside linebacker's abilities stopping the run in traffic and blitzing were again on full display Sunday against the Packers where he led the Jets with 9 tackles and 1 sack. He was one of the biggest reasons Gang Green shut down Green Bay's run game and stayed in a contest in which the offense was shut out.

Not only for his work Sunday, but also for quietly playing like an elite inside linebacker for years, David Harris gets my Sprint Game Ball.

Who gets your game ball?

This post is sponsored by Sprint.

In a somewhat surprising move, the Jets stuck Randy Moss on Alcrotraz against Minnesota in Week 5. Darrelle Revis figured to see at least some time against his nemesis in his return to action. It did not happen, though. Perhaps Rex Ryan was concerned with Revis' balky hamstring. Perhaps he did not want to go away from what worked so well in Week 2. Cromartie dominated Moss in the second half. Perhaps it had to do with motivating Cromartie. Antonio has been somewhat inconsistent in his career, but playing against an elite receiver he trash talked during the week was sure to keep him focused. Most likely it was a combination of all of these.

In any event, Cromartie was excellent against Moss. The receiver's final numbers are deceiving. His 4 catch, 81 yard, 1 touchdown line makes it look like the pair fought to something of a draw. One of those grabs was with the Jets leading by 9 in the final 80 seconds. Cromartie was playing exceptionally soft just to avoid giving up an easy touchdown. Cro was also in great coverage on Moss' 37 yard touchdown reception. To complete that pass, Brett Favre needed to fit the ball into a ridiculously tight window to make that happen. It was a great throw by Favre. Cromartie was in position.

Moss was targeted 8 other times in the game. What were the results? Moss had 2 catches for 23 yards.That is less than 3 yards per target. Favre kept trying to force it to a covered Moss. He wasn't able to make throws as perfect as the one he made on the touchdown. On a lot of plays, Cromartie so overmatched Moss at the line that the receiver quit on his route.

Cromartie eliminated one of the most dangerous weapons in the game aside from plays when Minnesota executed with incredible precision. For that, he gets my Sprint Game Ball.

This post is sponsored by Sprint.

Yes, another sponsored post. I'm sorry. We have to pay our bills.

After a rough preseason and a brutal first game, Jets fans were understandably worried about Mark Sanchez. The quarterback was not showing signs of progress. He was not making good reads. He was not going through his progressions. His throws were inaccurate. In that opener against Baltimore, it looked like he was afraid to take any shots down the field.

An excellent second week gave everybody hope. The question was whether it was an isolated game or the start of something big. It's too early to say for sure, but the game he had against the Dolphins might be a sign that things are finally starting to click, and Sanchez is in the process of making the leap to franchise quarterback.

The game he had against the Dolphins was more significant than the one against New England because of how spotty the defense was. The Jets needed the offense to pick up the other side of the ball.

The improvement of the passing game is important this season. Like we saw on Sunday, even a great defense is going to have rough days. No team can bring it on that side of the ball 16 straight weeks. A high powered offense can win those games. The passing game will also make life easier on that defense. Instead of playing defense and ball control and trying to eek out a tight win, a good passing game will let the Jets jump ahead. The defense will be able to pin back its ears and attack. When Rex Ryan is cooking up schemes for your defense, that's a very good thing.

The Jets have a lot of offensive playmakers. The biggest question entering the year was whether the quarterback could utilize them. That quarterback, Sanchez, gave this team a big sign on Sunday that he is ready to do so. That's why he gets my Sprint Game Ball.