It's interesting how one bad half in five games can allow a writer to deem that a player's stock is "falling."
AFC East blogger Dolphins' homer Tim Graham, though, does just that. In an article published on ESPN.Com yesterday, Graham mentions three AFC East players' stocks he thinks are falling, and three which he feels are rising. He tried to stop me from writing this by adding Jets' CB to the 'rising' list to get back in our good graces, but sorry Graham, even that won't stop us.
The fallers: Patriots' S Brandon Meriweather, QB Mark Sanchez and Dolphins' CB Vontae Davis.
2. Mark Sanchez, Jets quarterback: This might be a stretch because Sanchez did recover for a fourth-quarter comeback on the road. But Sanchez did have his shakiest moments of the past five weeks. He threw his first two interceptions of the year.
The risers: Dolphins' LB Cameron Wake, Patriots' OLB Jermaine Cunningham and Jets' CB Dwight Lowery,
3. Dwight Lowery, Jets cornerback: For the second straight week, the reserve defensive back iced the game by pouncing on the ball. Lowery returned a Brett Favre interception for a touchdown in Week 5 and jumped on a loose ball in the waning moments to end the Broncos' chances.
"This might be a stretch," says Graham. Yes, it is. Sanchez lead the Jets down the field in the fourth quarter, helping manufacture two scoring drives which entailed completing passes on some clutch third and fourth downs in good coverage.
The fact is, he settled down and came up big when we needed him in the fourth quarter, and the Jets won the football game. Sanchez showed a lot of mental toughness responding to a half of adversity in a tough environment to play in and finished strong. The second year QB still has thrown 9 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions this season, so let's give him credit where its due.
Does his decision making need work? Sure, but that's growing pains. Does he stare down a receiver once in awhile? Sure, but that's growing pains. Graham does a great job of scrutinizing and putting the second year QB under the microscope, yet he seems to fail to do this when Chad Henne has a bad game. Hmm..
Writers are quick to throw Sanchez under the bus. This is a pure overreaction by Graham due to one bad half, and I can't wait for the Sanchize to come out of the bye week and tear it up against Green Bay and their suspect secondary.
Sanchez has lead the Jets to five straight victories. Not too shabby, too bad his stock is "falling."