New York Jets Problem: Turnover Prone Quarterback

We will now go to the weakness everybody talks about, erratic quarterback play.

The Problem: Mark Sanchez continues to improve, but he turns the ball over too much. He has eight in four games, and at least seven were primarily his fault. He is also still prone to disastrous games like Sunday where his poor play gives his team no chance to win.

Who Is to Blame? I guess Sanchez, but he is a developing quarterback. This comes with the territory. I guess you could blame Mike Tannebaum for not taking Joe Flacco in 2008 or Josh Freeman instead in 2009, but the jury is still out on whether these guys will go down as better quarterbacks.

Viable Options to Fix the Problem: The most obvious would be signing David Garrard to replace Mark, a guy who could avoid big mistakes and allow the Jets to use their defense to win games. That will not happen, though. The Jets have invested two years and a ton of money in Sanchez. It would not be the right move either. Yes, Sanchez's mistakes are bad, but he has also become a big play guy in the passing game. Pretty much every Super Bowl winner reaches a point where the quarterback needs to make plays to beat an elite opponent no matter how good its defense is. Why is the name Trent Dilfer so famous now? Dilfer was literally the one recent exception who was never really tested. The odds of another Dilfer winning the Super Bowl are relatively low. It will happen once in a decade. Sanchez is a better option to make the necessary plays to win big games. He has done it already. Fans can only hope the mistakes will lessen with experience.

Prognosis: Sanchez has become kind of like post 2001 Brett Favre. He makes some incredible throws and has some monster games. He also makes some cringe worthy throws and has some mind numblingly bad outings. He has consistently gotten better from his rookie year, and Sunday nonwithstanding has ably handled an increased role. As he gets more experience, he will continue to improve. He does seem to focus in big spots. Perhaps that will carry over to the other games.