Sanchez doesn't show up in Pats showdown

The night began with such promise: a chance for the outright lead in the AFC East for the first time all season, a chance to avenge last month's 30-21 loss to the Patriots, a chance for Mark Sanchez to add yet another victory over the fabled Tom Brady in a rivalry that has become as hotly contested as any in sports.

Instead, it ended with the fans streaming out of MetLife Stadium long before the game officially ended. No repeat for Sanchez of his playoff brilliance against the Patriots last January, when he outplayed Brady for a chance to go to the AFC Championship Game. Nope. Just more reminders of how far Sanchez still needs to go in his development to get to the elite status he so firmly believes he will one day earn.

Before the once-packed house of more than 79,000 fans headed for the exits, Sanchez had put up a clunker that was as disappointing as any in his two-plus seasons as the Jets' starter. Fresh off a three-game winning streak in which he had recaptured any confidence lost during a dispiriting three-game losing streak, Sanchez looked forward to this one and had plenty of expectations. He couldn't wait to see how he measured up against his future Hall of Fame counterpart in a game that would be critically important for both teams.

It was a chance for Sanchez to help his team send the Patriots to a third straight loss, something New England hadn't experienced since the 2002 season. A chance to break a mid-season tie with the Patriots and take another huge step forward in earning a home playoff game for the first time in his career.

Instead, Sanchez and his team took a huge step backward in a performance that ranked among his worst. "I didn't play well enough for our offense to be successful," he said. "I didn't play well enough for us to win."

He passed for 306 yards and a touchdown, but at 20-for-39 with two interceptions -- one of which was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter -- Sanchez was completely flummoxed by a Patriots defense that had been abysmal.

The Patriots were the NFL's last-ranked defense, allowing more than 400 yards a game and giving defensive whiz Bill Belichick fits in trying to figure out the solution. But Sanchez turned this defense into the '85 Bears, as the Patriots sacked him five times and rattled him at every turn. Playing against an injury-depleted secondary, he barely completed 50 percent of his passes and was under duress the entire game from a defensive front that had applied little consistent pressure throughout the season.

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Poor blocking from the line and poor reads and throws from the quarterback translated into a brutal performance in a 37-16 loss. It wasn't quite the disaster of that 45-3 loss in Foxboro last December, when the Jets were thrown into a late-season tailspin after entering that game tied with the Patriots at 9-2. But after failing to successfully break another tie, winding up 5-4 and looking up at the 6-3 Patriots, it was as humbling a moment as any for Sanchez.

And it wasn't just his passing. It was his decision-making, too. Take the end of the second quarter, when the Jets were driving deep into Patriots territory. Sanchez completed an 8-yard pass to tight end Dustin Keller at the 2 with 1:24 left before the half. But rather than let the clock run down, Sanchez inexplicably called a timeout.

He said he heard the coaches talking about a timeout in his headset, and Sanchez then used it. "As soon as I hear them talking about the timeout, I burned it right away," he said. "So I can't do that. There were probably 20 seconds left on the play clock, and it would have probably put it under a minute."

Sanchez scored off a quarterback draw on the next play, but it still left 1:20 on the clock -- plenty of time for Brady to work his magic. He drove the Patriots 80 yards in 1:11, completing the drive with an 18-yard scoring strike to Rob Gronkowski with nine seconds left to give New England a 13-9 lead. "It would have just made it tougher," Sanchez said of what would've happened if he hadn't taken the timeout. "Could [Brady] still go down and score? Absolutely. But it just makes it tougher."

It wasn't much better for the rest of the team. Brady wound up 26-for-39 for 329 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, bullying the Jets in their own building and stating his case for why it's too soon to consider the Pats a team in decline.

It looked as if the Patriots were in a serious wobble after back-to-back losses to the Steelers and Giants. But they picked themselves up against their hated rivals and recaptured the swagger that has been theirs for more than a decade.

Sanchez, meanwhile, showed he still has a ways to go in his quest to be the consistent, top-of-his-game quarterback the Jets need. He came out in unsteady fashion and then came unglued in the second half, as the Patriots scored 10 points off turnovers in the third quarter to take a 23-9 lead.

The second turnover was a Sanchez interception, although you can't pin it entirely on him; his pass caromed off Shonn Greene's hands and into the arms of linebacker Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich also got the second interception, returning this one 12 yards to the house to complete the rout.

Even with the poor performance, Sanchez didn't appear in danger of losing the locker room. Afterward, wide receiver Santonio Holmes said the team is firmly behind the quarterback.

"We gave him the letter 'C' on his chest for a reason," Holmes said, referring to the fact that Sanchez is one of the team's captains.

But Sanchez can't afford many more like this one.

"You're not going to beat New England when you make this many mistakes," Rex Ryan said. "We think we're as good as them, but clearly, we're not."

Ryan was so despondent that he apologized to the fans and expressed doubt that the Jets can win the division, even though they're only one game out heading into Thursday night's game in Denver.

Then again, more performances out of Sanchez like this one, and the Jets can not only kiss the division goodbye but the playoffs, too.